Ocean Free: Small Group Great Barrier Reef & Green Island Tour
Description
With only a maximum of 25 passengers this makes our Great Barrier Reef & Green Island tour very guest focussed! .In fact we are the only sail, reef and tropical island experience in Cairns catering for such a low guest number . Swim, snorkel or dive straight off the boat onto an exclusive magnificent GBR site - no crowds. The boat is moored just 1Km off Green Island - a highly protected Marine Park zone. From Cairns, sail to this reef site and Green Island in style on a two-mast schooner and enjoy a delicious buffet lunch on board. After snorkelling off the boat take a tender transfer to explore the beauty of Green Island, see the rainforest or laze on the white sandy beaches.
Tour Options
Itinerary
These are the two most personal Great Barrier Reef tours in Cairns. Sail on Ocean Free - our 16M classical sailing schooner for this extremely personal Great Barrier Reef & Green Island Tour. Sail, snorkel , dive (optional extra) - reef and beach all in one day with only a small group of up to 25 guests - pure bliss!
Admire the beauty of the Great Barrier Reef on this very personal day tour .Ocean Free sails to its exclusive Great Barrier Reef mooring just 1 km off Green Island. Step straight off the boat and see a coral garden teeming with colourful reef-fish and marine life on this highly protected Marine Park zone of the Great Barrier Reef. Only our guests snorkel this site making it a very personal experience! Turtles and large schools of fish a common site amongst the coral "bommies" (outcrops) that rise form about 10-12M up to just under 1M under the surface making it an ideal area for great snorkelling Spend the morning snorkelling & / or SCUBA diving (optional extra) over an incredible reef system and view the most unique and colourful marine life under the guidance of our very attentive crew. Afterwards hop back on board your vessel for a scrumptious large smorgasbord lunch after which you can hop into the tender as the skipper takes you to Green Island beach - your 2nd site to explore!
Guests can visit this island as part of their Ocean Free Green Island & Great Barrier Reef sailing tour with only a maximum of 25 guests . They have a choice of spending the rest of the afternoon on the island until last pick-up or return to main vessel after an hour, if preferring to do more snorkelling . Ocean Free actually moors on an exclusive private reef 1Km off the island where guests can split their time between snorkelling and diving (optional extra) just off the boat on this exclusive Great Barrier Reef site and going to the island in the tender to explore or just relax on the tropical beach . Guests have 4 and 1/2 hrs to experience the reef and island . Typically our guests chose to spend 1-2 hrs on the island . On the island guests can enjoy an interpretative walk across the island , relax on the beach and visit Marineland Melanesia (small fee to enter here)
Marineland Melanesia is an optional experience when visiting Green Island. For a small fee you can enter this attraction to see crocodiles, turtles, artefacts and facts for around the region
Choose to spend an hour on the island and return back to the main vessel for more snorkeling or optional diving on this exclusive Green marine Park zone of the Great Barrier Reef
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- A maximum of 25 people ensures a unique and personalized experience
- Please note: All DIVERS will be required to complete a medical questionnaire on board prior to diving. Please only book the diving options if you have no medical conditions nor taking medication as some conditions/medication preclude you from diving
- Tour requires you to be stable and mobile enough to move around a moving vessel and to transfer from main vessel onto tender and back
- Guests come from many countries and many only have a small opportunity to visit the reef. The vessel will operate in all weather conditions (apart from gale force and severe weather warnings) and has extra procedures to make the day the best possible. If you are concerned about the weather, please visit www.bom.gov.au cairns coastal report - it will give you a 4 day forecast. 10-20 knots is a normal good day. Date of travel can be changed subject to availability and also full refund if cancelling with minimum 24hrs notice. Our vessels are open air with good boat movement so less likely to suffer seasickness than some other closed vessels however, if prone to motion sickness we recommend taking travel sickness tablets 20 minutes before boarding the vessel.
- If intending to take part in diving all divers (whether certified or introductory diver) will be required to fill out a diving medical questionnaire on board. If diving is an important option for you, please advise if you have any medical issues (past or present) or taking any medications so we can advise if any QLD diving medical clearance is required. Some medical conditions and medication may preclude you from diving. It is imperative for your safety that you answer the questions on the form truthfully.
Reviews(670)
This trip couldn’t have been more delightful. The crew were adept at sailing and snorkeling/diving. Very knowledgeable about the Reef. Truly seemed to enjoy getting to know each of us. Generally fabulous hosts for a day that felt like a private tour on a sailboat on the Great Barrier Reef! Fabulous!
Hi Jane, Thank you for your fabulous review! We're thrilled to hear that you enjoyed your day aboard Ocean Free and that the experience felt so personal and special. One of the things we love most about our small-group tours is the opportunity to get to know our guests while sharing the beauty of the Great Barrier Reef, so it's wonderful to know that this stood out to you. We'll be sure to pass your kind words on to the crew. They are passionate about snorkelling, diving, and sharing their knowledge of the reef, and they'll be delighted to hear they helped make your day so memorable. Thank you for joining us, and we hope to welcome you back on board for another reef adventure in the future!
Friendly, knowledgeable, and caring tour guides who gave the best experience to our small group. Thank you Ocean Free/Freedom!
Thank you for your kind words Winnie! We are so glad to hear you had the best experience travelling with our amazing crew! We hope to have you on board again soon! Thank you again!
