Day Trip to the Great Barrier Reef

When in Cairns, one cannot afford to miss even just a day tour of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). You may book online to save you time and effort in planning your GBR trip. My aunt signed us up for a day tour with the Great Adventures Group that covers Green Island as well as a portion of the outer reef called Moore Reef.

The tour costs AUD238/₱9,950 per person and is inclusive of the following; hotel transfers, 2 hours of stay in Green Island, 3 hours at the outer reef platform with hot and cold meals plus coffee or tea, free use of snorkeling gears and coral reef viewing tour in their semi-submersible submarines for those who don't want to swim.

You may proceed directly at the Cairns Marina if you failed to book online. They have daily tours that starts at 9:00AM and ends around 5:00PM. 

I was expecting to get sea sick during our catamaran cruise with the huge waves and all that but glad it didn't triggered my motion sickness.


Except for my aunt! Here she is giving me a fake smile onboard the catamaran despite feeling nauseous during the whole trip.


Anyway, here's Green Island. Weather wasn't good that day but I can imagine how blue-er the water can be if it were sunny.


I apologize in advanced for my haggard wet look. It rained during our 2-hour stay in Green Island and had no choice but to get a rain coat just so we could walk around. Swimming wasn't an option because I prefer to swim on our next stop which was Moore Reef.

 
While in Green Island, we sat in Reflections Pool Bar. I then realized that the island reminded me so much of Dos Palmas in Palawan. There's a hotel in the island just in case you want to stay longer. ;)

We left before 12PM and moved on to Moore Reef which is 45-50 minutes away from Green Island.

Here we are in the pontoon waiting for our buffet lunch. Our group consists mostly of Chinese and Japanese tourists.


Like I said earlier, you may borrow snorkeling gears and life vest. Other water activities such as scuba diving, etc. are charged separately through cash or card payment.

 
Apart from snorkeling, I really wanted to try the scubadoo. Parang very chillax lang under the water. But then travel gods had a different activity for us:


BOOM! I mean seriously, there's no other way to enjoy the view of the GBR but above the sea!


Check out this video I made from our first ever helicopter ride over the Great Barrier Reef. Enjoy! ;)

The 10-minute scenic helicopter ride (which is AUD159/₱6,600 per person) is optional but it's definitely an experience worth remembering and sharing too! ;) FYI, my plans of  snorkeling and scubadoo failed to push through because of motion sickness after the heli ride. Sucks balls! Haha. Di bale, next time.  

Again, THANK YOU SO MUCH to my aunt and cousin. Words cannot explain how I feel right now. HAHAHA. Thanks for this treat, I have no idea how to pay you guys back. Hehe. Babawi din ako as soon as I win the lotto. LOL. 'Til our next adventure!

P.S. If you ever have plans of doing the helicopter ride, make sure you're stomach's not full from lunch. I almost puked before landing! It was definitely one of the worst and at the same time the best 10 minutes of my life. You only live once so travel while you're young! ;)