visiting the Great barrier Reef

Smith · Veteran Member

visiting the Great barrier Reef

Knight · Senior Member

Brisbane to Townsville is 1,335 kilometres by road and that is where the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority is located and James Cook University where GBR studies are conducted.

The GBR stretches a very long way and many go to Cairns further north, even north of Mackay at Airlie Beach there are tourist GBR related activities.

Queensland is a big state and the coastline has reefs that form the GBR at various intervals.

You would need a full day to obtain a glimpse.

Smith · Veteran Member

We were thinking that a day trip from Bundaberg to Lady Margrave May just fit the bill. has anyone done that. I think the trip leaves from 1770 the town.

Yuglamron · Guru

Apart from flying from Brisbane, Bundaberg is the Southernmost place to visit the GBR as Smith Posted. Lady Musgrave and Lady Elliot on a Day trip.

The advantage of Bundaberg is two fold, You also have the Mon Repos Turtle Sanctuary/Beaches you can visit. Bargara is a nice little spot next door to Mon Repos.

Needs checking for times the turtles come ashore to lay eggs and when they hatch. It's a magic experience at night when the turtles hatch out and the joy on young children's faces when they get to see them is a big part of the experience.

The Bundy Brewed Drinks Factory also has tours of their Facility where they brew Bundaberg Ginger Beer along with a whole range of other soft drinks. Last but not least the Bundaberg Rum Distillery is another great place to visit.

My apologies. I just checked the turtle nesting and hatching times and it appears the hatching is normally over by the end of March.

The link gives information.

https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/mon-repos/pdf/turtle-encounters.pdf

-- Edited by Yuglamron on Sunday 17th of March 2019 04:37:29 PM

blaze · Guru

Smith wrote:
We were thinking that a day trip from Bundaberg to Lady Margrave May just fit the bill. has anyone done that. I think the trip leaves from 1770 the town.

Usd to do a annual trip to lady Musgrove fishing, headed out on a 40 foot bertie. Lovely spot and a lovely protected lagoon with some good diving. Don't know if the charters are overnight but that would be my choise as it takes a while to steam out

cheers

blaze

the rocket · Guru

Yeppoon over night n do a boat trip To great kepel

island. i think there is a plane out of gladstone too.

-- Edited by the rocket on Sunday 17th of March 2019 06:48:41 PM

Warren-Pat_01 · Guru

Paul,
As mentioned above, Qld is a big state (I know as with direct family in SW Victoria it is a 7,500km round trip to see them) & the GBR is long. It has a length of 2,600 km and covers 344,400 sq. km. It is the largest structure in the world created by living organisms and supports a wide diversity of life, including fish, whales, dolphins and sea turtles.

It depends on what you want to see. You can come up here to Townsville & see the largest living reef aquarium in King St, City without getting your feet wet. It is self sufficient as far as food, breeding goes & there is a predator + big fish tank as well - the inmates in there are fed.

I would doubt that you would be able to get into JCU as they have had their open days in the past month. However AIMS (Australian Institute of Marine Science www.aims.gov.au/) is open to the public on Friday mornings. Their SEASIM is the largest & most advanced marine research facility in the world. Contact is 07-4753 4444.

As far as doing a tour via some sort of boat, you need to go to Bundaberg (southern section of the reef), Yeppoon, Airlie Beach (including the Whitsunday island group where you can see one of the whitest beaches in Australia at Whitehaven Beach), Cairns (340kms north of Townsville) & Port Douglas (the trip to Low Isles is a good one). Prices are generally competitive. You may pick up a cheaper tour on a slower boat than on a catamaran but the cat will get you there quicker. You leave in the morning & return in the afternoon.

Farmhat · Senior Member

Warren-Pat_01 wrote:

As far as doing a tour via some sort of boat, you need to go to Bundaberg (southern section of the reef), Yeppoon, Airlie Beach (including the Whitsunday island group where you can see one of the whitest beaches in Australia at Whitehaven Beach), Cairns (340kms north of Townsville) & Port Douglas (the trip to Low Isles is a good one). Prices are generally competitive. You may pick up a cheaper tour on a slower boat than on a catamaran but the cat will get you there quicker. You leave in the morning & return in the afternoon.

As far as seeing the Great Barrier Reef and getting a good view of it, is one or other of the above a better place to see it from?

Smith · Veteran Member

Thanks all. very helpful. I must say that the grey Nomad forum is can excellent way of getting information, and giving, far superior to looking on the usual sites on the web which seem to only tell you how good they are without giving very much real information .
Keep it up

Wizardofoz · Guru

Its a long way to get to the closest towns to the GBR, which are Cairns, Port Douglas and Cooktown where Lizard Island is the closest and easily reached.

From Townsville south the reef gets further from the coast, so Its a matter of which method of travel you prefer.

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

Be aware that the Great Barrier Reef is actually under the water. :)
Anyone can learn to snorkel and if you take that effort you will be well rewarded with an experience that you will remember.
Cheers,
Peter

TBF · Member

Smith wrote:
We were thinking that a day trip from Bundaberg to Lady Margrave May just fit the bill. has anyone done that. I think the trip leaves from 1770 the town.

We did the reef trip from 1770 about 2 years ago.

Wonderful experience. Highly recommended.

Far shorter drive than going to Airlie Beach.

Aart

dabbler · Guru

There used to be day-tripper flights Bundy to Lady something. Wife and daughter did it a few years ago. Not sure about snorkelling gear, probably rented on-island.