Ocean Freedom: Great Barrier Reef Stylish Snorkel, Dive Reef Tour
Description
Enjoy the most guest-oriented Great Barrier Reef tour aboard a fast travelling stylish and comfortable catamaran from Cairns! A "barefoot luxury" and stylish snorkel and dive experience, visiting 2 very different and unique Great Barrier Reef Sites. "Wonder Wall" on the outer edge Upolu Reef and Upolu Cay reef area - an aquarium style coral garden with the most beautiful clear blue azure waters. Spend six hours (more than any other reef tour) to snorkel or scuba dive (see options below) these Green Zone Marine Park highly protected areas. Absolutely no rush in the day. Enjoy complimentary Glass- Bottom Boat tour (subject to sea conditions) and Adventure Drift Snorkel tours with your onboard marine naturalist. This cruise is limited to 75 guests, ensuring quality customer service and passenger comfort. An all day "feel good" reef tour - come and experience our hospitality - we would love the opportunity for you to travel with our local family reef tours!
Tour Options
Itinerary
After check-in board the vessel, grab a coffee, a Danish pastry, fresh fruit & settle in. After just over an hour we arrive at our first Great Barrier Reef destination - the beautiful "Wonder Wall " on the outer edge of Upolu reef. Snorkel, SCUBA (extra) this stunning Great Barrier Reef site teaming with fish and marine life. Experience an informative complimentary Glass Bottom Boat & Adventure Drift Snorkel tour with our very attentive guides. After a morning of activities enjoy a large scrumptious lunch as we cruise to Upolu Cay. Snorkel this "coral garden" tropical oasis - look out for turtles & sting rays! When conditions allow you can even land on this glistening white coral Cay! Enjoy six hours of snorkelling, relaxing between these 2 uniquely different reef sites. After a magical day we return to Cairns serving fresh fruit, cheese and crackers and cake arriving back in Cairns by around 4.15 pm . We are thrilled to now have you as part of our ever growing Ocean Freedom family!
Our Marine Guides will enthrall you on a reef and marine life discovery on an a highly informative and engaging Adventure Snorkel Tour and Glass Bottom Boat Tour at our two unique Upolu Reef sites - "Wonder Wall" on the Outer Edge Upolu Reef and our "Aquarium" coral garden reef site amongst the beautiful shallow, azure coloured waters of Upolu Cay Reef. These sites are in Marine Park highly protected zones where no fishing is allowed, hence the abundance of fish and marine life. Come and find your favourite Hollywood Nemo character! With 6 hrs of actual un-rushed reef time you have plenty of time to do both complimentary activities and continue exploring yourself under the guidance of our attentive crew!
Ocean Freedom travels to two Great Barrier Reef sites - "Wonder Wall" on the Outer Edge of Upolu reef (a truly magnificent snorkel and dive site) and Upolu Cay Reef - a beautiful shallow turquoise coral garden site. Upolu Cay site is truly magnificent - picture a coral garden reef with lots of colourful reef fish darting in and out of the staghorn coral as you snorkel in these crystal clear shallow waters surrounding Upolu Cay. Look out for turtles popping to the surface for a breath of air, stingrays eagerly scouring the bottom for food. Sometimes you can stand thigh deep on the Cay in the middle of the ocean, other days we can land on this glistening white beautiful coral cay - each day a little mystery of nature but always we have the stunning turquoise waters to snorkel in and around this magnificent Great Barrier Reef area. Make sure you have your camera ready for this truly picturesque site!
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- A maximum of 75 people ensures a unique and personalized experience
- The order in which the snorkeling and dive sites are visited may changes as it is dependent on the conditions on the day
- 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.
- The operation of the Glass-Bottom Boat Tour is subject to weather conditions and may not operate in rough seas.
- 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 prior to day of travel . 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(2,001)
We had an excellent time. The staff is really great: smiling, very careful with everyone, paying special attention to those who need any help. We had plenty of time for snorkeling and admire the reef and the beautiful fauna. If there were to be only a minus, the boat feeled a little overpacked. But to be honest it did not really affect our experience.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us! We’re delighted to hear that you had an excellent time and that our team made you feel well cared for. It’s wonderful to know you had plenty of time to enjoy snorkeling and discover the reef and its beautiful marine life. Thank you again for joining us—we hope to welcome you back for another wonderful day on the reef!
