Tuesday, 19 February 2013

The Great Barrier Reef with Great Adventures

The +Great Barrier Reef  what can I say they don't call it great for nothing. The worlds largest coral reef system spanning almost 2600 kilometres long (approx 1550 miles) made up of approx 2900 individual reef systems and 900 islands making it the worlds largest single structure made by living organisms and is visible from space! It is located in the Coral Sea off the coast of Queensland, +Australia .


Map of the Great Barrier Reef

Living in Cairns we are spoilt with options to visit the +Great Barrier Reef  so through out my blog I will be showing different ways you can explore the reef depending on what suits your needs.

I have decided to start with +Great Adventures - Cairns Great Barrier Reef & Green Island Tours outer reef option as I wanted something that would suit my children. Great Adventures travel to a platform which is like a man made island on the outer barrier reef. This is perfect for people who don't want to spend a huge amount of time in the water as there are several dry activities to participate in during the day.

Here is the way our day panned out:

We met at the Reef Fleet Terminal in Cairns at 9:45am, where we were greeted by the friendly Great Adventures Staff and received our boarding passes. Once on board the boat we were served tea & coffee while the crew ensured everything was ready for our 10:30am departure.

Our trusty steed for the day 'Reef King'

Once under way we had a short 45min trip to Green Island a 6000 year old coral cay island where we had a 15 minute stop to pick up some guests from the resort.


Pulling in to Green Island notice all of the coral in the water

Leaving Green Island we were offered a great range of cakes and slices on our 45 minute journey out to the platform located on Moore Reef. 


The Moore Reef Platform

We arrived at the platform at about 12:20pm and were greeted by 2 turtles as the boat was docking which got everyone pretty excited. The platform was quite spacious and was very well laid out with one end dedicated to snorkel and diving equipment, the other was the serving area for lunch, upstairs was the sundeck and underneath us was the underwater observatory.


Layout of the platform/pontoon

We decided that we would try some snorkeling first off and were helped into our gear by Hide (Hid-ae thought I would throw that in as my son was calling him hide as in seek all day) one of the Japanese instructors and set off to see what we could find. The reef was in good condition and we came across several different types of corals including Stag Coral, Plate Corals, Brain Corals and Boulder Corals along with plenty of marine life such as Hump Head Maori Wrasse, Parrot Fish, Coral Trout, Turtles and White Tip Reef Sharks.


Some Blade Corals, Stag Coral and Plate Corals


A Parrot Fish that has been chomping on the coral

After having a snorkel for about an hour we decided to head back for lunch. Lunch is a hot and cold buffet served on the platform served between 1-2:30pm.  You can choose to eat on the boat in the air conditioning or on platform in the breeze. The food was very good and plenty to choose from including mild curries, creamy potato, 4 different cold salads, fresh ham, prawns, chicken, pasta and rice dishes.


Lunch Time

While we were waiting for our lunch to settle we decided to have a go on the Semi Submersible tour which is a purpose built boat that you actually sit about 2 metres under the water and look out the sides as it takes you around the reef. Really cool experience as there is a marine naturalist giving commentary on what we were seeing. We were lucky enough to see a White Tip Reef Shark and tons of beautiful coral and fish.


Inside the Semi Sub (my flash did not work so this is one of the companies photos)

When we returned it was about 2:30pm so we jumped back in the water for another snorkel before we had to go. Just before we had to board the boat to go back home we went down and checked out the fish feeding from the underwater observatory. The underwater observatory is a big glass wall approx 15 metres long and 2 metres high underneath the platform. It looks straight out over the snorkeling area so it is like a massive aquarium.


Underwater Observatory (again sorry my flash didn't work so this is one of the companies pics)

After we watched the fish go crazy on the special fish food the instructors were giving them it was time to go. When boarding the boat we were offered Tea & Coffee and some cakes and slices for our return trip back to Cairns. Awesome day thanks some much to the staff at +Great Adventures - Cairns Great Barrier Reef & Green Island Tours 




Report Card

This trip is perfect for people who do not want to spend a lot of time in the water or for families with younger children. It offers plenty to do over the 3 hours that you are at the reef with the semi sub, snorkeling, underwater observatory, fish feeding and heli flights. The lunch had a great selection of hot and cold dishes and there was plenty for everyone. The staff were very good and helped out with everything.

The only drawbacks I see in this product is that the numbers are big up to 300 people on board and with the late departure you only get 3 hours actually at the reef, but in saying that it is perfect for people not wanting a long day out.

Besides that my family had an awesome time with +Great Adventures - Cairns Great Barrier Reef & Green Island Tours and will definitely recommend this to others.

Prices:
Adult - $208
Child - $107 (age 4 years - 14 years)
Family - $529 (2 adults & 2 children)
all prices include government taxes and levies































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