Barrier Reef - Later departure

I am arriving into Cairns at 8:00 AM on a cruise ship. Looks like most of the GBR tours leave at 7 or 8. Anybody know of a later one say 10:00 or so. A late return is no problem as we don't leave till noon the next day.

Sorry to tell you but there are no reef boats that leave after 9am in the morning. If you want to do the reef you will have to do a ship tour which in my opinion are rip offs.... but they have you over a barrel I'm afraid.

I am arriving into Cairns at 8:00 AM on a cruise ship. Looks like most of the GBR tours leave at 7 or 8. Anybody know of a later one say 10:00 or so. A late return is no problem as we don't leave till noon the next day.

What ship are you on? Some cruise ships have to anchor off and tender passengers ashore .

Seaourn

I am arriving into Cairns at 8:00 AM on a cruise ship. Looks like most of the GBR tours leave at 7 or 8. Anybody know of a later one say 10:00 or so. A late return is no problem as we don't leave till noon the next day.

For the general info of interested parties who search on this topic --

It is possible to charter one of the regular day boats. Takes some planning and effort but worked out great. We had a 10 AM docking (Oceania Sirena, March 11, 2017) and had a full charter of the Sea Star, a 35 passenger boat. Easy walk to their dock along the waterfront. Wonderful day. Because of the late arrival we went only to one reef site rather than their usual two but had ample time for snorkeling (3+ hours). We had two certified divers and they also had a glass bottom boat for the less adventurous. Wonderful weather, nice boat, excellent equipment, really nice staff, good food and drink. The reef edge was about 10 feet from the stern of the boat. Water calm and clear.

I had to arrange this well in advance before they began booking day trips. A deposit was necessary to secure the booking and final payment was made before we sailed. I had a core group of 10 and got the rest of the group filled out off the roll call without difficulty. The ship GBR tour was out of Airlie Beach and went to a barge. People complained of cloudy water and strong currents. Their cost was over three time ours.

Note - This might not work if you had to tender in here unless you had an awfully early arrival. Our ship cleared around 10 AM and we were all aboard the Sea Star and leaving the harbor by 10:45.

Robbie

Not that I think it's the best option, but there is a half-day tour to the Outer Reef that departs from Port Douglas (1hour north of Cairns) at 1pm on Reef Sprinter.

See: http://www.reefsprinter.com.au/

For the general info of interested parties who search on this topic --

 

It is possible to charter one of the regular day boats. Takes some planning and effort but worked out great. We had a 10 AM docking (Oceania Sirena, March 11, 2017) and had a full charter of the Sea Star, a 35 passenger boat. Easy walk to their dock along the waterfront. Wonderful day. Because of the late arrival we went only to one reef site rather than their usual two but had ample time for snorkeling (3+ hours). We had two certified divers and they also had a glass bottom boat for the less adventurous. Wonderful weather, nice boat, excellent equipment, really nice staff, good food and drink. The reef edge was about 10 feet from the stern of the boat. Water calm and clear.

 

I had to arrange this well in advance before they began booking day trips. A deposit was necessary to secure the booking and final payment was made before we sailed. I had a core group of 10 and got the rest of the group filled out off the roll call without difficulty. The ship GBR tour was out of Airlie Beach and went to a barge. People complained of cloudy water and strong currents. Their cost was over three time ours.

 

Note - This might not work if you had to tender in here unless you had an awfully early arrival. Our ship cleared around 10 AM and we were all aboard the Sea Star and leaving the harbor by 10:45.

 

Robbie

Robbie, can you give me details please? Name, number, email and or website please.

Seastarcruises.com.au has all the contact info. Also, check TripAdvisor for reviews.

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We did the reef sprinter tour to the low isles from Port Douglas. Left at 11am. Was excellent. Saw lots of coral, turtles and others in our group.saw a large octopus and reef sharks.

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