Half-Day Outer Reef Snorkelling Tour

We had a fantastic half day with Tusa. Weather in Cairns was miserable but the outer reef was bathed in sunshine. We were lucky as it is the slow season and had only 5 passengers ( with 5 crew). The crew were fantastic- friendly and knowledgeable. We had a solid 2 hours snorkeling the reef with a guide who pointed out interesting fish and coral - even pretty close to a white tip shark ( harmless 😁). One of the group was not so confident snorkeling and the guide had a life ring for her to hold on to and escorted her back to the boat for a rest. They do provide a lunch box for purchase but we took our own. They did provide a fruit platter on the way back. All in all I can highly recommend the half day cruise.

The embarkment location was a bit confusing because the days leading up to the tour I received email about "Finger A" as the moorage point. However, the boat was at "Finger H" after we asked around several other tour operators around "Finger A". It was good that we arrived a bit early to plan for searching the boat. We encountered several parties searching for this boat as well. Staff were very friendly and helpful. They provided the correct information and set proper expectations after we were onboard. Despite the water conditions (rough sea outbound and inbound), our snorkeling experience was great. Many folks felt motion sickness and unable to enjoy the reefs. The staff put safety as their highest priority. The boat can accommodate 60 people so it was a reasonable size catamaran.

Jacob and staff were great company, very comforting and friendly as the swell was quite rough. The half day option was perfect.! Beautiful underwater pictures for purchase also. Weather was not on our side, but a must do experience.

Tusa Reef Tours are incredible! Such a fun bunch but also very professional and know what they're doing. You can tell they all truly love to be out on the water and share their love of the Reef with tourists, locals, and everyone else on board. Getting the under water photos was an added bonus!!! Would highly recommend to anyone looking to explore the GBR :)

Tusa Reef Tour is the best tour to see the great barrier reef: The sites they presented for viewing the corals and sea creatures are unbeatable! They go to the outer reefs which are much further out from the shore where have various vibrant corals and very colorful tropical fish, very much like what we see in the movies. Their on-board service is unbeatable - Tusa has a very well maintained large faster boat that’s nice and clean with padded bench and table space for each of the tourists. They provide breakfast, a restaurant style lunch, and snacks. Hot tea and water throughout the day. They even have a hot water shower equipped in a clean bathroom. They give you a detailed tutorial in a very small group setting on how to use the snorkeling and scuba diving equipment, and each of the possible creatures that you may encounter under the water. They have at least one staff to help you put on the equipment from head to toe, and help you practice in water until you feel comfortable before diving into the water. They have a staff diving with you arm-in-arm at all times, which provides strong confidence needed for new divers. The entire prep and diving process makes you feel like you’re receiving a VIP service. The day before Tusa Reef Tour, we took a similar boat tour with another company, it was a very disappointing experience. It was a smaller boat with very loud engine noise. The boat was not well-maintained, we were told upfront the restroom toilets could be clogged. Tourists said that they saw toilet dirty water spilled on the entire floor in that tiny bathroom. Before diving they just briefly gave a quick overview to a large group of people, with a very loud boat engine noise (much less engine noise on the Tusa boat) it’s hard to hear clearly, and they don’t care if you’re ready or not, just rush you into the water due to the time scheduled. The worst part is that the boat only goes to the inner reef (they don’t tell you this), we ended up only seeing the reef rocks, no corals and only very limited number of non-colorful fish, and their staff told us that “this is what the real coral reef is like, don’t believe those you see on the Internet”. we were shocked, because that’s not what we took 30 hours of flight to come to the Great Barrier Reef for. After both tours, we did some searches and found out the differences: The Outer reef is more than 50 kilometers (31 miles) away from the shore, It has high biodiversity with a greater abundance of larger scale of species, clearer and higher visibility in water, and known for its spectacular coral formations. The Inner reef is less than 20 kilometers (12 miles) away from the shore, it’s much less in all characteristic features comparing to the outer reefs due to the sediments and the influence of freshwater runoffs. Based on this search finding and our actual boat tours experience, we believe the Tusa Reef Tour worths every single extra penny we paid (although Tusa tour is at higher price than other tours). We had the opportunity to see the good part of the Great Barrier Reef, it’s a once in a lifetime unforgettable stunning experience!

Great experience. Staff went above and beyond to make sure we are comfortable and take care off. Definitely recommend them if you are considering for a day trip.

Went out on the reef tour yesterday and the CREW absolutely made trip! We had bad weather and the crew made a bad day good! Couldn’t be happier with the experience we had. Very nice boat with a smooth ride and plenty of amenities. The crew waited on us hand and foot. If you’re spending the money to be in Cairns to dive/snorkle, don’t short yourself on the trip! Book with Tusa.

What an amazing experience, we absolutely LOVED our day with Tusa, and would highly recommend! We chose Tusa as they are one of the only operators in the area with a roving licence, enabling them to pick the best locations each day. We were looked after impeccably by all the crew, who all knew SO MUCH about the marine life and absolutely loved sharing all their knowledge with us. We snorkelled for well over 2.5 hours in total, and Sandra was the perfect guide, helping us along the way, teaching us about everything we saw and making sure we were comfortable. I could never have imagined we would have seen so many incredible fish and coral varieties, it was just the best day. The boat was stunning and so special and comfortable, and all our food and drinks were prepared fabulously by Juliet. Thank you all so much!!

Impressive company and workers...second only to some of the diving. Seamless operation of professional, talented and enthusiastic and safe team. I have done a fair but of diving over 20 years....I don't think it could be done better. Tusa should be proud of it's team. Everyone was giving their absolute all, Matt was my dive guide and was the example of an excellent dive guide. Thank you all for hopefully changing the standard for diving in general.

Neither of us had dived for a while so were a little nervous, especially as it usually takes me forever to equalise the first time I dive after a long break. I decided to abort the dive (safely and under supervision) to save the other divers waiting for me. Back onboard they arranged a different instructor to go back in the water with me so I didn’t feel like I was holding anyone up and after taking my time had a lovely first dive after several years. Second dive I joined the group again in the afternoon. Reef was fantastic but crew were amazing (each and every one of them). Could not recommend highly enough!