Great Barrier Reef Activity Platform with Snorkeling from Cairns

Boat crew and trip to reef were excellent and covered all safety aspects. However we were very disappointed with the barrier reef experience, water murky, reef dying so not many fish. Disappointed overall.

Great fun adventure that is very well organized and provides many options to enhance the Great Barrier Reef experience. The submersible tour is a must!

When we departed to the reef, a little round sticker was used to differentiate which group are heading to the reef or the green island. This needs improvement to better separation to avoid confusion. The crews are very professional and helpful. Kudo to them!

Ok. So there is some good some bad and some meh. First off our tour on sunlovers was canceled with no notice so this company saved the day on that. We booked same day on the spot. Very grateful. Generally the staff was overwhelming nice and the food was good. They come around with the sea scooters to get you to buy the package. We wanted it but they informed us “visibility may be affected but they didn’t know how bad” ok perfect I appreciated the transparency. Our party had to go staggered due to our kids so I asked if one could go first and then if the visibility was decent/ there at all the other could book. I was told there was a wait list and if we did this the second person would be left out. Well that was a big fat lie as they only had one person per rotation booked (except 2 people on one) and each could hold many more than one. Call it high level sales I call it dishonesty about scarcity to get me to buy but whatever. The visibility was low but it was not their fault and I found it worth it anyways to try this scooter thing. The bad. We have two three year olds. One is special needs so I brought my milk for her bottle and had enough but filled her last bottle come around 3pm. My other child decided she needed milk too because her sister had some. Anyone with kids will get this. So I took a 4/5 ounce water cup and put literally 1 ounce maybe 1.5 ounces max of milk from the coffee station into said cup (I could have drank this in one sip) just to avoid a complete meltdown which would have affected the entirety of the customers on the boat. The nasty lady named Jess behind the counter stated to me that the “milk is for customers for coffee and tea only.” I responded and said ok I only have a little here and showed her to which she responded “well guess it doesn’t matter now does it since you already did it.” If I had coffee which I did not this is the amount of milk I would have put in my coffee. So for the $1500 I spent to be on this tour with my family I think I should be entitled to an ounce of milk sans coffee, not to mention after the last round of coffee was served I saw plenty of milk in the fridge when I bought my wine and they probably had more in the back. So this was 1000% not an issue of milk scarcity. Now if I had filled up a jug I would have understood her point, but an ounce? Anyways I did sarcastically comment back to her how ridiculous this position was but I did not appreciate her ignorance or rudeness for literally no reason. Another employee was very nice and said that was not the policy but she still caused me aggravation and embarrassment as I was just trying to keep my three kids content to avoid bothering other customers with this ONE ounce of milk. They also have a semi-sub which was cool. Overall I would come back to do green island and to see the reefs on a clearer day if I can ever make it to this side of the world again. Ideally Jess will not be working the ice cream stand but she’s easily avoided.

There are many opportunities to explore the reef. In general, good staff and crew. Was not feeling well. The smell of the hir buffet was making me nauseous. There was fresh fruit at the end of the buffet. I asked if I could just go to the end for fruit, but was refused. I would have been given more consideration if I had puked.

This is very organized and well communicated. Lunch was good. The snorkeling was ok. There were pretty fish but not quite what we had hoped for but it was still a great experience.

This is a once in a lifetime experience !! The Great Barrier Reef is obviously the star of the show ! This excellent Tour Company provided the “space” to really experience all that the Reef has to offer: several hours on the Reef, with time in the water as well to rest, eat, and learn about the marine biology. - - Great Staff, excellent facilities, and many options to scale up your experience, depending on budget/ interest level. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT !! 🙂

We booked this excursion because it advertised that it was a seven hour excursion with a meeting time of 7:30am. Doing the math, that would have the tour ending at 2:30pm , plenty of time to get back to our ship with a 4:15 pm onboard deadline. Well, we checked in the evening before to verify timelines and the cruise operator was nowhere to be found. However the operator in the booth next to it told us that the tour ended around 5:00 pm and that it would be likely that we would miss the boarding deadline which would force as to get to Sydney on our own expense. I called Viator to either cancel or find another tour that might work with our schedule. They said that they would talk to the tour operator and would get back to us. We heard nothing back until the next morning around 8:00 am . The night previous we decided to book the ship’s version of the tour which picked us up at the ship which eliminated the tendering and shuttle service we would need on top of the time we would be dropped in Cairs. This tour was twice the cost but we weren’t going home without being able to see the GBR. The tour company and Viator after the fact would not refund since we booked another tour off the ship. Pretty lame excuse when they provide no information on how long their tour really takes and how it would impact cruisers. A little information about this would have gone a long way from preventing the loss of dollars we had to incur. Cruisers - be vary cautious purchasing a non-cruise ship excursion for Cairns.

1 extra star for it’s only positive: still not worth it! Pros- only later trip 10:30 going out of terminal to outer reef. Cons- First day: I am a PADI scuba instructor on the states and I was set up with a dive master and a beginner while I awaited for him to complete a “re demonstration of skills” normally taught by an instructor like myself for a fully flooded face mask and a partially flooded face mask. Instead we waited an extended amount of time for him to complete her re demonstration on a platform under a pontoon. On the reef we were continually being bogged down as the DM Vinnie pulled her afloat on top of the corals by her scuba tank the entire time. I complained to Eve the manager who seamed to be the only one that cared at the company who refunded 1 tank for the poorly planned mixup due to “lack of instructors” Day 2: we booked a trip back to reef as Eve recognized that it was not a good matchup up to old and new divers to only find that they booked us to green island not back to outer reef. I then met Shannon “the not so helpful manager” whom stated the trip to outer reef was full. Unprepared, unplanned, and not consistent for the nature of a dive company, I have not made up my mind for the next step in my complaint process as Shannon seamed not helpful.

This is our 2nd adventure out to the Green Island and the Outer Banks Pontoon and it just doesn't dispoint. Last year it was just us, this time we brought four more friends! Efficient and professional, they run a tip top ship excursion. Everything is provided for you, just bring your sunblock and towel. Lots to do on the pontoon and the lunch had a lot of variety.

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