Published on Dec, 2024
We went to the reef first ( captain’s decision). It takes about an hour to get there and it can be bumpy. Several people felt sick and were moved to the back ( asked to switch seats with others as all seats in use ). The boat itself is quick, but there isn’t much space to put anything, so keep it light ( towel, sunscreen, small bag at most) once at the reef everything was good. The reef is pretty healthy, we saw plenty of different types of fish, but no sharks, rays, or eels unfortunately. There was a pretty good current, but manageable if you are a good swimmer. After the reef, there was another not quite as long ride to Whitehaven Beach. Here we had lunch, which was fine, and then given a nice amount of time on the beach. Afterwards we took a short ride to the Hill Inlet lookout for the really amazing view. After this it was a relatively easy ride back to the start of our trip. If you can, scuba dive the reef, that is better in my opinion. I have and would do that separately. Then, take another trip to Whitehaven if I were to do this again. That being said, if you are short on time this is a good option. I did it for my daughter, who had never been to the Great Barrier Reef before.