Big Cat Green Island Reef Cruises

The main attraction for visitors to Cairns is the nearby Great Barrier Reef. The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef and is heritage listed. This Marine Park is made up of more than 3,000 individual reef systems and coral cays and many islands. It is larger than the Great Wall of China and is the only living thing on earth visible from space. It is one of the seven wonders of the natural world.

Numerous companies offer cruises out to the Great Barrier Reef from Cairns. We chose to go on a day cruise to Green Island operated by Big Cat Green Island Reef Cruises. It is close to the mainland, being only 15 nautical kilometres away.

Green Island is a small tropical rainforest island surrounded by white sandy beaches and beautiful coral. It was formed thousands of years ago by waves pushing up coral rubble and sediment to form a coral cay. Birds dropped seeds onto the cay and vegetation grew forming the present rainforest. Today more than 100 different types of native plants grow on the island and the bird life is abundant.

We walked to the Reef Fleet Terminal from our hotel to collect our boarding passes and boarded the large catamaran at 8.30am. The Big Cat had two decks of air-conditioned indoor seating and one top deck of open air seating. Complimentary tea and coffee was served on board up until the boat's departure at 9am.

As we sailed out from the Marina heading for Green Island we picked up our snorkeling gear consisting of mask, snorkel and fins. A safety brief, life jacket drill and snorkel demonstration were given by the friendly crew members to everyone on board.

We arrived at the jetty on Green Island at 10.10am and went on shore to visit Marineland Melanesia, a wonderful nautical museum featuring live crocodiles, tropical marine aquariums and rare Melanesian artefacts. This was a wonderful way to spend an hour listening to the turtle and crocodile talks and exploring the various displays. We even had the opportunity to hold a baby crocodile.

We then headed back to the Big Cat and changed into our swimming gear and went snorkeling off the beach in very clear water. We were able to see various types of hard and soft corals and a wonderful variety of tropical fish and marine creatures at close quarters. The bright and varied colours of the fish were amazing.

We interrupted our snorkeling to head back to the Big Cat where lunch was being served on board between 11.30am and 1pm. The delicious buffet lunch served on the lower deck consisted of several hot dishes and various salads.

There was time for more snorkeling before our 30 minute Semi-Submarine Tour. Here we sat below water level looking through the large panels of glass to see the wonderful coral and fish. This gave us the opportunity to see this amazing underwater world from a diver's perspective without getting wet. Whole schools of fish came up very close to us, especially when they were being fed fish food from above.

Big Cat was moored at the jetty all day so we could come and go as we pleased. We found it handy to hire a locker on the boat to store our valuables in. Other optional activities the Big Cat offers include a Glass Bottom Boat Tour, Seawalker Helmet Diving, and Scuba Diving. A Licensed Bar sold drinks, snacks ice-creams and souvenirs.

Time went very quickly on our Green Island visit. The beaut thing about Green Island is that it caters for swimmers and non-swimmers. Apart from swimming at the sheltered beaches and snorkeling, there are various short bush, beach and board walks around the island to go on. There are canoes, surf skis, beach volleyball gear or stand up paddle boards for hire. Or people can just laze around the pool and enjoy refreshments from one of the island's cafes. There was even a massage salon and helicopter joy flights available. Longer stays on the island are possible by staying at the Green Island Resort.

As it was nearly time for Big Cat to depart, we went to the island to shower and change.

Big Cat left at 3.45pm and after smooth sailing arrived back at the Cairns Marina at 5pm. We had thoroughly enjoyed our day on the Great Barrier Reef at Green Island and made a mental note to return there next time we visit Cairns. The Big Cat was a comfortable way to travel to the island and back and was a great base for our days adventures.

Further Information

Big Cat Green Island Reef Cruises 

Cruise Options

Pak 1 – Standard Cruise
- Cruise to Green Island by catamaran
- 9am departure 5 hours to enjoy Green Island
- 11am departure 4 hours to enjoy Green Island
- choice of snorkelling gear or a glass bottom boat tour ($14 extra to do both)
- Snorkelling demonstration & reef presentation en route to Green Island
- Use of Big Cat vessel during time at island as an air-conditioned base
- Island rainforest boardwalks
- costs: Adults $84.00 Children $42.00
Pak 2 – includes Pak 1 & buffet lunch
- costs: Adults $104.00 Children $52.00
Pak 3 – includes Pak 1 & semi-submarine tour
- costs: Adults $104.00 Children $52.00
Pak 4 – includes Pak 1 & buffet lunch & semi-submarine tour
- costs: Adults $124.00 Children $62.00

 

OPTIONAL ACTIVITIES

- Floatation Vests $8 adult, $4 child
- Lycra Suits $8 adult, $4 child
- Introductory Dive $150 (subject to medical questionnaire)
- One Certified Dive $105 (subject to availability on the day)
- Seawalker Helmet Diving $160
- Boat Snorkel Trips $40 adult, $25 child
- Marineland Melanesia $18 adult $8 child
- Seaplane Scenic Flight (subject to availability on the day)
- Helicopter Scenic Flights (subject to availability on the day)

Bookings

Reef Fleet Terminal, 1 Spence St. Cairns Qld Australia 4870
Tel: (07) 4051 0444 Int Tel +61 7 4051 0444
Fax (07) 4051 8896 Int Fax +61 7 4051 8896
P O Box 7577 Cairns Qld 4870
Web:  http://www.greenisland.com.au/

Email: info@greenisland.com.au