Cairns/Port Douglas

[perthgirl]

We are going to Qld on the Rhapsody in Dec and I've started looking into what we can do in port. The ship's tours are crazy priced ($304AUD for reef tour vs $110 with a 'private' company. Has anyone managed to find their own tours in Cairns and Port Douglas? How did it go given we are tendered? We arrive in Cairns at 9am and depart at 7pm and we are in Port Douglas from 7am to 7pm. Am keen to get to the Great Barrier Reef

[StevenW]

We are going to Qld on the Rhapsody in Dec and I've started looking into what we can do in port. The ship's tours are crazy priced ($304AUD for reef tour vs $110 with a 'private' company. Has anyone managed to find their own tours in Cairns and Port Douglas? How did it go given we are tendered? We arrive in Cairns at 9am and depart at 7pm and we are in Port Douglas from 7am to 7pm. Am keen to get to the Great Barrier Reef

 

Hi PerthGirl

 

The Rhapsody is great. I'm going on her again in just over a week.

 

I stayed in Cairns for a few days in late 2007 (not off a cruise), and I took a Green Island & Barrier Reef snorkeling cruise (on a fast catamaran) with a company called Great Adventures... ..and it was "great".

 

It was clear to me from the internet; and checking in at the main tour terminal in Cairns that they were one of the large companies there.

 

The Green Island + Barrier Reef tour I did left at 8.30am, which is too early for you, however their brochure (which I kept) says they also run just the Barrier Reef cruise which departs Cairns at 10.30am & arrives back by 5.30pm, so that timing looks like it would probably suit you perfectly.

 

(and personally I could have skipped Green Island anyway)

 

They take you out to their large covered pontoon from where you can choose to do multiple things or nothing:

- snorkel around the pontoon (I felt perfectly safe in the water; and they have one or more life guards on duty)

- scuba-doo underwater scooter

 

For those who don't want to get wet they have:

- an underwater viewing room;

- go into a small submarine-like boat (which never submerges) which motors around a course and you see a lot of fish & coral + commentary.

- the pontoon is all under cover, and there is also a sun-bathing deck on top of the pontoon for those who want to cook themselves.

- and you can retreat to the airconditioned catamaran if it gets too hot.

 

There are multiple toilets onboard the catamaran, and they have several private lockable shower cubicles/change rooms on board the pontoon to rinse off the salt water after swimming.

 

Lunch is included & they have a small shop on the pontoon.

 

This brochure from late 2007 lists the price as AUD$174 per adult.

 

It really was a great day, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

[perthgirl]

Thanks - I had a look at it should work! Thanks so much.

[turtlemichael]

We are going to Qld on the Rhapsody in Dec and I've started looking into what we can do in port. The ship's tours are crazy priced ($304AUD for reef tour vs $110 with a 'private' company. Has anyone managed to find their own tours in Cairns and Port Douglas? How did it go given we are tendered? We arrive in Cairns at 9am and depart at 7pm and we are in Port Douglas from 7am to 7pm. Am keen to get to the Great Barrier Reef

 

perthgirl, problem is that the tender comes into Yorkey's Knob not Cairns. I expect there'll be RCL chartered buses to Cairns (as there were when Rhapsody was in earlier this month) but it is 20+ minutes to the reef terminal from where you'll get off the tender. You'll need to be very careful to make sure your timing fits in with the last bus to leave Cairns back to Yorkey's Knob. As well, you'll be down the tender priority list as you're not on a Rhapsody tour and that will affect the time you can get on a reef boat. I think I would look at the possibilities in Port Douglas, such as Quicksilver, because the tender there will dock very close to their reef terminal and the timing may work better.

[happyaussies]

Here is the email to contact Port Douglas directly...sent one away today for our trip in November 09 request visitor information/guide

 

Port Douglas

portdouglas@cityofcairns.com

 

I would also be interested in any suggestions for Port Douglas and Airlie beach?

 

Ta

Bubbs & Blues

[perthgirl]

Thanks for the advice - I will definitely check it out from Port Douglas

[MMDown Under]

I would also be interested in any suggestions for Port Douglas and Airlie beach?

 

Ta

Bubbs & Blues

 

Airlie Beach's main attraction is its big public waterfront swimming pool, popular with international backpackers. What to do from Airlie Beach depends on how long you are in port. There are lots of organised tours from Airlie Beach to choose from, or you can travel independently by ferry from Shute Harbour to any of the nearby Whitsunday Islands.

 

When we last drove north to beautiful Dingo Beach, we noticed there was a tour there as well.

[ConnMom]

My husband and I were on the Rhapsody in November as it cruised up the Great Barrier Reef, and one of the biggest challenges for passengers was finding a way to get to the Great Barrier Reef. Many people who made private arrangements missed their connections in Cairns because it took so long to get into Yorkey's Knob on the tenders, so there were a lot of angry people on our cruise.

However, our cruise was the Rhapsody's first cruise to those ports and hopefully, the people in charge have learned from their poor planning and inefficiency at moving people around. We were only in Port Douglas from 8 to 5, which made it impossible to book with the private companies, but it appears that by extending your port time there from 7 to 7, RCCL is providing options other than their overpriced tours. I think that you would have no problems with a private company there.

We researched private tours, but fell back on the ship's reef tour from Hamilton Island, since we wanted to be sure to get to the reef. This ended up being a good decision, but the excursion wasn't a very good value, since most of our time was used getting to and from the reef, and there were too many people for a quality experience. I think that Port Douglas would be a better option.

In Cairns, we went on the Skyrail to Kuranda and then took the scenic train back to Cairns, where we walked around town for a while before getting the ship's shuttle back to Yorkey's Knob. Our time in port was 9 am to 8 pm, so we had ample time for this. We had a great day, and it was easy to plan on our own, especially since the Skyrail provided a shuttle bus from Yorkey's Knob to the Skyrail terminal.

I hope you have a good trip. We loved Australia and the Australians.

[mouse83]

We are going to Qld on the Rhapsody in Dec and I've started looking into what we can do in port. The ship's tours are crazy priced ($304AUD for reef tour vs $110 with a 'private' company. Has anyone managed to find their own tours in Cairns and Port Douglas? How did it go given we are tendered? We arrive in Cairns at 9am and depart at 7pm and we are in Port Douglas from 7am to 7pm. Am keen to get to the Great Barrier Reef

Hi perthgirl,

 

If in Port Douglas I would strongly reccomend going out to the Barrier Reef with Wave Length Tours!!

http://www.wavelength-reef.com.au/

My husband and I went snorkelling with Wave Length on our honeymoon and had the most amazing time!!

They are also one of the longest serving local businesses doing tour out to the reef so they have some amazing spots to take you that no other companies have access too! We opted for Wavelength as Quick Silver sounded just so commercialised!!

Plus lunch was SO yummy and heaps to eat!!

ENJOY!

[perthgirl]

Thanks for all your comments/suggestions. Just to make matters more confusing I can't swim, my 12 year old daughter wants to try one of those underwater 'scooters' and my husband can't understand why we would want to go on a boat when we just got off one for the day! Could be a 'split up for the day' (although one of us will have to go with my daughter.

[OHCruisinDad]

You will definately be better off going to the reef from Port Douglas. As indicated in the posts, check out Wave Length, Quicksilver or many of the other day trips to the outer reef. In Cairns the Kurunda train (departs from either downtown Cairns or Freshwater Station (west of town). You can get a package and come back on the Skytrain. They have return coach transfers to Freshwater and points in the city. Check it out at http://www.kurandascenicrailway.com.au/ Enjoy your time in Oz!