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Cairns reef tours operate every day of year, whisking you away to explore the coral gardens, sand cays and islands of the Great Barrier Reef. There’s 23 day boats departing from Cairns, each visiting different reef destinations and offering a mix of snorkelling, diving and other adventure options. That’s a lot of choice and we know it can be confusing to know which is the best Cairns reef tour for you. We’re here to help! We’ve been on every single Cairns reef tour and are excited to put together the below table which compares boats, features, prices and activities. Let’s find the perfect tour for you, whether you are a non-swimmer, snorkeler, scuba diver, solo traveller, family group or friends travelling together.
Important Cairns Reef Tours Information: We know Cairns reef tours are a bucket-list item for visitors. This is your time to experience and explore the Great Barrier Reef. You want to ensure you pick the ‘best boat’ to give you the ‘best time’, but with so many boats and destinations available, it can be hard to know what sets each apart. In our opinion the key differences between the Cairns reef tours are reef locations, actual time spent at the reef, activities available and cost. To help make life easy we provide all this information in our Cairns reef tours comparison table below. Please note there’s no single ‘best tour’, the key is to find the reef trip that gives you the best experience. Additional information explaining the different comparison points and activities is provided beneath the table.
Get a free underwater camera rental, if you book a tour valued over $750 with us you receive a GoPro underwater camera to use on your tour, get in touch with us today to claim this deal.
| Boat | Name | Base Rate | Time at Reef | Reef Sites | Snorkelling | Intro Diving | Certified Diving | Helmet Diving | Glass Bottom | Semi Sub | Helicopter | # Pax | Capacity | Comfort |
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$296.00 | ~ 5.5 Hrs | 3 | 90 | 152 | High | ||||||||
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$269.00 | ~ 5 Hrs | 2 | 80 | 140 | High | ||||||||
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$275.00 | ~ 5 Hrs | 2 | 80 | 120 | Medium | ||||||||
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$295.00 | ~ 4 Hrs | 1 | 250 | 300 | Busy | ||||||||
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$279.00 | ~ 6 Hrs | 2 | 75 | 105 | Medium | ||||||||
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$199.00 | ~ 2 Hrs | 1 | 35 | 40 | Busy | ||||||||
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$260.00 | ~ 5.5 Hrs | 2 | 90 | 125 | Medium | ||||||||
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$179.00 | ~ 2 Hrs | 1 | 25 | 25 | Busy | ||||||||
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$255.00 | ~ 5 Hrs | 2 | 600 | 120 | Busy | ||||||||
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$255.00 | ~ 5 Hrs | 2 | 80 | 125 | High | ||||||||
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$245.00 | ~ 5.5 Hrs | 2 | 150 | 250 | High | ||||||||
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$279.00 | ~ 5 Hrs | 1 | 25 | 40 | High | ||||||||
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$276.00 | ~ 4 Hrs | 1 | 100 | 150 | Medium | ||||||||
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$220.00 | ~ 4.5 Hrs | 1 | 20 | 27 | Medium | ||||||||
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$329.00 | ~ 6.5 Hrs | 2 | 250 | 300 | Busy | ||||||||
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$329.00 | ~ 3 Hrs | 2 | 250 | 300 | Busy | ||||||||
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$349.00 | ~ 5 Hrs | 1 | 250 | 300 | Busy | ||||||||
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$107.00 | ~ 7.5 Hrs | 1 | 250 | 300 | Busy | ||||||||
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$109.00 | ~ 5.5 Hrs | 1 | 250 | 320 | Medium | ||||||||
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$105.00 | ~ 6.5 Hrs | 1 | — | — | - | ||||||||
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$295.00 | ~ 6 Hrs | 2 | 280 | 350 | Medium | ||||||||
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$105.00 | ~ 6.5 Hrs | 1 | — | — | - | ||||||||
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$97.00 | ~ 2.5 Hrs | 1 | — | — | - | ||||||||
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$250.00 | ~ 5.5 Hrs | 46 | 50 | Busy |
We love where we live and are genuinely passionate about people having the best time possible when they visit. We’ve seen people pick the ‘wrong’ Cairns reef tour and have a bad day. It’s an expensive and unfortunate situation that we hope you can avoid, with our honest advice. We’re not here for the hard sell, we’re just here to help and if you choose to support us by booking with us, we’d really appreciate that too. We’ve provided some personal recommendations below, based on our experience and what we like, but if you are still unsure just get in touch and we can assist with more information.
