Exposing the Downsides of a Great Barrier Reef Pontoon Adventure from Airlie Beach
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ต.ค. 2023
- Hi Travellers and welcome to this weeks addition exposing the Downsides of a Great Barrier Reef Pontoon Adventure from Airlie Beach. While it might be a great tour most of the time, I wanted to detail the downsides so you can decide if it's a good tour for you?
Watch the video and let me know what you think and whether you would take this tour!
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Hi All and thanks a bunch for watching todays video on Exposing the downsides of a Great Barrier Reef Pontoon Adventure from Airlie Beach
I appreciate the support , thanks for watching and don’t forget to Subscribe !
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Any question please put them in the comments and I'll try my best to answer :)
I worked on a dive/snorkelling boat some years back and we stayed in the sheltered bays with fringing reef if the wind was blowing more than 20kts. Too many people got sick otherwise and the surface conditions where choppy onsite once we arrived. Not worth it for anyone. Slightly different story with a big pontoon like Cruise Whit has but I agree that they should have cancelled.
@@buildingbetterbrainsaustra5968 Thanks a bunch for the comment. Sounds like your boat had some common sense and Happier customers that they still got to see something.
To be honest I think some of the fringing reef closer to the shore is better than these big pontoon areas.
Well said, whether it's worth it is indeed a good question.
Thanks so much...I'm glad you liked it 😁
This has been my experience too. The best snorkeling I have done is on fringing reefs. I can recommend Magnetic Island from Townsville. Jump on the island bus to Arthur bay. It's so easy and protected. If you stay a few days you can go to the snorkel trails at Nellie and Geoffrey bays and snorkel at Florence just around from Arthur. I rate Great Keppel - you need to walk about 30 mins to the reef. Another good place is just off the mainland at Bowen-Rose Bay is my favourite. Go on a low tide. Bowen also has Horseshoe and Murray Bays. Now you won't get the iridescent purples and pinks of some outer reefs but the healthy coral is typically brown and green. All the places I've mentioned have giant clams, plating and staghorn corals and great sealife in terms of turtles,fish and reef sharks. I honestly can't see myself bothering with another outer reef trip.
I also liked the day trip to lady Musgrave although sea sickness tablets are recommended. Heron and lady Elliott islands if you want to stay at least 4 days are also amazing. Around the headland at Bowen or around lady Elliot, Heron island and even great Keppel islands you will have snorkel spots even if the wind ruins one of them. For instance, at Great Keppel Island Monkey beach was being battered by wind but shelving beach (a bit closer to where you arrive/depart from) is slightly more orientated to the west and was totally calm and clear. The winds were 35km/hr. Not to mention as foot traffic it costs in the vicinity of $40-55 return boat trip to Keppel and Magnetic island. It's insanely cheap for a quicker more pleasant trip and better snorkeling.
Wow, Thanks so much for the detailed response! I have mentioned the inner/fringing reef in most of my blogs and often prefer them to Outer reef trips. But these are advertised more and tourists think they need to get there for the best coral, which is not the case.
I Have snorkelled off Florence Bay on Magnetic and only did Great Keppel last Year and found it very economical. We did Monkey Beach, and will try Shelving next time!
Your right about lady Musgrave, but I find I need tablets on all boats - Just to make sure..LOL, but also leave out of Agnes, for a shorter boat ride!
Still yet to do Heron too, but Elliot is good and very similar to Musgrave.
We were in Bowen last year, but only found out about the snorkelling after we left, so guess I will try that next time too .
Your right, I've done the outer reef trips so many time, I'm not sure I'll do it again (unless I stay overnight) - it's just too long a trip and rushed as a day trip!
@@AquariusTraveller absolutely. It might sound bad but there is a lot of waiting for not a great deal of time in the water (and the cost is up there) and then you don't know what conditions you are going to get. And it's great to be around an island or a headland so you can pick a better spot if it is blowing a gale. As far as Bowen goes, I have found Horseshoe to be constantly windy. One of the underwater sculptures is there so that's a draw card. The other spots were always protected enough and orientated just right that visibility was amazing. For people only making it as far as Brisbane, the tangalooma wrecks are incredible too. Surprising diversity for not being on the GBR
@@kattytee9901 The cost is definitely way up there and the reason I did this video - so people could understand that the conditions might not be good.
Truthfully, with the amount of yelling at the snorkellers to get life jackets etc - I thought this trip of mine should have been cancelled, but I couldn't do it without losing my money.
I live in Brisbane and have dived and snorkelled the Moreton wrecks hundreds of times. I must say that I find them less appealing since they cut the structures a wave height, but yes, the fish live around the wrecks are diverse.
I did this a few years ago when I was working on Hamilton Island it was good, but a long time on the boat heading to the reef.
I did the helicopter tour to the heart reef which was extra but an awesome reef to see! It was a windy day in the 2nd half of the trip and there was a heap of passengers sea sick, which made the trip home interesting haha
I've done it several times and can always be touch and go on how it will be.
3 hours from Airlie or 2 hours from Hamo, It's still really long travel time and makes it less worth it for what you see.
