The Great Barrier Reef is one of the most spectacular places in the world to go snorkeling or scuba diving! In 1981, it was selected to be apart of the UNESCO World Heritage sites. This is a must see spot on your trip around the world! The water is very warm and clear almost year round. It is the world's largest coral reef system, and can be seen from outer space! The amount of sea life that can be seen during a one day period is unbelievable! You will be able to swim with sharks, turtles, clown fish (little nemo), see colorfuly coral and much more!
You are able to access the Reef throughout the Queensland coast. There are various companies that operate tours from certain points along the coast. The two best points to leave for the Reef are Cairns and Port Douglas. Cairns offers a lot of daily packages to tourist. It has a major airport that has various flights coming in daily. The tours leaving from Cairns are very crowded because of how easy it is to access the Reef from there. With a lot of people on the tour it makes it hard to swim by yourself and enjoy the Reef.
Port Douglas is the other major port that operates daily tours. It is only about 30-45 minutes away by bus. A lot of tour companies will allow you to book a tour in Cairns for a trip out of Port Douglas. A bus will pick you up the morning as a part of the package and get you to Port Douglas by the time the first boat leaves. Port Douglas is a lot less crowded, beacuse these compaies have chosen distinct places along the reef that around 1 hour off the coast. I would suggest you leave to see the coast from here instead of Cairns.
All tours are givien by licensed tour company's as the Great Barrier Reef. When I took a tour of the Reef I used a company called Quicksilver that left out of Port Douglas. The tour was ran really well, and the people were very nice! I would suggest using them as a tour operator