All the Cairns reef tours are priced differently and cheaper doesn’t mean better. Several factors influence tour cost, including how far you travel, where you are going, the tour duration and number of people on the boat. Half day tours are cheaper than full day tours but give you less time. Reef pontoon tours are more expensive but provide more facilities and activities. So cheaper doesn’t necessarily mean better, especially if this is your one-chance to see the Great Barrier Reef. The key is to find the tour to maximise your Great Barrier Reef experience, pending your interests, abilities and budget.
Our Recommendation - Reef Experience - This Cairns reef tour delivers excellent value for money and time at the reef. Inclusions: snorkelling equipment; 1 introductory or certified dive; morning and afternoon tea and a hot and cold buffet lunch; 5.5 hours at the reef.
Time at the Reef. We have included this in the comparison table, so you can see at a glance how much time each Cairns reef tour provides you at the reef. The time shown does not include the travelling time to and from Cairns, and obviously the speed of the boat and its destination will impact the overall length of the tour. Some people only want a half day tour and there’s three of those, but please note these are snorkel only tours (with no scuba diving). Most Cairns reef tours are full day tours and all provide ample time for snorkelling, scuba diving and exploring.
Our Recommendation - Ocean Freedom - This Cairns reef tour gives you 6 hours at the reef and visits 2 reef sites. Lots of time for snorkelling and diving and relaxing on the boat. Also, best lunch of all the Cairns reef tour boats, awesome crew and family owned and operated.
Reef sites refers to the number of different reef sites, you’ll visit on each Cairns reef day tour. Is this important and is seeing more reef sites better? In our opinion ‘no’, the quantity of sites doesn’t impact the quality of the day and shouldn’t be the deciding factor when choosing the tour for you. Each time you move to a new site you have less time in the water, while the boat moves location. Each site will reveal a different reef location, but all sites have the same corals and marine life. The pontoon tours stay at the one site all day but offer multi-dimensional experiences and activities, above and below the water.
Our Recommendation - Down Under Dive - Evolution - This Cairns reef tour has moorings at some excellent reef sites at Norman, Saxon and Hastings Reef. What we love about these sites is the high chance of seeing turtles and our favourite fish, the diagonal-banded sweetlips and anemonefish.
All the Cairns reef tours include snorkelling in their tour price, and provide each guest with a mask, snorkel and fins. Some tours include a lycra suit (summer) and wet suit (winter) in the price, others charge a small rental fee to cover cleaning costs. Every operator supplies buoyancy aids such as life jackets, floating noodles and life rings to make snorkelling easier and more comfortable. However, you should be able to swim to fully enjoy the experience. If you are not a confident swimmer in the open ocean, then perhaps an island or pontoon tour would be best for you as these also offer other activities and ways to experience the Great Barrier Reef.
Our Recommendation - Sunlover Reef Cruises - This Cairns reef tour takes you to an outer reef pontoon at Moore Reef. The coral lagoon here is full of healthy, vibrant corals and home to a diverse array of colourful reef fish. Easy water access from the pontoon and lots of other activities.
Introductory diving is the chance to try scuba diving without having a licence or prior experience. Imagine that, scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef, you can make that happen. Most of the Cairns reef tours provide introductory diving as an activity, except for the snorkel only tours, half day tours and island tours. Please note: Introductory diving is an additional cost to the tour price on all tours, except for Reef Experience which include it in their price. You must be aged 12 years old and above to participate and certain health conditions (asthma, epilepsy, heart conditions and more) will preclude you from diving. All equipment, instruction and dive guides are included.
Our Recommendation - Ocean Freedom - This Cairns reef tour is owned by a local family who invest in their team and care about their guests. Their guides take outstanding care of those wanting to try introductory diving, with patience and professionalism.
