The Great Barrier Reef is one of Australia’s premier holiday destinations for good reason. With a huge variety of sea life and beautiful islands to explore, this is a truly incredible part of the world. Any visitor to the Great Barrier Reef will likely consider a trip to the outer reef, in the hopes of seeing more pristine environments and a different variety of corals, fish and other sea life. Cruise Whitsundays’ Reefworld Pontoon is one of the most popular options for a outer reef trip. Whilst this destination is most famous for its accommodation options, a day trip is also available leaving from Airlie Beach, Daydream Island or Hamilton Island. If you have seen this trip advertised, you may be wondering whether the Reefworld day trip is worth it? In this post, I will share my family’s experience with the Reefworld day trip departing Hamilton Island and help you determine whether it would be worth it for you and your family.
What is Reefworld?
Reefworld is the name of Cruise Whitsundays’ multi-level pontoon moored at Hardy Reef. The pontoon is most famous for its overnight accommodation options, Reefsleep and Reefsuites. Both options give visitors the opportunity to wake up on the Great Barrier Reef, with Reefsuites being Australia’s first underwater accommodation. However, there are also day trip options available. The tour lasts all day, with 2-3 hours cruising each way, plus four hours on the pontoon itself. Costing $299 AUD (as at July 2022) per adult, the day trip isn’t exactly cheap. This day trip is available from Airlie Beach, Daydream Island or Hamilton Island. However, if you are departing from Daydream Island Resort, you’ll have to change boats at Hamilton Island marina. It takes a total of three hours to cruise out from Airlie Beach, and two hours from Hamilton Island.
The boat trip out to the pontoon is anything but boring, despite the length. Between July and September, keep your eye out for whales on their migration! And, of course, you can admire the beautiful Whitsunday Islands as you cruise past. Both morning and afternoon tea are also served on the boat. The final hour (or first hour on the way home) of the trip crosses the open ocean and can be quite rough. If you are prone to seasickness like me, make sure you take medication before you hop on the boat. The staff are great and also provide sick bags if you need it. It is also possible to buy seasickness tablets once you are on board if you didn’t bring your own.
Reefworld inclusions
Your day trip to Reefworld does actually include quite a lot, though there are plenty of optional extras you can add on as well. As mentioned above, all your meals for the day are included (morning and afternoon tea, and a buffet lunch). There is also a hot drinks station where you can make your own coffee, tea or hot chocolate. This is open at all times, except when the boat is experiencing rough conditions. Aside from food, drink and transport, there are also three activities on the pontoon that are included in your trip. It would actually be very easy to spend the entire four hours on the pontoon doing just the included activities. The three included activities are snorkelling, the underwater observatory, and a semi-submarine tour.
Snorkelling
It wouldn’t be a trip to the Great Barrier Reef without going snorkelling and all equipment is provided for you to do this! All you need to do is grab a stinger suit, snorkel and a pair of flippers, and jump right into the water! There are pool noodles available for anyone who isn’t a strong swimmer, and the entire area is supervised by lifeguards both on the pontoon and in the water on dinghies. This is genuinely some of the best snorkelling I have ever done. There’s heaps of fish to see, as well as coral and clams. If you’re lucky, you might even see a turtle or two!
Underwater observatory and semi-submarine tour
If you would rather stay dry, there are a couple of options for you. The pontoon has its own underwater observatory room where you can watch the fish swim past. There’s even a few corals that have formed along the windowsills. This would be a really nice place to sit for a while if you have young kids; I feel like they would be happy to watch the fish for ages!
You can also hop on the semi-submarine guided tour along the Hardy Reef wall. Unfortunately, it is actually quite hard to see the colours of the corals from the semi-submarine. This is not bleaching, but rather because of the way water distorts our ability to see colour. Having said that, it is still definitely worth hopping on the tour. The variety in types of coral is very interesting to see, and the guide will provide information as you go along. Again, you might also see some cool fish or turtles! When we returned from the tour, there were two huge fish right underneath the pontoon!
Reefworld optional extras
As mentioned above, there are a number of optional extras available for purchase on the boat. Many of these extras are extremely popular, so keep an ear out on the announcements on your trip over. You’ll want to be in line as soon as those announcements finish so you can get on your desired trip! This is especially true if you wish to book a helicopter flight over the famous Heart Reef, as there are very limited spots available each day. Other optional activities include scuba diving for both certified and first-time divers, and guided snorkel tours.
I personally can’t vouch for the diving or guided snorkel tour, but I’ll provide a little information below anyway. My dad, sister and I took the flight over Heart Reef, though, and it was fantastic! Whilst there is no limit on how many activities you can undertake in a day, keep in mind that you only have four hours on the pontoon. I personally can’t imagine doing more than one additional activity but I guess it would depend on which activities you choose.
Helicopter flight over Heart Reef
If you want to fly in a helicopter over the famous Heart Reef, going to Reefworld and choosing this optional extra is actually the cheapest way to do it. Reefworld is also conveniently located only 5 minutes flight away from Heart Reef, creating a 10 minute round trip flight. There are no prices advertised online for this optional extra, but in June 2022 we paid $199 AUD per person. With scenic helicopter flights departing Hamilton Island costing a minimum of $660 per person, the Reefworld option is significantly cheaper. Of course, scenic flights from Reefworld do not include views of the equally famous Whitehaven Beach, so you would miss out on this view. You can take aeroplane flights departing Hamilton Island over both views for $330 AUD per person. But considering the included activities I mentioned above, both options end up being equally worth their price in my opinion.