If its your first time doing snorkelling/ scuba diving, look no further! OceanFreedom has been the sweet supporting crew who made my first ever dive and snorkelling experience unforgettable! A small crew with about 30 people per boat, they take care of you well throughout. Loved the experince and would recommend them over and over again!
Thank you for your amazing review and recommendation! We are happy to hear we were able to give you such a memorable experience on board Ocean Freedom. We would love to have you join us on board again should you even find yourself in Cairns again!
Excellent friendly staff, very accommodating (they gave 1:1 snorkeling tour to my daughter who was afraid of the water), lots of staff members to help, everything was seemless and the snorkeling spots were really good. The boat was clean and lots of seating space.
Thank you for your kind words! We are so glad to hear your daughter was able to enjoy an amazing 1:1 snorkelling tour with one of our awesome crew members! We hope we can have you all join us on board Ocean Freedom again soon!
The crew was really helpful and the experience was easy and fun. The sea was calm when i went and the boat had ample room
Thanks for the review James! We are so happy to hear you had a lovely day out on the reef with Ocean Freedom and our crew! Hopefully we can have you join us on board again in the future!
I booked this tour for my husband & son who wanted to SCUBA for this excursion. They had gone on another vessel the day before for SCUBA and they thought Ocean Freedom was by far a better experience. Larger more comfortable boat, shorter boat ride, and scuba staff that let them explore more. They were worried about being on a bigger boat and having it be crowded with people but there was plenty of room to spread out.
We are so happy to hear you and your family had such an amazing time with us on Ocean Freedom! Our crew will be ecstatic to hear your husband and son had a great time diving with us! Thank you for your fabulous review, we truly appreciate your kind words.
✨ A day we are not about to forget… 🐠🐢🐋 Today, we created one of our best memories of this world tour: discovering the Great Barrier Reef. 💙 As often, we had booked this excursion via Booking, with the company Ocean Freedom… and honestly, we can only recommend it to you. We had chosen their catamaran and, at the start, we had a little apprehension regarding the size of the boat. Finally, the sailing was very pleasant and everything was thought out so that everyone would have an excellent day. What impressed us the most? The team. ❤️ With children, they were incredibly kind: always available, smiling, attentive… A real favorite. As for the meal, it was also perfect: breakfast at boarding, snacks, hearty lunch, fruit, cheese, cakes… Impossible to be hungry! The most powerful moment will undoubtedly remain my very first scuba dive. 🤿 I was lucky to be accompanied by Paul, a French instructor who immediately put me at ease. Doing your first dive on the Great Barrier Reef… it is simply magical. ✨ The sea was calm, we observed turtles, thousands of multicolored fish… and even whales in the distance! 🐋 The girls, for their part, were like little fish in water. They also loved the glass-bottom boat trip and the explanations on the protection of this exceptional environment. A real awareness, fun and exciting. A detail that particularly touched us: at one point, the sea got a bit rough and, knowing that I wasn't completely comfortable, the captain asked a member of his team to stay with us to ensure our safety. This kind of attention makes all the difference. In short... if you are passing through Cairns, go for it with Ocean Freedom. For us, this day will remain one of the most beautiful of our trip. 💙 An absolutely exceptional experience with Ocean Freedom. If you are traveling with family and are hesitating about which company to choose to discover the Great Barrier Reef, we recommend them to you with our eyes closed. As soon as we arrived on board, we were impressed by the kindness, professionalism, and especially the attentiveness of the entire team. With children, it is really reassuring: they take their time, they observe, they accompany you, and you feel that safety is their priority without ever taking away from the pleasure of the experience. Special mention to Paul and Mary, who speak French and were wonderful. I did my very first dive with Paul: it's hard to imagine a better place for a first experience! He was extremely reassuring, patient, and professional. A huge thank you also to Anna, who accompanied us in the water. A passionate person, incredibly kind, who even came back to see us afterward to make sure everything had gone well. ❤️ And what can I say about the captain! Incredible attention toward the passengers. At a time when the sea