I took a scenic flight from Airlie instead of from the pontoon, which allowed for more time on the pontoon - Plus it wouldn't have been a good experience on this day!
Thanks for sharing your experience - I know there can be better days - but for the cost, I wanted to make people aware of the bad things!
I’m going to Australia in October 2025. This is good to know, primarily the sea sickness. That’d really ruin a day out. I just hope the weather is good!
I'm glad it helped and fingers crossed that the weather is much better for you. Let me know if you need help finding anything else in Queensland that you want to check out :)
Thanks for the great video, Chris! Wow, 3 hours (!) on the ocean each way? That sounds tedious.
We are currently staying in Port Douglas and did a snorkel tour to the Agincourt Reef, which was a 90-minute boat ride each way, and we thought that was long! The reef was amazing, however.
I'm used to snorkeling in Hawaii, where you just park the car and walk into the water from the shore, which is a lot easier, but the corals aren't as healthy as we saw on the Agincourt reef.
Since snorkelling nearly everywhere off the coast of Queensland - I have to admit that Port Douglas has some of the best looking coral (you picked a good one there). Either that or in the Southern GBR. But yes, The very long boat trips make it less appealing.
Either that, or you have to sell body parts to afford staying at any of the resorts with closer access.
I have a video on the Port Douglas Pontoon Tour too - We really enjoyed that one, but still busy with crowds!
Loved Hawaii too, especially diving with the Mantas :)
@AquariusTraveller Thanks for the tips! We also did a tour of the Opal Reef with Wavelength. It was breathtaking.
One day I hope to stay on Lizard Island and snorkel/dive there.
Until then, I'll be following your videos for more recommendations while we're roadtripping around QLD! cheers
How was the crowds to opal reef? I will have to add that one to the list 😀
Same with lizard island,as I have heard its pretty good ❤️❤️
Too many places, so little time 🤣🤣
Glad you're enjoying the videos, I have covered alot along the coast and still some I haven't released yet... plus I want to update my Brisbane to Cairns one soon too.
Call me clueless!! I've snorkeled on Maui, Cozumel, Florida Keys but had no idea Great Barrier Reef boat tours go to a stationary pontoon? Is this the norm for all tour boats in the area? Great video! First time seeing your TH-cam channel, If I'm going all the way to Australia and the GBR... I'm booking a snorkeling excursion regardless of possible drawbacks. 😁
The great Barrier reef stretches over 2000 kilometres, but there are only four pontoons available leaving from Port Douglas, Cairns, Airlie Beach and Bundaberg.
Know that these outer GBR tours are different in the inner reef tours (more than 10 towns) where you can either jump off the boat or walk off small island beaches.
Thanks for watching, but know this wasn't to deter people from visiting the GBR. I was just wanting to inform people about picking a good day to visit and maybe consider an alternative in bad weather.
That being said, I love the GBR but since I've dived and snorkelled most areas...I do have my favourites 😀 and probably more likely use the port Douglas pontoon,than Cairns or Airlie.
Thanks for the informative video! I'll be grabbing the seasick med straight away. And is there cloaking/locker on the pantoon? I'm travelling along and not sure how to manage the camera/phone/wallet situation while I'm in the water. Cheers!
Handy tip.... I start taking my sea sick medication the night before. I've always been told it helps to add the extra protection. 👍😁
I'm trying to think if there were lockers but I can't be certain which boat I've seen them on sorry.
I get a bit unsure if my gear will be safe while swimming but you'll see most people leave their gear lying around near the tables and chairs on the pontoon. I think we shoved ours in a corner.
I just tried to Google but there is only mention of large luggage lockers in their airlie beach facility
@@AquariusTravellerthanks! I have to say Aus is pretty safe compared to other countries. I’ll try find a discrete corner😂
@@charlottewang2536 With the many tours I've taken snorkelling off the coast of Queensland, I've never once had an issue with theft. Hope you have better weather than I did on this tour and have a fantastic time!
I went with Fantasea cruises back in 2002and they took us out to the outer reef with really bad weather and they wouldn’t refund my money . We were warned by the employees of the accomodation we stayed at not to go with them because they are bad operators . I wish they told us why ? I returned to the Whitsundays and saw some lovely coral there .
It's sad to hear more and more stories like this that operators are more concerned about money, than people safety or enjoyment.
Truthfully I found the inner reef much nicer to see than the outer reef 😁👍
@@AquariusTraveller I agree with you and these bad operators wanted to move their pontoons to another spot but the authorities wouldn’t allow it because they are not taking care of the reef .
Wow...that is interesting
Thanks for sharing and hopefully help others watching this video 😁
I would have been so disappointed in this experience for the cost. I agree that it should have been cancelled. Could you imagine trying to snorkel for the first time in those conditions?? No thank you 😆
I've seen overseas tourists give up easily when they aren't use to these Aussie conditions.
As much as I hate bad weather and tours cancelling, it's much better to save the money for another time than to have a bad experience.