Whether you are heading to Reefworld as a day trip, or staying at Reefsleep or Reefsuites, you will have to book your helicopter flight as soon as possible. Up to five flights depart each day, and if you are staying overnight you can only fly on your first day. Make sure you head down to meet the Hamilton Island Air representative as soon as the on-boat announcements are over to avoid disappointment. Only three of our family of four managed to get spots on the helicopter despite joining the line as soon as we could.
Scuba Diving
If you’re ever going to try scuba diving, the Great Barrier Reef is the place to do it. The representatives on the boat do a very good job of selling the scuba diving optional extra. They make learning to dive sound like the easiest thing in the world. There is even a money-back guarantee if you decide at any point that scuba diving isn’t for you! All the guides are certified and will walk you through every step of the experience. There is a minimum age limit on this activity (12 years) and all participants must fill out a medical declaration prior to their dive. The initial dive will set you back $142 AUD (as at July 2022) but if you decide you want to dive again, additional dives cost $60 AUD. For certified divers, the initial price is slightly lower, at $112 AUD. As with the snorkelling, all equipment is included in this price.
Guided snorkel tours
If you are not a confident swimmer, or you want some information on what you’re seeing on the reef, a snorkel tour is for you! We didn’t end up choosing to take a guided snorkel tour on our Reefworld day trip, but it was something we did consider. After all, we love learning about the local wildlife and environment! We decided we wouldn’t have time to do this tour in our day so just made the most of snorkelling on our own. I do think this would be a great option, especially for younger families. There are no prices for snorkel tours quoted on the website as at July 2022.
Pros and cons of the Reefworld day trip
I figure a good way to end this post would be to summarise what I think are the pros and cons of the day trip out to Reefworld. The main competing trip departing Hamilton Island is run by Explore group. This is a small group tour that visits two separate sites in the outer reef. Costing $280 per adult (as at July 2022), the price is not significantly different from Cruise Whitsundays. Explore’s trip also includes all snorkel gear and diving packages are available. Travel time between Hamilton Island and both Reefworld (Cruise Whitsundays) and Bait Reef (Explore) are nearly identical. Both are around two hours. Whilst I would list seasickness as a con for this trip, you are likely to experience this in all outer reef trips. No matter what trip you choose, it’s best to be prepared! As I write the below pros and cons for the Reefworld trip, I am primarily keeping Explore’s trip in mind as an alternative.
Pros of the Reefworld day trip
One of the most obvious pros is the number of included and optional activities. Using a pontoon as a base allows activities like the glass bottom boat and helicopter flights to go ahead. The semi-submarine remains moored at the pontoon. It would not be possible to transport such a vessel to the outer reef daily! Similarly, a smaller pontoon has been moored nearby as a helicopter landing pad.
The use of the pontoon is a pro for the Reefworld trip in itself. As someone who is prone to getting seasick, it is nice to not be stuck on the boat all day. There is no noticeable rocking of the pontoon; it is actually very stable. Whilst this could be due to the pontoon’s location between two reefs, to a degree, the large, anchored structure definitely helps. It is also good to be able to move between the pontoon and boat. Not only does this mean there’s heaps to do, it also makes the number of people on board less noticeable.
Finally, it wouldn’t be a pros list without mentioning the food! Everyone in my family was pleasantly surprised by the quality of food provided on board. There is also quite a lot of variety, especially at lunch time. On our trip, we were offered butter chicken and rice, meatballs in tomato/pasta sauce, fresh prawns, and ingredients to make sandwiches.
Cons of the Reefworld day trip
Despite the many pros, there are also a number of cons to taking the Reefworld day trip. The biggest one to note is probably the sheer number of people that can attend the trip each day. There are 300 spots that can be filled, all on one boat! To be honest, the number of guests wasn’t all that noticeable most of the day. However, it does have an impact on availability of optional extras. Plus, if you want to get a good seat on the way back to the islands, you’ll have to get on the boat relatively early.
The other main con of this trip is that you are limited to visiting this location. If the weather is not suitable for travel, your Reefworld trip will be cancelled. Conversely, other outer reef trips are able to change their destination based on the weather and sea conditions.
I mentioned above that travel time to the outer reef from Hamilton Island is similar wherever you go. However, it takes three hours to travel to the Reefworld pontoon from Airlie Beach. This time includes a stopover in Hamilton Island to collect additional passengers. Therefore, it may be worth exploring alternative options from this destination.
So, is the Reefworld day trip worth it?
Overall, I would say the Reefworld day trip is worth doing. Especially if you are leaving from Hamilton Island. The location is truly beautiful and featured some of the most interesting corals I have seen. It was also amazing to be able to see Heart Reef from the air!
Planning a trip to Hamilton Island soon? Be sure to keep an eye out on my page as I have a few more posts planned! I will cover topics including Whitehaven Beach trips and the best things to do on the island. You can subscribe to my newsletter to keep updated, or follow me on Facebook or Pinterest.
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