Full days on the outer reef
A Great Barrier Reef tour from Cairns costs from $186 and takes about nine hours. Every trip on this page goes to the outer reef, forty kilometres offshore, where the water is clear and the coral is dense. The inshore islands are a different and much cheaper day, and it is the most common mismatch here.
Pontoon or mooring
Not a quality difference. A completely different day.
Reef trips out of Cairns split into two kinds and the listings rarely make it obvious.
Pontoon trips go to a large permanently moored platform with a semi-submersible, an underwater observatory, a sun deck and sometimes a helipad. They carry a lot of people, they suit families and non-swimmers, and everybody is in the same patch of water all day.
Mooring trips take a smaller vessel to two or three different sites, anchoring or picking up a public mooring at each. Fewer people, more variety, and you are in open water rather than alongside a platform.
Neither is better. If you have small children or someone who does not swim, the pontoon is obviously right. If you want to snorkel two different reefs with sixty people rather than three hundred, take the smaller boat.
What is included
Every full-day cruise on this page includes return transport to the outer reef, snorkel gear, a wetsuit or stinger suit, flotation aids, a buffet lunch, and morning and afternoon tea. Most carry a marine biologist who gives a presentation between sites.
What is not included is the reef tax, dives, and anything from the bar. Introductory dives are typically booked on the day; certified dives need your card and log book.
Bring a towel, a rash vest, reef-safe sunscreen and something for seasickness. Everything else is on the boat.
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Everything on this page in one place.
★ 4.8 · 3821 reviews
★ 4.6 · 1140 reviews
★ 4.8 · 1611 reviews
★ 4.8 · 506 reviews
★ 4.6 · 32 reviews
Before you book
Green Island and Fitzroy are inshore, closer and cheaper. They are a different day.
An environmental management charge per person per day, often not in the headline price.
Ninety minutes each way in open water. Take it before you board.
You float face-down for hours and your back takes the full sun.
Big pontoons take hundreds. Smaller vessels visit two quieter sites.
The wind builds through the day and so does the swell.
Every trip, current fare
For comparison: everything that leaves Cairns and Port Douglas.
| Trip | Time out | Price | In the water | Cost per hour | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premium Catamaran Reef CruiseA full day on the outer reef, best value | 9 h | $186 | Yes, most of the day | $20.67 | 4.8 · 3,821 |
| Reef Cruise + Scenic HeliThe reef from the water and from the air | 8.5 h | $297 | Yes, most of the day | $34.94 | 4.6 · 1,140 |
| Reef Pontoon by HelicopterHelicopter out, a day on the pontoon | 6–7 h | $456 | Yes, on the pontoon | $70.15 | 5.0 · 6 |
| Outer Reef & Coral Cay CruiseTwo reef sites, dives available | 8.5 h | $195 | Yes, two sites | $22.94 | 4.8 · 1,611 |
| Reef Cruise + 10-Min HeliPontoon day with a ten-minute flight | 7 h | $317 | Yes, on the pontoon | $45.29 | 4.6 · 32 |
| Rainforest & Barron Falls FlightTwenty minutes over gorge, falls and rainforest | 20 min | $233 | No | $699.00 | 4.4 · 2 |
| 30-Minute Reef FlightHalf an hour over the ribbon reefs | 30 min | $329 | No | $658.00 | 4.6 · 37 |
| Port Douglas Reef FlightHalf an hour over the reef, from Port Douglas | 30 min | $329 | No | $658.00 | 4.7 · 10 |
| 40-Minute Reef FlightA wider loop over the outer reef | 40 min | $395 | No | $592.50 | 4.7 · 7 |
| 45-Min Reef & RainforestReef and rainforest in one flight | 45 min | $457 | No | $609.33 | 4.8 · 24 |
| 60-Minute Reef & RainforestThe longest scenic flight from Cairns | 1 h | $652 | No | $652.00 | 5.0 · 2 |
| Port Douglas Outer ReefFrom Port Douglas to the Agincourt reefs | 7.5 h | $216 | Yes, most of the day | $28.80 | 4.8 · 506 |
Whatever you book, take a morning departure.
When to come→Common questions
From $186 for a full day on the outer reef by premium catamaran, including gear, wetsuit and lunch. With a scenic flight it is $297.
About nine hours door to door. The crossing to the outer reef is roughly ninety minutes each way.
The outer reef is forty kilometres offshore with clearer water and denser coral. Green Island is inshore, much closer, much cheaper and a different experience.
Yes, on every full-day cruise here, along with morning and afternoon tea.
No. The pontoon trips have a semi-submersible and an underwater observatory, and every boat has a sun deck.
The premium catamaran day, with 3,821 reviews at 4.8 — more than anything else here.
Go deeper
Every scenic flight from Cairns, by duration and by what you actually see.
By airWhat the Great Barrier Reef looks like from five hundred feet, and what it costs.
PricesTwelve trips priced per person and per hour, plus the reef tax nobody mentions.
VerdictTwelve trips ranked for one decision, with a straight answer at the end.
SnorkellingWhat you see, what is provided, and whether you need to be a strong swimmer.
DivingIntroductory and certified dives from Cairns, and which boats to take.
Reef Cruise + Scenic Heli
★ 4.9 · 646 reviews · Free cancellation 24 h