10 day New Caledonia & Vanuatu and 7 day Queensland & The great Barrier Reef

We are sailing this February 2017 b2b on 10 day New Caledonia & Vanuatu and 7 day Queensland & The Great Barrier Reef and are looking for tour excursions and beach suggestions. We prefer to do private tours and are beach/snorkeling types. On the 10 day New Caledonia & Vanuatu we are sailing to Noumea, Mystery Island/Lifou, Port Vila, Champagne Bay, and Luganville. We are interested in going to Amadee Island and it would appear the only option is to go on the Princess Tour. I am trying to find a private tour but the one I found wants us to fill their catamaran and our roll call is not very active.

The 7 day Queensland & The Great Barrier Reef sails to Airlie Beach, Cairns, and Port Douglas. We definitely want to go to the GBR but really don't want to go on the Princess Tours that has hundreds of other passengers, but from everything that I have read this may be our only option as there does not appear to be enough time in any of the ports to do private smaller tours to the GBR. If anyone can suggest one that would work it would be greatly appreciated. Also can someone tell me which of the three ports would be the best one to go to GBR from. The Princess tour from Port Douglas has 300 people max and cost $319.95, from Cairns is 100 people max for $259.95 and from Airlie Beach is 250 people max for $299.95. All three tours are 7 hours long and by description appear to be the same, maybe going to different reefs. Also we are wanting to go to Whitehaven Beach and again it looks like with times in port the only option might only be the Princess Tour. Again if anyone can suggest a good private tour that would work it would be appreciated. We are looking at doing the Rainforest Cableway Kuranda & Scenic Railway on own. Is this doable with our times that we are in port.

One last question, all three ports on the 7 day cruise are tender ports. I am wondering how long are the tender rides for each port.

Thanks for all and any information that you can give me. Melanie

We have cruised to these ports many times. My suggestions:

Noumea - If you want to go to Amadee Island it is best to go with the ship because private tours often get back too late. Another suggestion here is to buy a local town & country tour in the cruise terminal.

Mystery Is - Tiny island, no tours. There is a small market and you can swim and snorkel but the coral isn't great.

Lifou - Jinek bay on the other side of the peninsula (walking distance probably 2km) has superb coral. Walk up the slope from where the jetty is, turn to the left, then take the first major turn on the right then down to the water.

Vila - I suggest going by taxi to Mele Cascades. It is absolutely gorgeous. Everyone leaves there with a smile. You can ask the driver to take you to the Chiefs' Meeting Houe, past Parliament House, to a lookout and through a village on the way. You have to pay entry into the Cascades. The last time we were there it was $20 AUD pp. You have to walk about 25-30 minutes and through a very shallow stream. Wear waterproof footwear and swimmers. The driver can drop you in town or back to the ship. Negotiate a price and pay at the end. The cost for the taxi should be about AUD$70 - $80 for the more than half day trip. You will have to haggle because unfortunately the taxi drivers try to take advantage of cruise ship passengers. If you end up paying what I suggest, it is still maybe ten times what they would normally earn.

Champagne Bay - Swim and snorkel. Maybe take a local tour to a blue hole. Last time we were there this was available, sitting in the back of an open truck. It was very cheap. You can swim in the blue hole, but you need reef shoes or similar to get to the water because you have to walk over old coral that is too uncomfortable to walk on with bare feet.

Luganville - See about a taxi or tour to the Blue Hole. Don't bother with the WWII equipment at Million Dollar Point unless you are a scuba diver.

Airlie Beach - I suggest either a ship's tour to Whitehaven Beach or to the Outer Reef. There is no time to go on a private tour because by the time you arrive, the tours will have left from Shute Harbour (maybe 20km from Airlie Beach). The tender trip here is probably 20 minutes or so in the boat.

Cairns - There is time from either Cairns (or Port Douglas) to do an independent trip to Kuranda.

Port Douglas - check if the ship is anchoring off Port Douglas or if it is spending two nights alongside the wharf in Cairns. That is what Princess has been doing with its Sun class ships, but I am not sure which ship you will be on. A company in Port Douglas, Reef Sprinter, does trips to the Outer Reef or to the reef at the Low Isles. I have done a couple of trips with these people and they are superb. The groups are small (12 or so people) and they use a jet boat that travels very fast. There is no likelihood of seasickness with this boat. The tender ride to Port Douglas is around half an hour and the open-ocean part can be rough.

I hope this helps. Please don't hesitate to ask any questions you might have.

We are sailing this February 2017 b2b on 10 day New Caledonia & Vanuatu and 7 day Queensland & The Great Barrier Reef and are looking for tour excursions and beach suggestions.

 

One last question, all three ports on the 7 day cruise are tender ports. I am wondering how long are the tender rides for each port.

