CAIRNS
Boats fill and courses cap out, so the good scuba diving trips go weeks ahead. Below: the 13 to book early, what each includes, and how they differ.
Review of Cairns’ Great Barrier Reef cruise, with two outer reef stops, snorkeling, scuba options, lunch, safety, pricing, and practical tips.
“An amazing experience, I’ve never been on a scuba trip this nice and organized. The number of staff, the cleanliness of the boat. Everyone was helpful and organized. Very safe experience. The food was delicious!”
Review of Ocean Freedom’s Cairns reef cruise, with two snorkel sites, glass-bottom viewing, guided swims, meals, costs, and practical tips.
“Awesome guides, wide stable boat. Glass bottom boat was a great experience as was the snorkeling. Food on board, just needed to bring a towel and swimmers.”
Review of Divers Den’s Cairns reef day trip, with two outer reef sites, snorkeling, scuba options, meals, equipment, value, and practical tips.
“Brilliant day out with 2 hours snorkelling in 2 different locations we saw all sorts of bright coloured fish giant clams coral reefs white tipped fin sharks and a whale shark apparently quite rare to see . our guides and all the staff on board were amazing very informative about the coral reef health and safety was paramount we had a delicious lunch on board too”
Spend six hours at Upolu Reef from Cairns with snorkeling, optional scuba, glass-bottom viewing, a generous lunch, and expert marine guides.
“Highly recommend this GBR tour! Our skipper Blair and crew were top notch, and even on a full capacity boat, they were very hospitable and interacted great with everyone on board. Snacks, drinks and beers to purchase were a perfect addition, and the lunch and appetizers were also very refreshing. Both stops at this particular part of the reef are conserved by this company, meaning there was plenty of animal activity and great sights even during the rainy season when coral often changes to green/brown color due to warm conditions. Every crew member was knowledgeable and helpful to those that needed assistance or weren’t great swimmers. Glass bottom boat tour…”
Review of Reef Magic’s Cairns reef tour, with snorkeling, glass-bottom boats, lunch, marine science, costs, tips, and honest drawbacks.
“This is a good tour to exloer the GBR. If you like snorkeling and dive, you can get more out of the trip.”
Spend nine hours at two Great Barrier Reef sites with snorkeling, optional scuba, lunch, marine science, and Indigenous culture.
“Great day out, great staff and good value for money”
Silverswift takes you from Cairns to three outer reef sites for snorkeling, scuba, meals, expert help, and a full day on the Great Barrier Reef.
“Don't forget sunscreen. The food was good and the reef was better. The staff was friendly and knowledgeable. It was really fun!”
Review of Cairns Reef Experience: two reef sites, one included scuba session, unlimited snorkelling, meals, transfers, and practical tips.
“Andrés and Santiago were my guides for the dive and they were amazing. They held the audience together through the technicalities with humour.”
Review of Ocean Spirit’s 8.5-hour cruise from Cairns to Michaelmas Cay, with snorkeling, optional scuba, semi-submersible viewing, food, and practical tips.
“Fabulous experience and so worth it to do the guided snorkel tour for the extra money. We ended up with Jayden as our private guide for just my husband and me and she knew where all the special fish, blue starfish giant clams etc were and Read more”
Review of Dreamtime Dive and Snorkel in Cairns, including reef sites, Indigenous culture, food, safety, price, and practical tips.
“This experience is amazing. The attention to safety, the cultural talks and the crew is 10+ highly recommended this company”
Earn your PADI Open Water certification in four days with pool training, reef sessions, equipment, transfers, and four Great Barrier Reef descents.
“Fantastic! Catalina, my instructor, was great. Knowlegeable, professional and fun. Safety is a priority and I have discovered a new passion.”
Learn scuba skills in four days, then earn PADI certification with four Great Barrier Reef sessions, small groups, transfers, and lunch.
“Frankly is the most knowledgeable, funny, and entertaining instructor I could’ve imagined. the way he explains the open water course makes complicated topics simple, couldn’t have asked for a better instructor! the food on the boat was goRead more”
Review of Pro Dive Cairns’ 3-day Great Barrier Reef liveaboard, with 11 scuba sessions, 19 sites, meals, costs, and practical tips.
“Had the best time with pro dive cairns. We also got offered extra courses on the live a board which was an unexpected bonus. Great staff awesome food and fun people to hang out with. Not to mention the great dive sites too!”
Pick a coast, a depth or a licence.
