Fantastic, the highlight of our week!
My partner and I have travelled five times to Cairns since 1985 & have been to the Outer Reef & Lower Isles many times, with many different operators. This time, with our 12 and 14 year old daughters in tow, we wanted something different.
After a relaxing coach ride, you board a comfortable vessel for a gentle cruise along the Mulgrave River which slowly morphs into the trip out to Normanby Island; the trip was almost as pleasant as the time on the island, which you have to yourself all day. Surprisingly quick - it's perfect for those who don't want to spend hours getting to and from the snorkelling venue, giving you much more time in the water.
We were given our own pop up tent to set up (easily) on the beach of a spectacular national park and were then free to do whatever we pleased - including gorgeous snorkelling from the beach, an optional guided tour of the island (or you can wander off by yourself), introductory diving and a glass-bottomed boat tour (some things incur an extra cost). There is something for everyone. On our day, we were excited to see LOADS of turtles, a reef shark & a plentiful variety of fish.
Lunch was also a bit different, we ate at tables under a cool, spacious shaded area, instead of being squashed on a boat or pontoon - a definite bonus!
The staff were friendly & accommodating and the time went really fast. We will be recommending this tour to everyone!

We went on the 'Ocean Spirit' Catamaran out to Michaelmas Cay which is a Ntional Trust Island, housing thousands of birds. There are no buildings, cars etc on this island and humans are only allowed on a small section of it.
We had the chance to scuba dive or if you didn't want to that but didn't want to miss out on the underwater scenes you could go in a semi-submersible which was great. You get onto a small boat and walk down steps until you are under the water surrounded by glass. ou get to see everything the divers do, although not up close and personal!
We also had a go at snorkelling around the reef which was cool.
A huge buffett lunch was provided on the catamaran and champagne was supplied on the journey home, as well as singers, and guitar players etc.
A brilliant day out.

We did the Great Adventures outer reef tour in January. 1st stop was the Green Island where you had about 2 hrs to explore. Not enough time really since there were a lot of people about. Don't forget to bring insect repellant because there are a lot of mosquitos around. Snorkelling around the beach area was ok, nothing extra ordinary.

Then it's off to the outer reef (Norman Reef) and their pontoon. As most reviewers have noted, it is quite small for the number of passengers coming off the boat. The so called underwater observatory was a disappointment - I have seen better stuff in the aquariums in Sydney and Brisbane area. They have not bothered to clean the glass so it was dirty and difficult to see anything through the windows. My son said the same thing about their semi-sub tour which I didn't get to do because we just simply ran out of time.

If there's anything that you should do, it's the Scuba-doo especially if you have kids 12 yrs and older. It's the best way to enjoy the reef and the activity is run by a different company - much more helpful and accommodating. We even saw a turtle and one of the guides handed us a sea cucumber which my son really enjoyed. It's a little expensive but I think it's worth it.

After the scuba-doo, I went for a dive. It may be because it was the off season (Jan) but I think the Great Barrier Reef is grossly over-rated. Maybe it's different when you do the live-aboard dive boats but with this sort of tour, you don't get too many choices. Corals were more of the gray and brown shades. Fish, while plenty, were nothing out of the ordinary. Then to top if off, my divemaster (no else was doing any certified diving that day) just kept swimming around and around, not even going out of his way to show the wonders of the reef - if there were any.

By the time the dive was finished, I had just enough time to eat and change (if my wife had not set aside a plate for me, there was nothing left to eat) - therefore, I missed the semi-sub ride. If it wasn't for the scuba-doo, this would have been a very ordinary tour.

I would do a smaller tour next time - the only other choice we had didn't have the scuba-doo nor the dive option, just snorkelling.

Not too sure who to dive with when you hit the Great Barrier Reef? Neither were my girlfriend (Melissa) and I when we arrived in Cairns & Port Douglas. We were both PADI certified divers but it has been 8 years since I dove and 6 for her. When we wanted to book a day cruise we wanted the option to dive and even snorkel if the diving proved to be too difficult.

There are a million boats to choose from but I think we hit the jackpot when we booked our dive with POSEIDON (www.poseidon-cruises.com.au).

A) They pick you up from your hotel (depending on location).
B) They are courteous, professional, friendly and (when you get down to it) just good people.

We wanted to do an introductory dive to refresh our memory and Andy (head guy) broke us off into another group of five with a senior dive instructor, Richard (more on Richard later). As soon as we hit the water my girlfriend started to freak out a little bit.

We began our decent but she stayed on the surface along with another girl who looked a bit shaken. Richard was back on the surface before I could make it up and could tell that both girls were not up to the challenge ahead. He grabbed their tanks and did not hesitate to drag them both back to the boat. When I tried to go with my girlfriend he told me, “Don’t worry, they are in good company. Now, come on. Let’s go.” And we went under. I felt bad about leaving my girl behind but when you travel 13,000 miles to see a reef you really want to see the reef.

After our first dive I was back on the boat and asked Andy, “Where is Melissa?” He told me that, “…she and the others went back under.” “WHAT!!!! WENT BACK UNDER (!)?” I then heard Melissa say, “Asher” and I turned around and there she was. Dripping wet wearing all of the gear and smile EAR-TO-EAR.

Turns out that one of the female instructors (divers/guides) was Richard’s wife who is also an exceptional diver herself (I wish I could remember her name). She took Melissa and a few others who were shaken and walked them through the entire process of diving step by step. They floated on the surface for a little bit and then descended on a line only a few meters at a time, all the while checking on the emotional status of each diver. Wonderful!!!

The next dive it was only Richard, Melissa and me. Melissa was still a little bit nervous on going even deeper than the previous dive so Richard held her hand and took her with him. We saw other divers from our boat in the water but Richard broke the three of us away from the pack for a reef experience that was by far the best part about out 17 day trip to Australia.

We did three dives all lasting longer than 35 minutes and after our last dive (here is where I feel bad) I only tipped Richard 20 bucks. I had almost zero dollars in my wallet (the bars are expensive) and I wish I hit up an ATM before hand. I’m not even sure if it was considered rude to tip him (I never got that whole “no” tipping thing down there) but I wish I had more cash on me. He and his wife truly deserve it.

If you are in doubt on who to book a dive with please-please-please trust me when I say, “GO WITH POSEIDON!!!” Everyone who works with/for them is awesome. All Professional. All Friendly. All Courteous. All Good People.

If Richard, his wife, and Andy did not know what to do with Melissa; I have a strong feeling that the best day of our trip would have been horrible.

To the POSEIDON crew I would love to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, and THANK YOU!

Take Care,
Asher Spittler
San Diego, California

P.S. If you ever want to hear anymore feel free to email me at: a_spittler@yahoo.com.