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Took a Day Off From Being a Cairns Tour Specialist and Headed to The Great Barrier Reef with Kate From Great Adventures!

2 in 1 Great Barrier Reef Adventure Deal

No I did not throw a sickie I would never do that to my bosses as I love and value my job too much, instead as one of the perks of being a Cairns Tour Specialist I get to go out to the Great Barrier Reef for free famils all year round so I can increase my product knowledge and tell all of our lovely guests about the intrical details of the day and night tours and all the things to see and things to do in and around Cairns.

A group of other tour agents and myself decided to accept the kind invitation from Kate and treat ourselves to a day out with Great Adventures on their 2 in 1 Great Adventure Deal  where we got to spend some time on beautiful Green Island and then board the boat again and head to the outer Barrier Reef to the multi-level platforms where all the water toys were awaiting us to come and play.

Kate our Great Adventures host certainly gave us a day to remember. Boarding the 8:30am boat we cruised over to the ancient island called Green Island in style and comfort. A couple of travel agents in our group decided they wanted to scuba-dive and Helmet dive to see what was swimming amongst the coral today.  They were given the introductory dive safety briefing and filled out their medical forms to see if they were fit and able to dive, while the remainder of us took photos of the majestic rainforest mountains and the two magnificent rainbows that covered the marina as we moved on out towards Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

We tucked into some morning tea, before arriving 45 minutes later at the pretty little island. The day was certainly beginning to happen on the island with dive and snorkel shops, cafes, restaurants, bar and swimming pool all opening for business to greet all the day tour guests to the island and to kit them out for the adventures that lay ahead of them.

We decided we wanted to stretch our legs and go for a beach walk and rainforest stroll, so off we went to explore this lush green island. As we walked along the sandy beach the water was crystal clear despite the high wind knots that were forecast for the day. People were already popping on their snorkels and flippers and making their way into the water to check out some colourful fringing coral that surrounds the cay. We walked on to have a look at the beautiful moss rocks that were submerged out of the water and take some memorable post card worthy photos.

Marineland Melanesia

Before long we decided to venture in and watch the crocodile feeding show at Marineland Melanesia. This marine park is filled with interesting artefacts, marine life and of course some of the most ferocious captive crocodiles in the world, including a guy called Cassius, the oldest and the largest captive crocodile in the world at 5.48-metres who was caught in the Finniss River in the Northern Territory of Australia in the 1980s.  The Marineland Melanesia tour guide gave everyone the opportunity to hold a baby saltwater crocodile, which in actual fact seemed to actually enjoy all the attention funnily enough!

Scenic Flight over the Great Barrier Coral Reef System

We went to the café and grabbed ourselves some coffees and a snack before making our way to the Helicopter pad. Yes, we were in for a treat, a scenic flight over Australia’s Great Barrier Reef – yay! Instead of taking the boat to the outer Barrier Reef pontoon with all of the other day tour guests we were taken in rock star style by helicopter and it was just simply stunning! As the helicopter took off the views stretched out over the ancient sand cay Green Island and all its surrounding coral. We made our way over another sand cay that offered vibrant aqua blue coral colours and a sunny white sand beach. We had our eyes peeled for ocean spray as it is that special time of year again when the giant Humpback and Dwarf Minke Whales a moving about our local waters, however on this occasion we were not serenaded with a dancing whale show. Just before we were due to land on the outer reef platform a blanket of white cloud and water spray covered our helicopter, this was really amazing to be within this rain cloud so far up.

Outer Barrier Reef

Once on the stable platform we had a variety of water activities to choose from to begin with. We decided to have lunch first filling our plates with fresh salads, seafood’s, curry, vegie and potato bakes and much more. We were then eager to enter the water and start our own snorkelling adventure. Once our masks hit the water we were introduced to an underwater biosphere of tropical fish, pretty coral and an entire living natural world of beauty. The shallow coral beds offered striking yellows, blues, purples and even some red coral, while the deeper coral displayed cooler colours. The Great Barrier Reef is Home to over 1500 different species of tropical fish and other species and Kate and I were eager to see as much of it as possible. We swam out to discover some large cliff face coral with Butterfly, Clown Fish, schools of Groupers and Cods, as well as colourful Parrotfish feeding amongst the vegetation. The underwater photographer was making his rounds and taking photos of all the swimmers, including Kate and I. Along beside him swam ‘Wally’ the giant Maori Wrasse fish as seen posing in the photo with Kate and I. Wally has to be one of the most photographed fish in the world as he is a famous photo bomber. We spotted some Scuba-Doo riders and thought we would say hello, and it just so happened to be our fellow travel agent friends. We also spotted our other travel companions deep down below us in amongst the coral experiencing an introductory scuba dive – awesome everyone was having so much fun.

Once everyone was done with the in-water activities we decided to dry off and jump on board the semi-submersible submarine.

We entered a spacious air-conditioned cabin with 360 degrees of glass window. In the middle of the cabin was a large ottoman that everyone sat on whilst on the tour. The guide provided commentary of the reef and pointed out some amazing soft and hard corals as well as even more reef fish that we hadn’t found while swimming. This tour is not only ideal for people who want to learn as much as they can about the reef but also for those who are non-swimmers and want to experience the underwater Great Barrier Reef and stay dry.

Our trip home was comfortable and relaxing. We checked out all our photos that the underwater photographer had taken of us and tucked in to a delicious ice-cream. Tea and coffee was served and cheese and crackers brought around to everyone.

This was by far one of the most amazing Great Barrier Reef day tours that I have encountered in many years. Thank you to the fantastic company Quicksilver and the endless activities on offer and I will be sure to recommend this to my clients, family and friends for the years to come. Thanks to Kate and the Great Adventures team for a day to remember you guys are simply amazing and have thought of absolutely everything!

This Great Barrier Reef tour is fantastic for professional scuba divers, introductory divers, families with babies and tennagers, total non-swimmers, snorkelling beginners and advanced swimmers.

There is so much to see and do on this day tour it is the best value Great Barrier Reef tour in Cairns guaranteed

For Bookings and in enquiries about this tour please contact The Tour Specialists, Click Here.

***The Cairns Tour Specialists Tip***

Perfect for those on a time schedule, however still want to see it all and do it all on the Great Barrier Reef. Visit a beautiful tropical island and then see the awesome outer Barrier Reef all in one day at a great price!

Author: Madeleine Lovey – Cairns Holiday Specialists Tour Specialist