Thanks for all and any information that you can give me. Melanie

I assume that this is the Sun Princess? Cairns is a docking port for her as far as I know. She gets in at 9am and leaves at 6pm. The other Queensland ports are tenders.

I would send the Cairns tourism folks an email on info@ttnq.org.au:

http://www.cairnsgreatbarrierreef.org.au/things-to-do/

They should be able to tell you the best way to hook up with private tours in Cairns and Port Douglas.

Sun Princess arrives Port Douglas at 8am and leaves 6pm.

There is a Wavedancer excursion from Port Douglas to the Low Isles departing 10am and back at 4:30pm.

Quicksilver have an excursion to the Outer Reef from Port Douglas that leaves at 10am and returns at 4pm.

To make either of those you would need some very early tender tickets.

Personally I found the Kuranda trip a bit tedious. Whitehaven beach is outstanding if you can get to it.

Jinek Bay at Lifou is wonderful for snorkeling and costs $10 or $15 per head ( I can't remember which). Mystery Island is OK so long as the weather is good. Both of those you tender to a beach and then walk. At Lifou there is a rather taxing walk to the church at the top of the hill. This is a view worth seeing. Take water.

The towns of Noumea, Luganville and Port Villa aren't really worth your time, so get out and into the countryside in those places.

Amadee is a long trip out and a long trip back. L'Escapade island may be an alternative.

Already some great tips

Also check out the ports of call section on CC. Is it the Solstice, if you have loyalty status that gives you priority which helps with the tendering.

Already some great tips

Also check out the ports of call section on CC. Is it the Solstice, if you have loyalty status that gives you priority which helps with the tendering.

The OP mentions 'Princess tours' so it would be either the Sun Princess or the Sea Princess.:)

The OP mentions 'Princess tours' so it would be either the Sun Princess or the Sea Princess.:)

Sorry missed the Princess reference,:o

The same applies for loyalty status for tenders being a help.:cool:

 

Jinek Bay at Lifou is wonderful for snorkeling and costs $10 or $15 per head ( I can't remember which). Mystery Island is OK so long as the weather is good. Both of those you tender to a beach and then walk. At Lifou there is a rather taxing walk to the church at the top of the hill. This is a view worth seeing. Take water.

 

I think it's $15 per head for either the morning or the afternoon, and they limit the numbers to 100 people at a time. Best to get there early.

The OP mentions 'Princess tours' so it would be either the Sun Princess or the Sea Princess.:)

I believe it would be the Sun Princess. She docks in Cairns on March 1st.

Thanks for all the replies and great suggestions. Yes we are on the Sun Princess. Sailing February 16 and 26. Our itinerary says Port Douglas as a tender port and Cairns does not say it is docking for the over night. Does anyone know how I might find out now if the ship will in fact stay at Cairns over night and not tender into Port Douglas? I just I could ask the question once on board at the start of our 10 days and hope that there is still some private tours to GBR still available out of Cairns or Port Douglas if the ship over nights in Cairns.

Also does anyone know if there are resorts that offer day passes in Port Villa or Champagne Bay? Also is Hideway Island in a Port Villa worth a visit or is Iririki Resort better?

I'm still hoping someone can give me some advise on the three GBR tours offered by Princess. I'm thinking that the smaller tour out of Cairns with only 100 would be better, less crowded but if anyone has taken any of these tours I would appreciate any feedback. Thanks again!:)

There are no resorts or even towns at Champagne Bay. In Port Vila you could go to either Hideaway or Irririki, but I still recommend going to the Mele Cascades. This is an incredible waterfall in the jungle where you can swim in pool under the falls. It is amazing.

On the GBR, if the tour from Cairns is to Green Island then I would not recommend it. The reef off the island is very ordinary. The one from Airlie Beach to a pontoon at Hardy Lagoon is superb. I would not be deterred by the larger number of people. If you are tendering into Port Douglas, or if you go by bus from Cairns (a bit over an hour on a beautiful coastal drive) I still recommend a trip with the Reef Sprinter people. You can find out on the internet what tours they are running and book. I am pretty sure you will not have to pay ahead. I know I didn't when I booked.:)

Thanks for all the replies and great suggestions. Yes we are on the Sun Princess. Sailing February 16 and 26. Our itinerary says Port Douglas as a tender port and Cairns does not say it is docking for the over night. Does anyone know how I might find out now if the ship will in fact stay at Cairns over night and not tender into Port Douglas? I just I could ask the question once on board at the start of our 10 days and hope that there is still some private tours to GBR still available out of Cairns or Port Douglas if the ship over nights in Cairns.

The current itinerary on the Princess website is showing Sun docking at Cairns during the day, departing 6pm, then a tender stop at Port Douglas.