was rougher and we were less comfortable with the children, he immediately asked a member of his team to accompany us personally in the water. We felt completely safe. The rest of the team deserves just as much praise: everyone is smiling, available, and attentive. The organization is excellent from start to finish, the boat is very pleasant, and the food is really very good and abundant: breakfast, snacks, lunch, fruit, cheese, cakes... We didn't lack anything! We saw turtles, a huge number of fish, and even whales. The children also loved the glass-bottom boat and the team's explanations about the Great Barrier Reef and its preservation. We have traveled a lot and taken many excursions, and this one is clearly among our best family experiences.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share such a beautiful and heartfelt review. ❤️ It truly means the world to the entire Ocean Freedom team to know that your day on the Great Barrier Reef became one of the highlights of your round-the-world adventure. 🐠🐢🐋 It was an pleasure having your family on board, and we’re happy to hear that everyone had such a wonderful time and felt comfortable in the water. Seeing children discover and appreciate the reef is one of the most rewarding parts of what we do. Paul, Marie and Anna will be delighted to hear your kind words. And congratulations again on completing your very first scuba dive! 🤿 What a special place to experience such an important first. We’re also so pleased that you felt safe and well looked after throughout the day. Creating a relaxed, welcoming and safe environment for every guest—especially families—is something our whole team cares deeply about. Thank you once again for choosing Ocean Freedom and for trusting us with such a special day. We hope the memories of your first dive, the turtles, colourful fish and whales stay with you for many years to come. 💙 It was a pleasure having you with us, and we would absolutely love to welcome your family back on board one day!
Absolutely fantastic day out with the best crew on a cracker of a boat. Quality snorkelling gear and wetsuits to use for the day. Honestly we were all fed very well with great lunch, cake, fruit and cheese and crackers. The day out had 2 stops with plenty of time to enjoy the water and the reef and a tour on a glass bottomed boat which was fabulous. I recommend highly. Just do it!
Thank you for the kind words Anita! We are so glad you loved our boat as much as we do! It's great to hear that you enjoyed the yummy lunch as we know swimming on the reef can definitely work up an appetite. We are happy to know you had such a fabulous day and we really appreciate your recommendation!
I recently had time in Cairns and took several trips to the reef. This was the standout best trip. Ocean Freedom doesn't have the facilities of the pontoon owning companies but they have the best crew - knowledgeable, friendly, so helpful. Everything is made easy - some other trips there were assumptions that visitors knew what to do, knew where everything was etc. Ocean Freedom's crew make sure everyone can get the most from their day. They have two fantastic sites for seeing the coral. The drift snorkel tour with one of the crew was brilliant. I enjoyed this day so much that I cancelled what I had planned the following day to go out with Ocean Freedom again.
We really appreciate your kind words about our crew! We are so happy to hear you were able to get the best out of your day exploring the Great Barrier Reef AND decided to cancel your plans to join us again the next day for another amazing day snorkelling with us! Hopefully we can have you join us on board again in the future!
Wonderful experience! The crew members are exceptional! My husband who can't swim was specifically taken out for the ocean snorkelling by this wonderful lady crew. My husband is 78 years old & he said he never dreamt that he could be able to swim in the Pacific Ocean! I won't hesitate to recommend this tour.
Thank you so much for sharing such a beautiful review! It truly means a lot to our entire Ocean Freedom crew. We’re absolutely delighted to hear that your husband had the opportunity to experience snorkeling in the Pacific Ocean at 78 years old. It was our pleasure to support him and help make the experience comfortable, safe, and memorable. Seeing guests discover that they can enjoy the Great Barrier Reef in their own way is one of the most rewarding parts of what we do. Thank you for your kind words about our crew and for recommending Ocean Freedom. We hope to welcome you both back for another wonderful reef adventure!
A great experience. We were well looked after by Bruce and his crew.
Thank you so much for your kind review ! We are stoked to hear you felt looked after throughout the day and hope to welcome you back onboard in the future!
