Best Reef Tours for Families
Home to the largest and healthiest reef in the world, Cairns is the best place to introduce your wee ones to the wonders of the ocean. The Great Barrier Reef, visible from space, is the largest living structure on the face of the planet and hosts over 2,900 individual reefs and over 9,000 marine species. No doubt your kids will bursting with excitement at the prospect of meeting Nemo, Marlin and Dory in their own neighbourhood! Most snorkel and diving tours these days offer glass bottom boat excursions as well, where the floor of the boat is completely transparent, and you and the kids can observe the reef from above without even getting wet!
So, let’s make your kids’ dreams come true and breakdown the best Great Barrier Reef tours for families with wee ones …
Day Tours
Day tours are your best bet if this is your family’s first time out on the reef. Typically spanning 5 to 6 hours in length, this offers ample time for the kids to become accustomed to being out at sea. Plus, most tours accommodate families of all ages, with a general restriction of 4 years and up to snorkel and 12 years and up to scuba.
Passions of Paradise offers family packages (two adults, two children) with complementary flotation devices for kids and non-swimmers, and visits two reefs out of Pretty Patches, Breaking Patches, and Moore, Milln, Thetford, Norman and Hastings Reef. It’s perfect if you’re not sure how invested your kids are in transitioning from snorkelling to scuba diving as guests can sit through a diving induction and test their skills in the water for 5 minutes before paying to upgrade — think of it as a 'try before you dive!' promo!
Silverswift, Divers Den, Reef Daytripper, Great Adventures, Evolution, and Ocean Freedom all offer 5+ hours on the reef with between 2 and 3 reef sites for ages 4 and up for snorkelling and 12 and up for diving (infants welcome on board, of course). Ocean Freedom and Great Adventures even have glass bottom boat tours! As does SeaStar's tour to the stunning white sands of Michaelmas Cay (a hotspot for gorgeous seabirds), where the kids can spend hours playing in the shallows and building sandcastles while the parents take turns diving through Hastings Reef.
Liveaboards
For diving and snorkelling enthusiasts with bubs, Oceanquest and Reef Encounter both accommodate for itsy bitsy tots and can provide cots on request. If your kids are under the age of 4 unfortunately, they won’t be able to swim yet and get in on the snorkelling fun, but this is a great way for you to get the best out of your holiday and introduce your wee ones to the adventures of being out on the reef — start ‘em early, we say!
Rum Runner offer two liveaboards with snorkelling for ages 4 and up and diving for ages 12 and up. The 2-day, 1-night tour to Thetford and Moore Reefs welcomes all diving levels and abilities, even newcomers! So, your tweens and teens can follow in your flippers and don the wetsuit to dive into the depths of the ocean with you. Similarly, Rum Runner’s 3-day, 3-night adventure to Holmes Reef offers up to 10 dives with the same age limits.
If you’re feeling flashy and really want to treat your family to a next level reef experience, we suggest booking with Mike Ball. Mike Ball’s 2-day, 3-night Cod Hole expedition kicks off with a scenic low-level flight over the reef, while the 4-day, 4-night Coral Sea tour concludes with the same scenic flight. Both of these trips are for ages 8 and up, offering 12 and 14 dives, respectively. You can even dive into the underwater wonderlands and see the reef come alive under the stars with several night dives included on both trips.
Spirit of Freedom’s 4-day, 4-night tour to the Ribbon Reefs and Coral Sea accepts divers of 10 years old and up and visits up to 15 diverse coral reefs. Cod Hole, an included dive site, is one of the most popular and famous reefs in the world. Home to big friendly giants, the potato cod, divers revel in snorkelling alongside these goofy and occasionally inquisitive fellas.
