The Days Itinerary

Top Deck Club

• 7.20 am Board on "A" Finger for check-in and a delicious BBQ breakfast of bacon and egg rolls and an assorted fruit platter.
• 8.00 am Departure. Safety briefing and snorkeling demonstration
• 8.30 am Marine Biology Talk
• 9.30 am Arrive at your first Great Barrier Reef Location for snorkeling, scuba diving
• 12.00 midday Lunch is served
• 12.45 Cruise to afternoon reef location for snorkelling, second scuba dives and relaxing
• 3.00pm Complimentary wine, cheese, biscuits and fruit platters served
• 3.00pm Depart the Great Barrier Reef for the journey back to Cairns
• 4.30pm Approximate return arrival time

Our Top Deck Club package comes with loads of added benefits, plus all the standard Reef Experience inclusions. You even get your own personal valet for the day - providing an unbeatable level of customer service both at the reef and on the boat. (Minimum 2 guests per booking)

• Top Deck Club Personal Guide
• In water guide - to assist with both snorkelling and scuba diving
• Reserved Seating - exclusive seating in the Captain's wheelhouse
• Skip the Queues - your personal guide will bring you everything
• Dine in Style - deluxe lunch served to your table

Our Reef Locations

Reef Experience is a very fortunate not to be restricted to visiting the same reef everyday. We have a selection of 5 spectacular reef locations.  Each day, the Captain assesses the weather and other conditions and selects the two optimal diving and snorkelling reefs based on the comfort and safety of the passengers and the vessel. This guarantees the best Great Barrier Reef diving and snorkelling all year round!

Hastings Reef is a fabulous coral reef in all weather, and we have many different locations to choose from here depending on which way the wind blows! Being the largest reef that Reef Experience visits, it provides good protection and calm diving and snorkelling conditions all year round. Favourite dive and snorkel spots along this reef include ‘coral gardens’, ‘the fish bowl’ and ‘compass mooring’.

Depending on the time of year, Saxon Reef can be a hive of marine activity. In the right seasons it’s a great reef to see young cuttlefish families or migrating humpback whales. White tip reef sharks can often be seen sleeping on the shallow sandy areas and hiding under coral coves. Popular dive and snorkel spots along this reef include ’magic mooring’, turtle bommie’ and ‘twin peaks’.

A popular afternoon destination when the weather is good, Breaking Patches is a small reef location  just north of Michaelmas Cay – a tropical sand island and protected marine turtle breeding ground. As the name suggests, this is a patch reef and is great for viewing giant clams and blue spotted stingrays. It’s also home to one of our well loved marine friends – the friendly resident turtle, ‘Gus’.

Norman Reef is the most northern reef location that we visit, we usually go here in very calm conditions when we can make great journey time. The coral here is simply breathtaking! It’s also home to our giant Maori Wrasse Frank.

At Michaelmas Reef the visibility is good; the average depth is 12-14 feet. All divers can dive this site from novice to pro.

There are wall, gullies, small caves, overhangs and swim-throughs that can be found in the area. With sandy bottoms that have giant clams. There are sea cucumbers and bluespotted rays on the sandy bottoms as well as the giant clams. You can also observe whitetip sharks, schools of damsels and fusiliers.