“Snorkel, swim, dive or relax on a Great Barrier Reef tour to Green Island with Big Cat Green Island Reef Cruises for a day in tropical paradise”
In collaboration with Big Cat Green Island Reef Cruises, we got offered a full day tour to Green Island to check out why you should add Green Island on your must-see bucket list when you are visiting Cairns.
We checked in at the Cairns Reef Terminal at 08.00 am, which went all very smoothly, and before we knew we were settled into our comfy chairs on board and sipping our complimentary tea and coffee, which they serve before the vessel sets sail to Green Island.
Your Green Island Package
You`ve got 2 free options to choose from with your Green Island Package, one is to do a glass bottom boat tour, and the other one is to borrow snorkel gear to snorkel around Green Island. We choose the glass bottom tour because we had our own snorkel gear with us.
As we went in the Marine Stinger Season, its advisory to rent a wetsuit, which protects you better from stings and of course the sun. You can collect snorkel gear and/or wetsuits and flippers before 9 am or after 9.30 am on board of the Big Cat. We recommend to get there as early as you can, to avoid the crowds.
Arriving at Green Island
Is like arriving at a tropical island somewhere in Asia or the Pacific! For a brief moment, you totally forget that you are actually still in Australia and in our case really close to where we live at the moment.
Green Island has a relaxed holiday vibe and the tiny centre of little boutiques and cafe`s will give you a really cosy feeling.
Although the sea was quite rough at certain times when we boated up here, the overall trip to Green Island went quite smooth and before we knew the sea became bluer and bluer and Green Island was on our radar.
The glass bottom boat tour at Green Island
Our glass bottom boat tour took off around 11.00 am for a 30 min tour, so we wandered around some of Green Islands shops and after that, we headed back to the jetty to join the glass bottom tour, which was awesome.
The skipper was original from Tasmania and he was really enthusiastic and knew lots of stuff about the Great Barrier Reef and the Fish. And Fish we saw! Lots of them, big and small, green, blue, ugly, beautiful, and coral, heaps of coral.
The pictures are taken from the glass bottom boat, and lightning was sometimes an issue with shooting, but we managed to capture some of the sea life below our boat.
After our tour, it was time for some lunch at one of the bar`s at Green Island ( you can also take your own packed lunch )
Time flies when you’re having fun and after a little bite and a drink we got ourselves in our wetsuits ( really charming! ) and explored the underwater world around Green Island. We saw many types of fish and even a turtle! A wish came true for Lion, who dived and enjoy snorkeling all over the world, but never saw 1 turtle before!
We got lost in time and before we knew we had to get out of our wetsuits and head back to the boat! One day really isn’t enough to discover everything Green Island has to offer. A semi-submarine tour, sea walker helmet diving, scuba diving, hiring a canoe, a helicopter scenic flight around Green Island are a few great things to do during your stay at Green Island. But we choose to discover the underwater world ourselves and do the glass bottom boat, which we both really enjoyed!
We didn’t even get the change to walk around Green Island, or discover the things that Marineland Melanesia has to offer ( we heard this is a great family activity ) but who knows for next time 🙂
Green Island is also great if you don’t like water activities, but just want to indulge yourself in tropical surroundings and relax on a sunbed. Green Island offers sun lounges and umbrellas for hire.
Around 3 pm we headed back to the boat to return our wetsuits and settled back in, just in time for a massive rainfall. We set sail around 3.45pm and the bar was open again for drinks, snacks and ice creams and the trip back to Cairns went really smooth and quick. At around 5 pm we were back safe and sound at Cairns with tanned faces and another FNQ experience richer.
We would definitely recommend doing the Full Day tour to Green Island instead of the half day tour, as there is so much to do at Green Island, we didn’t even have enough time to see it all in one day.
Another great alternative is to stay overnight in Green Island`s resort! Click here to discover more about Green Island Resort.
When you keep your Green Island admission ticket, you can get a 10 % discount as a repeat traveller when you want to go to Green Island again or if you want to do the Cairns Harbour Sunset Cruise. Read our post about the Cairns Harbour Sunset Cruise here.
Be aware of a few things when snorkelling at the great barrier reef
At certain times of the year, ( generally from October – May ) jellyfish or otherwise called marine stingers are more frequent in the waters of Far North Queensland. Most of them are harmless to people, but a few varieties can cause serious injury. It`s advisable to protect yourself wearing a wetsuit and water shoes.
Wetsuits and water shoes are also a great protection against some fish, shells and coral. When stung or cut, please get it treated, as they can cause serious infections ( I had a coral cut once before from snorkelling in the Philippines, bit of a bummer after a great day! )
Don’t touch corals, plants and animals to protect yourself and them!
For the rest, just relax and enjoy!
Book your Green Island package now at www.greenisland.com.au and check out their Facebook and Instagram.
Hi Jasmine! Thanks so much 🙂 It really was a great day at Green Island, One full day wasn’t even enough time to explore it all 🙂 Any plans yet to come to Australia?
Let us know if you need to know anything, happy to help!
What a unique way to see Green island! The glass bottom boat tour seems especially cool. I’ve actually never heard of the Green Island. Definitely gonna add it to my bucket list for when I visit Australia. Thanks for sharing!