We used the company when visiting Cairns in 2019 and had a great experience with an assisted scuba dive on that trip so I knew we wanted to use them again. This time we opted to snorkel only but it was another amazing experience from start to finish! The crew members are all so friendly and knowledgeable and the food served throughout the day exceeded our expectations. So many fresh fruits, veggies and breads as well as a variety of proteins. Having the opportunity to sail while also visiting the reef and green island was just what I was looking for. The day was perfect!!
Thank you for the great review, Marc! We are so honoured to hear that you decided to travel with us again all these years later. We are happy to hear that you had an excellent day for the second time round and enjoyed the food throughout the day. We hope that we can have you travel with us again and have you onboard for another perfect day!
The day was great due to the staff/crew. The weather wasn’t great and we were a little disappointed by the reef which was bleached. I’ve seen much better reefs and fish other places. But this is not the fault of the tour operators. They were terrific. And maybe a sunnier nice day would have helped.
Thank you for your review. We are so sorry to hear our reef sites did not meet your expectations. While some coral and reef may look bleached, a lot of the time the conditions of the weather can alter the vibrancy of the reef sites. As you had mentioned, a sunnier day would have definitely improved both the visibility and vibrancy of the reef. Hopefully you can travel with us again when the weather has cleared up!
Incredibly great experience! We had great weather and a fantastic sailing and snorkeling day. The super nice crew provided us with many valuable tips and knowledge about the reef. Green Island was a nice stop after lunch, but the highlight was the snorkeling. We could see many large colorful fish, turtles and reef sharks. The crew pointed out special spots in the reef (huge shells and small “nemos”). The food on board was really good - better than many restaurants in Touri places:) It was nice that only 22 guests (max 25) were on board, so it was not a mass event, as on other ships. We would book this tour again anytime!
Thank you for your kind words and amazing review. We are glad you had a wonderful day of sailing and snorkelling! It is great to hear you were able to see so many different marine life while you explored the reef with us! We hope to have you rebook with again again soon!
Mike, Rhys, Shea and Mia - the crew - were tireless in their efforts to please and keep everyone safe on the boat and in the water. Knowledgeable, friendly, enthusiastic and courteous to the nth degree, I cannot fault the trip nor the boat nor the crew. Excellent value for money. The trip was outstanding with just the right amount of people on board and I highly recommend this company for a memorable day at the Great Barrier Reef. Thank you!
Thank you for your high recommendation! It is a pleasure hearing you had an outstanding day with us. Mike, Reece, Shea and Mia will be pleased to know that their efforts made a difference! Our crew really love what they do, and are passionate about creating a safe, and fun experience with all our guests. We hope to see you again soon!
Excellent day at sea. Great food, kind and informative staff, beautiful sea life, two fun dives and snorkeling. Nice stop at Green island too. Couldn’t be any better
Thank you for your amazing review Daniel! We are so happy to hear you had an amazing day on board Ocean Free and exploring Green Island! We would love to have you travel with us again in the future!
Sail boat, staff and food great. We were devastated upon snorkeling to find bleached coral and very little sea life. Locals say there are a few spots left but overall the reef is damaged.
Hi Michael, Firstly sincere apologies for the delay in replying. Thank you for your feedback and wonderful to hear you enjoyed the sail, boat and staff. We are sorry that you didn’t find the reef to be as enjoyable. Not sure which locals you may have spoken? We actually have had minimal bleaching on our reef sites this year and all recovered so if you did see some bleached coral earlier in the year, this was transitory this year. The environmental stress where the Zooxanthellae leave the coral and the coral eventually appears white “bleached’ is often reversible when conditions change. Many live and healthy corals can also be various beige and brown colours with splatters of colour in others. Not sure if you went on any crew guided tours on the day so you could be shown the best parts of the reef. We have been going to our reef sites for 30 years and it goes through a few changes but has always shown its resilience so we sincerely do hope that you do return and give it anther go - reef experiences can vary hugely day to day so once is never enough and we can assure you the Great Barrier Reef is truly great - we hope to see you again in the future to prove it 😊
The crew was very friendly and helpful and the food was good. Since the conditions weren't great, we elected to not do a second dive since they weren't willing to try a different spot. The problem with taking their sailboat vs the catamaran, was the slow speed leaving much less time on the reef/island. I expected to actually sail, but we "motor sailed" there and back. As someone who understands sailing, we didn't... we just took a slower motorboat both ways. I'd recommend taking their cat "The Ocean Freedom"
Thank you for your review Richard. We are thrilled you enjoyed our crew's service and the food served. At our Ocean Free reef location, we do only have the one dive site that we are able to dive at. We do hope that you enjoyed your first dive with us. On the day that you travelled, I can see the winds were quite light, therefore the skipper may have made the decision to keep the engines on as low winds extend journey time. Being a smaller sailing vessel, we do always motor out in the morning to try to get you to the reef quicker and then in the afternoon, wind permitting, we will sail home, so we do apologise that we weren't able to offer you the sail experience on the day that you travelled. Thank you again for taking the time to leave a review and also the recommendation for our Ocean Freedom tour.
This was an amazing day trip! Our guides were fantastic, fun, and very knowledgeable of the reef and area around us. Mike, Storm, and Ryan were the best crew to have for this trip! The reef was amazing, and seeing green island was an added bonus. I highly recommend!
Hi Sally! We are thrilled to hear you had an amazing day with us on Ocean Free! Our crew take great pride in creating memorable reef experiences and its great to know that came through on your day! We hope to welcome you back again soon.
