Great Barrier Reef

Pros: Second to none World Heritage area
Cons: none

There are a great many World Heritage Areas on the planet but is any more famous than Australia's Great Barrier Reef? After all it is one of very few that meet all the basic criteria for such a listing and added to that is the fact it is the single larges ...

Pros: Great crew, small groups.
Cons: my pathetic attempt at snorkelling, rough weather

When you are in Northern Queensland there really is one thing that you just have to do before you leave and that is to get close to the Great Barrier Reef. There are many ways of doing this … you can take a boat trip to the outer ...

Pros: Beautiful, colorful, great abundance and diversity of life, warm water, clarity, friendly people
Cons: Distance from the U.S.

In August of 2005 we spent three weeks in Queensland Australia (two adults, and three kids 11, 8, and 6 years old). We spent a few days in Cairns and took a five day Cruise in the Great Barrier Reef with the Coral Princess. We stopped in Cooktown, Lizard ...

Pros: There is only one Great Barrier Reef!
Cons: None, if you are already in Australia

Knowing that we would be in Cairns for two days, one of those had to be filled with a trip to the Great Barrier Reef. We found it much less expensive to book our own tour via the internet, than the ship that we were sailing on. We spent about $75 US per...

Pros: Wonderful crystal clear waters- great for diving.
Cons: Things cost more than they should around here.

Pristine crystal clear waters and spectacular marine life make the great barrier Reef a place not to be forgotten.

On my trip to Queensland, we decided to take a 3-night/2 day trip to the Great Barrier Reef. The Great Barrier Reef...

Pros: Extravagant surroundings
Cons: exploitation of the reef due to tourism

I had the most amazing time of my life while snorkeling and SCUBA diving the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. I can't express enough to everyone how extraordinary the abundance of wildlife is, and the fact that it is right there in front of you, fearless ...

Pros: it's so beautiful out there you might want to go twice
Cons: the heatstroke which I caught :-)

Here is my recommendation how to see the Reef.

* Stay in Cairns - I stayed in a hostel for about US$10 a night but they have hotels for all kinds of taste

* Make a fullday-trip to the Outer Great Barrier Reef and snorkel there. Such...

Pros: best place in the world to dive
Cons: Deep Sea Diver's Den mislead us and did nothing to appease our displeasure

My fiance and I had a less than ideal experience with a SCUBA outfitter based in Cairns - Deep Sea Diver's Den. We had tried to book our referral certification course through Pro Dive (which had rave reviews from lots of people), but they were booked....

Pros: Great Diving
Cons: High Airfare to get there

Are you looking to maximize your dive time but still want to have a few days to play around in Cairns (museums, wilderness tours, whitewater rafting)? We spent about 10 days in Queensland and loved it. We had a few days in Cairns - saw the sights -...

Pros: Great Diving, CDC provides great service
Cons: Distance and Cost to get there from the USA

In Augist we traveled down under to experience the bottom of the earth. Well, we did not fall off and nothing bad happened. In fact, we had a great time exploring the reef on two different charter companies. I was able to log 10 dives and a few hours of...

Pros: luxury, location, food
Cons: renovation noise early in the morning

Hayman Island is a top resort in Australia. The resort sits alone on an island off the north east coast of Australia, inside the Great Barrier Reef.
Hayman manages to combine a beautiful, tropical location with 5 star facilities, service,...

Pros: Clean, friendly, pleasant atmosphere, lots to do
Cons: Too often passed by on the way to the reef

As a former resident of Mackay, I may come accross biased to some. To others, though, you might find some of this info useful, as it's easy to be passed up, or it's rarely mentioned in travel brochures.

Mackay lies toward the southern half of...

Pros: Best Scuba diving you'll ever find
Cons: Too far from Ohio...

I did a week on a liveabord in the Coral Sea to dive the Great Barrier Reef.

It was, frankly, the best diving in the world.

The food on the ship, I was to learn later, was the best I'd have on the continent.

Our charter...

Pros: A breath-taking, beautiful piece of creation.
Cons: I only had one day there.

I went to Australia with 18 other students from my college. The trips purpose was the do service work with the Aborigine people, however, the free weekends were our time to site-see. We were staying in Hervey Bay, but all agreed that the four hour...

Pros: Absolutely Beautiful
Cons: Well, it doesn't ever have winter up there

Well, I am an Aussie living in Brisbane, and even though I live so close to the Reef, I don't get there as often as I wish I could.

I went to the Great Barrier Reef early last year and loved it. My family and I spent 3 days in Cairns and went...