One thing you could consider is staying off the ship that night. Get the shuttle bus to Port Douglas, it's only an hour or so away by road, and stay there a night. That would allow you to do an early tour to the GBR from Port Douglas and then rejoin the ship that afternoon. This company is excellent, and I think they get back to the marina around 4-4:30pm, in time to catch the tender back to the ship. http://www.wavelength.com.au/

The current itinerary on the Princess website is showing Sun docking at Cairns during the day, departing 6pm, then a tender stop at Port Douglas.

 

One thing you could consider is staying off the ship that night. Get the shuttle bus to Port Douglas, it's only an hour or so away by road, and stay there a night. That would allow you to do an early tour to the GBR from Port Douglas and then rejoin the ship that afternoon. This company is excellent, and I think they get back to the marina around 4-4:30pm, in time to catch the tender back to the ship. http://www.wavelength.com.au/

If you want to stay a night ashore, you have to ask Princess in advance for permission.:)

Does anyone know how I might find out now if the ship will in fact stay at Cairns over night and not tender into Port Douglas?

If you look here:

http://www.cairnsport.com.au/pdfs/cruise-arr-dep/CRUISESCHEDULE-2017.Nov14pdf.pdf

You will see that the Sun Princess is docked in Cairns on 1st March and leaves Cairns on March 1st. There is no overnighting. On March 2nd she is tendering at Port Douglas.

There are no resorts or even towns at Champagne Bay. In Port Vila you could go to either Hideaway or Irririki, but I still recommend going to the Mele Cascades. This is an incredible waterfall in the jungle where you can swim in pool under the falls. It is amazing.

 

On the GBR, if the tour from Cairns is to Green Island then I would not recommend it. The reef off the island is very ordinary. The one from Airlie Beach to a pontoon at Hardy Lagoon is superb. I would not be deterred by the larger number of people. If you are tendering into Port Douglas, or if you go by bus from Cairns (a bit over an hour on a beautiful coastal drive) I still recommend a trip with the Reef Sprinter people. You can find out on the internet what tours they are running and book. I am pretty sure you will not have to pay ahead. I know I didn't when I booked.:)

When in Port Vila we went to Mele Cascades and then on to Hideaway Island. We all enjoyed Hideaway Island but my husband and I thought the falls were a waste of money, crowded and not very picturesque.

The falls are probably good if you haven't seen many waterfalls before. I also don't like crowds, so that didn't help.

We met a couple who had spent the afternoon at Irririki and loved it, they also said there were only maybe 6 other cruise passengers there.

Thanks everyone for the great suggestions and steering me in the right directions. Appreciate all the replies!

Hi Melanie,

Just letting you know that at Port Vila the Cascades Waterfall is no longer operating.

After visiting Espiritu Santo (Lugunville and Champagne Bay) several times we decided that there was so much there that we wanted to see and do that we went in July for a week we enjoyed it so much that we are going again at Christmas.

From Lugunville there are several resorts you can visit and enjoy their facilities by buying a drink or having lunch.

In town The Espiritu, by taxi 200 vt to Village de Santo, Deco Stop Lodge and the Beachfront Resort.

A bit further probably 1000vt each way Oyster Island Resort.

Another thing we highly recommend is Island Fishing with Fabrice, he will arrange a taxi to collect you. We did his 1 hour Dugong spotting 1 hour snorkelling 2 hours Fishing and it was a great day.

We use Steve Rovu for our driver he would collect you from both ports.

He operates Santo Natural Tours.

From Champagne Bay you just take a local tour to a Blue Hole or visit Port Orly or Turtle Bay resort.

I hope you enjoy your cruise we too are cruising in February our 2nd time to PNG and have our fingers crossed that there are not to many cyclones around

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Hi Melanie,

Just letting you know that at Port Vila the Cascades Waterfall is no longer operating.

 

After visiting Espiritu Santo (Lugunville and Champagne Bay) several times we decided that there was so much there that we wanted to see and do that we went in July for a week we enjoyed it so much that we are going again at Christmas.

 

From Lugunville there are several resorts you can visit and enjoy their facilities by buying a drink or having lunch.

In town The Espiritu, by taxi 200 vt to Village de Santo, Deco Stop Lodge and the Beachfront Resort.

A bit further probably 1000vt each way Oyster Island Resort.

 

Another thing we highly recommend is Island Fishing with Fabrice, he will arrange a taxi to collect you. We did his 1 hour Dugong spotting 1 hour snorkelling 2 hours Fishing and it was a great day.

 

We use Steve Rovu for our driver he would collect you from both ports.

He operates Santo Natural Tours.

 

From Champagne Bay you just take a local tour to a Blue Hole or visit Port Orly or Turtle Bay resort.

 

I hope you enjoy your cruise we too are cruising in February our 2nd time to PNG and have our fingers crossed that there are not to many cyclones around

 

 

 

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Thanks for all the useful information!