Certified divers are going to love the Great Barrier Reef! Clear blue waters, awesome visibility and vibrant coral gardens teaming with an outstanding array of marine life. Most of the Cairns reef tours offer certified scuba diving, except for snorkel only tours, half day tours and island tours (with some exceptions, see our Cairns reef tours comparison table). All of the Cairns reef tours that offer certified diving go to sites that are suitable for those with Open Water (or Junior Open Water) certification and above, with most sites having a maximum depth of 18m. Please note: Certified diving is charged in addition to the tour price and most boats insist on guided diving, but some will allow unguided in buddy pairs. See the listings for more.
Our Recommendation - Aqua Quest - Divers Den - This Cairns reef tour provides certified divers with the chance to do up to 3 dives, with the option of guided or unguided diving. They visit outstanding outer reef sites with excellent visibility, coral cover and marine life.
Helmet diving is only available on reef pontoon tours and is always in addition to the tour price. This is a unique experience where you place a ‘helmet’ over your head and walk down a set of stairs beneath the pontoon, to spend time underwater with the fish and corals on a submerged walkway. The helmet is connected to the pontoon, providing a constant air supply, and certified scuba divers are in the water beside you to provide assistance and guidance as required.
Our Recommendation - Sunlover Reef Cruises - The Sunlover pontoon has been permanently moored at its current location for a number of years, and in this time sea fans and beautiful soft corals have grown under the pontoon. When you go helmet diving with them, you are surrounded by these corals and an abundance of Great Barrier Reef fish.
Glass bottom boat tours provide you with the opportunity to explore the coral gardens of the Great Barrier Reef from above the water, peering down through the glass to see fish and corals. All glass bottom boat tours are guided with interpretive commentary included, providing you with the opportunity to ask questions about the reef and any particular marine life you are seeing. They used to be very popular and available on most Cairns reef tours, but not so much anymore. If this is something you want to do, make sure you pick a tour that provides this as an activity.
Our Recommendation - Great Adventures – Green Island Day Tour - Green Island is a beautiful tropical island and the only one on the Great Barrier Reef to have rainforest. Its fringing reefs are colourful and home to turtles, which are often seen on the glass bottom boat tours.
A semi sub is a semi-submersible vessel, kind of like a submarine except it doesn’t descend. You enter from the top and go down into an underwater seating area which has glass windows, providing views of the surrounding fish. It moves around the reef allowing you to see different areas of the coral gardens. Semi sub tours are always guided and commentary is provided. Only a few Cairns reef tours have a semi sub activity, mostly the pontoons and islands and one outer reef day boat. Check the comparison table to find the right tour for you.
Scenic helicopter rides over the Great Barrier Reef offer a completely different perspective. From above you can see the intricate network of individual reefs that comprise the Great Barrier Reef, as well as sand cays and tropical islands. On clear days and at the right time of year, you might even see migrating whales. Scenic helicopter rides are always in addition to the tour price. They are available on all reef pontoon tours as well as the Down Under Dive Cairns reef tour. Take off and landing is conducted from permanently moored heli pontoons.
This is an important consideration when choosing your Cairns reef tour. In our comparison table we provide you with #Pax and Capacity numbers. The #Pax refers to the number of passengers the operator takes on each tour, in other words, the usual maximum guest load. The capacity shows the total number of people the vessel (and/or pontoon) is legally surveyed to carry under its AMSA survey certificate. As you can see the pontoon tours take a lot of people, day boats take less people. If you prefer a quieter experience or want to avoid crowds, this is definitely something to keep in mind when selecting your tour.
Our Recommendation - Silverswift – Quicksilver - This Cairns reef tour provides the best ‘tour comfort’. It has allocated seating for divers and snorkellers, with spacious air conditioned interiors and sundecks. It visits 3 sites per day and gives you 5.5 hours at the reef. Nothing feels rushed or crowded.
There’s no single ‘best’ tour, as it all depends on what you want to experience and your abilities. Pontoon tours suit non-swimmers and families, day boats suit snorkellers and divers, and island tours give you water and land based time and activities. We provide personalised advice.
Prices range from around $100 for island day tours to $350 for full-day pontoon experiences. The difference comes down to travel distance, inclusions and vessel size. See our Cairns Reef Tours Comparison Table for more information.
Half-day reef tours last about 4 hours in total, while full-day tours range from 8 to 10 hours including travel time. The time at the reef varies between 4 to 6 hours, depending on the operator. See our Cairns Reef Tours Comparison Table.
