Need some help!!
I planned to visit Cairns in June and need some advice on the places to visit and best experience for snorkelling. Thanks!
Best Experience in Cairns for Snorkelling
schoks on 15/04/2021 - 16:27
Comments
Isn't the best advice, far, far from Cairns?
Yep. Too many crocs.
There are crocs all along the coast. Just stay out of salt water rivers, and don't swim in murky water or during low light and the odds are very good OP will be right.
I went to Magnetic Island and that was pretty murky. Ended up going to Airlie Beach for a boat ride with a snorkel (had to dodge a cyclone).
I went on the Passions of Paradise Reef Tour - very professional, informative, good food and people and secluded diving/snorkelling on the outer reef. Would recommend.
Also did a half day tour to Fitzroy island and hired a car to drive up to Port Douglas - also worthwhile experiences. I found Kuranda very meh - but I drove, maybe the train/cable car makes it slightly more worthwhile.
I second Passions of Paradise. I did some diving/snorkelling through them a few months ago, great young, fun and experienced crew, newer eco friendly yacht, pretty decent pricing. Food was average but nothing I wouldn’t eat.
what are the best places to visit in Cairns ? how is the public transport there ? is it pretty accessible to major attractions from airport with public transport?
There is a few day tours to green island. It's pretty good snorkelling and convenient with island restaurants. I think they do feeding near the pier, so there is plenty of nice fish and turtles to see.
The best experience I've had was on the Reef Encounter boat. We booked a snorkelling package where they take you out to the great barrier reef itself for couple hours then ferry back to land.
They then offered a completely free scuba driving session as a taster which was absolutely amazing as never done it before. The up-sell was then to consider a 3-day liveaboard to complete the SSI Open Water course. We left everything in the Cairns hotel room and signed up.
Hands down the best thing I've ever EVER done! What a glorious gorgeous underwater world, completely vibrant full of fish, coral, turtles, you name it. Highly recommended!
https://reefencounter.com.au - Other similar operators exist too.
Never did snorkelling again after that, just nowhere near as good. Abyss Scuba Diving is the go-to in Sydney, they take you out to Bare Island to see nurse sharks and such.