Everything You Need to Know About Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef

Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef is a bucket list activity! It is something that we have known we wanted to do but never knew when it would happen. So we knew when we were in Australia we had to try doing it! The Great Barrier Reef is absolutely huge and runs along a significant portion of the Australian east coast with a lot of different locations to visit from. So here is everything you need to know about snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef including where to go, how much it cost and our overall experience!

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Where is the Great Barrier Reef?

The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef in the world. It runs parallel to the coastline of Australia from Bundaberg to the northern tip of Queensland.

Because it is so large, there is more than one place to experience the Great Barrier Reef. If you’re not going all the way up to Cairns you can still see a section of the Great Barrier Reef that is more south closer to Bundaberg and Brisbane.

Cairns is one of the most popular places to see the Northern Great Barrier Reef simply because of it’s proximity to the Cairns International Airport. If you’re flying this is an easy place to fly into and see the reef with only a couple days. Continuing south to the Central Great Barrier Reef you will find Magnetic Island and the Whitsunday Islands which are considered some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Frasier Island is one of the highlights within the Southern Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Hervey Bay.

How Much Does Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef Cost?

We went snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Cairns in northern Queensland. That’s where we started our road trip. We went down the Queensland coast from Cairns to Brisbane so it made sense for us to do it there but it’s up to you and where you will be!

We snorkeled in two different locations within the Upolu Reef with the company Reef Daytripper and had such a good experience! Our boat held only about 20 passengers total which we loved! It felt a lot more genuine and less like a tour. The catamaran type boat was really comfortable and featured nets on the front as well as shaded benches to sit on. Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef trip cost us 157 AUD or $103 USD per person.

That price included snorkeling gear (mask, snorkel, fins and a noodle), lunch, a glass of wine, water and snacks on the way back to Cairns.

While snorkeling there were two guides in the water with us pointing out certain types of fish or other things to see. As well the captain of the boat gave us information about where we were and some facts about the Upolu Reef as well as a safety briefing prior to getting in the water. All the information was really well presented and was enough to be interesting without being too much!

Expect to pay anywhere from 100-200 AUD ($66-131 USD) per person depending on the company you choose and what is offered. So it’s definitely not the cheapest activity but it’s something that is so incredible to experience! What you see in the reef today might not look like that in a few years or even longer so we knew it was something we wanted to experience while we were in Australia!

What We Saw Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef

We got really lucky and had an incredibly clear day with really good visibility! Weather and the tides can impact visibility significantly so there isn’t always a guarantee that it will be really clear. But we were able to see so much! In the Upolu Reef we saw so many different kinds of coral, dozens of schools of different kinds of fish and even a few sharks and a turtle!

What you can see underwater depends on which reef you are snorkeling. Regardless it was incredible to see so much marine life in one place! We have never seen anything quite like the Great Barrier Reef!
It felt like we were so close to the coral which allowed you to see so much! We saw sea cucumbers, star fish and the incredible details of all the coral growing down under the water!

3 Things to Bring Snorkeling

Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef is such an amazing experience that you want to make sure to bring a few things with you:

1. GoPro / Waterproof Camera

You definitely want to bring a GoPro or waterproof camera with you to photograph everything you see while snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef! We bring our GoPro (with this floating handle so you don’t have to worry about losing it to the bottom of the ocean) whenever we’re snorkeling or doing water activities so we can still capture what we’re doing with out having to worry about ruining the camera.

We were able to take so many pictures and videos like snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef with our GoPro and we have loved being able to show those to people wondering what it was like!

2. Dry Bag

Our boat was a catamaran type boat so there was a covered section where we were able to keep our bags. But twenty people coming in and out of the water meant the floor and almost all off our bags were wet by the end of the day. Bringing a dry bag ensures all your valuables stay dry without having to worry about moving it the whole day!

If you go snorkeling a lot or are traveling around Asia and planning to do a lot of boat tours a dry bag is a really good thing to bring! We used it quite a few times while taking island tours in the Philippines!

3. Sunscreen

The sun in Australia is no joke! It’s really strong and if you’re going to be out in the water all day you definitely want to have sunscreen on. We like this sunscreen because it wears well and always bring it in this reusable container so we can reapply throughout the day.

Travel Truth: We did wear stinger suits because we visited during stinger season in Australia. It cost 12 AUD or about $7 USD for us both. Every single person on our boat as well as the guides wore them so we didn’t hesitate to get them. That also helped protect our backs from the sun while snorkeling!