Most day boats visit the Outer Great Barrier Reef, known for excellent visibility and healthy coral. Islands like Green Island and Fitzroy Island are closer and ideal for shorter or family-friendly days.
No and yes. Some Cairns reef tours say you can, but we’ve seen people have panic attacks while attempting this. In our opinion, you should be able to swim to fully enjoy the experience. If you are not a confident swimmer in the open ocean, then perhaps an island or pontoon tour would be best for you as these also offer other activities and ways to experience the Great Barrier Reef.
All tours include snorkelling gear. Most include meals and lycra or wetsuits. Pontoon tours often add extras like underwater observatories and glass bottom boat tours.
Introductory and certified diving are available on most outer reef tours. Island and half-day tours are usually snorkelling only. Medical restrictions and age limits apply for scuba diving.
Cairns reef tours operate year-round and there is no ‘bad time’ to visit the reef. There is also no ‘best time’ to visit the reef, unless you were hoping to participate in seasonal events such as Minke Whale migration and Coral Spawning. Conditions can change daily depending on the weather, tide and currents.
Island tours visit destinations like Green or Fitzroy Island, which have beaches and island walks, with fringing reefs. Outer reef tours travel further, visiting coral gardens and reef pontoons. The visibility, abundance and diversity of corals and marine life is greater at outer reef locations.
Consider your swimming ability, budget and preferred pace. If you want comfort and facilities, pick a pontoon or island tour. For fewer people and outer reef sites, choose one of the day boats. If in doubt, contact us and we’ll help you pick the ‘right’ reef tour for you.
We are experts in this field, as Julie Johnston gets seasick! If you’re prone to motion sickness, we suggest choosing a reef tour that stays close to shore or travels on larger, more stable vessels. Island tours such as Green Island and Fitzroy Island are ideal, as they involve shorter travel times and calmer waters. Reef pontoon tours like Sunlover Reef Cruises are also a good option, as their big catamarans handle the swell well, and once moored the pontoons don’t move much.
For detailed tips and specific tour recommendations, see our full guide: Cairns Reef Trips to Avoid Seasickness.
Yes. Most Cairns reef tours welcome families and several are particularly well-suited for children. Pontoon tours like Sunlover Reef Cruises, Great Adventures and Reef Magic offer calm swimming areas, lifeguards, glass-bottom boats and shaded rest zones, which are ideal for younger kids. Green Island and Fitzroy Island are also great options, as they combine reef activities with beaches and walking tracks. We have taken our son to the reef at all ages, as a baby, toddler, primary school aged child and now teenager. We’ve been there and done that with prams, change tables, paddling pools, learn to snorkel, learn to scuba dive and more. If you’re unsure what will be best family-friendly reef tour for you, contact us.
Absolutely! You don’t need to dive to enjoy the reef. All tours include snorkelling equipment and the majority of reef visitors do not scuba dive, so you will be in good company. Snorkellers might like to try introductory diving or enjoy other reef activities including glass bottom boat rides, underwater observatories, tropical islands and more. For non-swimmers, pontoon tours and island day trips are the best choices.
Pack a towel, swimwear, reef-safe sunscreen, sunglasses and a hat. Bring a reusable water bottle, and if you’re prone to motion sickness, take tablets before departure. Most boats provide meals but check your booking for details. Avoid bringing valuables or large bags, as storage space is limited onboard.
Yes. Kids of all ages can enjoy the reef, with most operators offering family-friendly facilities. Children can snorkel in shallow, supervised areas using flotation aids. Some pontoons and islands even have enclosed swimming zones. Minimum age limits apply for scuba and helmet diving, but snorkelling is suitable for most confident swimmers aged six and up.
Cairns reef tours operate every day of the year and exploring the Great Barrier Reef from Cairns is one of the best things you can do in Tropical North Queensland. Each tour offers a different style of experience, from fast boats to relaxed sail trips, large pontoons packed with facilities and tropical islands. Every tour includes professional crew, snorkelling equipment and safety support to make your day easy and enjoyable. Whether you’re a first-time visitor or returning to the reef, knowing what’s included helps you choose the right Cairns reef tour and get the most from your experience. We hope our Cairns reef tours comparison table is helpful and would love to help you book the best trip to suit your needs, interests, abilities and budget.
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