GBR...Cairns or Port Douglas

[Guest caribcruzin]

We will be doing an 8 day land tour prior to our cruise. We will be spending 3 days/nights in Cairns. Does anyone have any recommendations about which location has better access to the Great Barrier Reef? We are not sure which company to book for this adventure. Better to go off Port Douglas or off Cairns? Thanks for the help!

[ErinH1]

Judy,

 

Sounds about like our trip in Jan. '07 (4 nights). I spent more time than I'd like to admit pondering where to stay/what to do in the short time we visited the Cairns/GBR area. Here's a link to a post from earlier that might help you.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=412317

 

We stayed at the Sheraton in Pt. Douglas which was nice, but we didn't have time to enjoy the place due to being on all-day excursions which start at 7 a.m. and come back around 5-6 p.m. We did enjoy going into the town of Pt. Douglas each night for dinner. However, be forewarned that the only businesses open after 5 p.m. are restaurants. Then we moved to accommodations just outside of Cairns, in Yorkeys Knob. Again, did all-day tourist trips so weren't in the room much. We never did make it into the town of Cairns. From all my research on various message boards, most people didn't have a lot of positive things to say about Cairns. But from people we spoke with on the trip they enjoyed Cairns, so I wish we'd been able to take a look ourselves.

 

If you do a search on this board, you'll find some more info & opinions.

[Aussie Gal]

We have been up to Port Douglas and Cairns many times since the mid 80's and I would always suggest staying in Port Douglas. We have always caught the catamaran to the reef from there and there is such a variety of accommodation and things to do in that lovely town.

 

If you do have a few days to spare you could visit the Daintree, Mosman Gorge etc. They are all within an hours drive from Port Douglas.

 

Cairns is a bustling city and can be very hot and humid from November to April whereas Port Douglas is on the ocean and gets the breezes.

 

Jennie

[aussie52]

We did the cruise to the Agincourt Reef a few years ago. It left from Cairns and called in at Palm Cove and then Port Douglas. Cairns is interesting to look at but our favourite place to stay is Palm Cove - half way between Cairns and Port Douglas. On the beach so nice breezes.

[TexasSonny&Cher]

We wanted to stay some place close to Cairns, but not in the city, so we decided on Palm Cove. We were there in February 2007 and found a wonderful little place called Allassio On The Beach-Palm Cove. They were nice little apartments that were less expensive than the hotels. We overlooked the ocean and each apartment had its own hot tub on the balcony. About 30 minutes from the dock in Cairns and 10 minutes from the Kuranda SkyRail, it was still close enough to Port Douglas that we went there for dinner 2 nights.

 

Try Palm Cove, you won't be sorry.

Pat

[SelectSys]

Another vote for Palm Cove. We stayed there a while back and liked the location. We didn't like going into Cairns much at all. No real charm or interest and no beaches. We visited Port Douglas to catch the Quicksilver Cat for a day trip on the reef. Although we didn't spend too much time in Port Douglas - just an evening after the reef trip - I would pick it over Cairns.

[Guest caribcruzin]

Thank you to everyone for the replies. I must have asked the question wrong though. I was not asking about accomodations. I was asking about going to the Great Barrier Reef. I wondered if it was better to go with a company that leaves out of Cairns or Port Douglas. We are snorkelers only. I have heard and read some negative reviews about Quicksilver out of Port Douglas. I see that there are many companies that go from Port Douglas as well as some that go from Cairns. Is it preferrable to go from one or the other as long as you are getting to the outer reef? How about Reef Magic or Wavelength? Reef Magic goes out of Cairns and Wavelength goes out of Port Douglas. Both have excellent reviews. Thanks again.

[Aussie Gal]

We went with QuickSilver many, many years ago when they were the only company taking people out to the Reef so can only go on that experience which was great but that was in the mid 80's and things do change.

 

At that time we left from Port Douglas and went on different trips. We went to the Low Isles one day and on another out to Agincourt Reef where they had a submarine. It was a magical day especially seeing the coral up so close, the colours were magnificent.

 

I am sure all the Tours are as good as one another otherwise they would not survive in such a competitive industry.

 

Jennie

[M&A]

Just back from our Syd to LA cruise and before the cruise we flew to Cairns. We really loved Cairns, its a good size town and lots to do.

We took the Quicksilver to the Reef and Green Island, had a great time swimming and snorkelling.

Also don't miss the RainForest cable car, its the longest cable car in the world and takes you over the canopy of the rainforest. There is a railway from Karunda to Cairns but it was washed out a few months ago and they are trying to repair it.

I would definately recommend Cairns.

[aussie52]

Just curious - we were in Cairns last October. We loved the cable car - just spectacular and then returned on the train. When did the train line get washed away???

We did a great 7 day cruise from Cairns to Thursday Island - stopping off at Islands along the way for snorkelling and also went to tip of Cape York which was just great.

[Sydney Oz]

Back from Port Douglas recently and we took the Aristocat. Had a great time snorkelling on three different reefs. We had about 40 people on our boat which was quite a manageable number. They were very safety conscious and really looked after us. I believe The Reef is better accessed from Port Douglas.

[pinksuit]

We will be doing an 8 day land tour prior to our cruise. We will be spending 3 days/nights in Cairns. Does anyone have any recommendations about which location has better access to the Great Barrier Reef? We are not sure which company to book for this adventure. Better to go off Port Douglas or off Cairns? Thanks for the help!

 

Hey there! It's Pinksuit again. We are also booking the Great Barrier Reef also with my group. However, I've been told that Port Douglas is quite beautiful and not so cluttered as Cairns. Both are great locations for getting to the GBR, but it depends on what you are looking for in terms of scenery. Check out aspiredownunder.com or aboutaustralia.com.

Let us know how you fair.

PinkSuit

[pinksuit]

Just back from our Syd to LA cruise and before the cruise we flew to Cairns. We really loved Cairns, its a good size town and lots to do.

We took the Quicksilver to the Reef and Green Island, had a great time swimming and snorkelling.

Also don't miss the RainForest cable car, its the longest cable car in the world and takes you over the canopy of the rainforest. There is a railway from Karunda to Cairns but it was washed out a few months ago and they are trying to repair it.

I would definately recommend Cairns.

 

How many days did you sail? We are also looking forward to th Quicksilver excursion to the GBR and the Rain Forest. How was the weather? Did you go through rough seas?

PinkSuit

[M&A]

How many days did you sail? We are also looking forward to th Quicksilver excursion to the GBR and the Rain Forest. How was the weather? Did you go through rough seas?

PinkSuit

 

The weather was hot and humid in Cairns with off and on rain, but it clears fast. It was windy out on the reef and the water wasn't as clear as we would have liked. The seas were a little rough getting to the reef and there was a bit of movement.

We sailed 29 days Sydney to LA the seas were calm the whole way, even the Tasman Sea was calm when we crossed. The weather was quite cool in Southern New Zealand but warmed up as we sailed north from Christchurch and turned really hot and humid between Auckland and Fiji.