I've done about 5 tours like this to the outer reef, but first time it should have been cancelled
We are going at the end of March 2025. It’s an excursion from celebrity cruises whilst docked at Airlie Beach. Any advice would be appreciated
If you're coming off a cruise, then sea sickness shouldn't be an issue... but it is a smaller boat and will rock alot, so take some if you're not sure how you will go.
I hope the weather and winds are good for you, but this you won't know until closer to the time.
Is this your only day in Airlie? What's the reason for picking this trip over anything else?
@@AquariusTraveller all the other great barrier reef tours in cairns etc are sold out already. So this is all that’s left and our only opportunity to do it.
@@BasilsTravels I'm guessing these are booked as part of the cruise?
There was no Whitehaven tours?
@@AquariusTraveller yes part of the cruise. We need the security of an official cruise tour so the ship doesn’t leave without you.
@@BasilsTravels yep... definitely the better way to go booking with the cruise ship .... especially with a long day with this tour
Hello may I know when you went there? Thanks
If your trying to avoid the bad weather, high winds can happen at any time of year and hard to avoid. However, this footage was April 😁
What a shame Chris, the weather was S H I T! I agree the tour should have been cancelled. I imagine there would have been a few chuckers in that swell.
I love ginger beer, particularly with a liberal dash of Bundy 😉
Haha... both Matt and I are partial to a ginger beer...even the alcoholic ones. I'll put a dash in with vodka and always a go to at the brewhouse.
But yes, as for the tour, as much as a cancelled tour is disappointing.. having a bad experience is worse. I'm sure some would have had a great day but when comparing to brilliant days I've had before, it was pretty bad 🤔
Maybe next time 😁
@@AquariusTraveller Cancellations do create problems logistically, but usually for a small minority. You can't please everybody unfortunately.
The video is handy though, it makes people aware of what to look for and expect 👌
Different video to what I normally post but I think it's good to know that not everything goes to plan.
FYI my Whitehaven trip got cancelled for the next day and I had to drive up a month later for a 2 night/one day tour. It was a loooong weekend 😂😂
But worth it when the Whitehaven trip was a complete prime day on the second trip 💖
@@AquariusTraveller Ooh yeah, travel doesn't always go to plan or runs smoothly like we wish. But that is what makes the process so exciting. Good to hear Whitehaven went well.
@@adventurewithbernie you of all people should know that 😂... so many videos with massive rain storms and losing your phone just to name a few 😁
Hi can you suggest which is the preferred tour company for outer reef experience and how is the month of mid May to plan this activity
There is only one company that goes to the Reef Platform but you can find all your options in this blog
aquariustraveller.com/how-to-get-to-the-great-barrier-reef-from-airlie-beach/
This particular tour is listed under the Great Barrier Reef Outer Reef & Pontoon Experience.
May is a great time, it will be on the cooler side starting to get into winter, but a lot less stingers around. You'll still need to wear a stinger suit though.
😊
😁👍
It seems the reef in that area are pretty in awful condition? I was expecting better 😪
It's deeper waters so you tend to see more of the larger creatures like sharks and turtles, they are always cool to see.
But, If your looking for the pretty coral then I did find it better on a tour or through the inner reef. 😁
@@AquariusTraveller which tour is that?
Thanks
@@rcast3763 check out this one on Whitehaven beach...we did some snorkelling at the start of the day 👍
th-cam.com/video/5HsB6dahDdg/w-d-xo.htmlsi=7CscINtI4riuoyEZ
I'm sure there are more tours just based on the snorkelling, if thats what your looking for 😁
Let me know what you think 👍
@@AquariusTraveller yes that's more like the one we are after. Thanks for sharing!
No worrys...glad to help 👍😁
This review seems unfair… Always check the weather forecast before heading out. I can’t imagine any water activities being enjoyable in 16-20 knots winds lol
Hopefully you’re blessed with better conditions next time👍
Thats the unfair part I guess...I had it booked well in advance and when it come to finding out the winds were high, we weren't allowed to cancel without losing our money. (about $300 PP)
I honestly thought the trip should have been cancelled by the operator, but it was still borderline safe enough to do it. 😥
Not the first time I've done this trip and never had a bad experience before, so it why i wanted to explain to other's - if they have the choice, to look at the weather first.
Appreciate the comment and thanks for watching 😁
Fyi... just looked up the winds for the day of our tour and listed between 50 to 57klm/hr... about 28knots
Do you think the operator should have cancelled ?
nothing more foul than being confined to decks swimming in spew, what a filthy health hazard?
I will hire a private boat, cheers
I'm pretty sure that's what I'll be doing next time 👍😁
Reef has lost its colour 😢
After snorkelling here a few times over the past 15 years...there was never that much colour. But colour also doesn't mean that it's a dead reef.
I've seen much more colour in the southern areas or maybe port Douglas
@@AquariusTraveller I am old, I am comparing it to 40 years ago.
I never returned to fnq. I always wanted to but I have settled for the south Coast of nsw. No coral but pristine beaches.
I loved the colour of the water around the reef
Nsw has some awesome beaches for sure... love jervis bay 💖