5-Star Family-Friendly Snorkelling with Divers Den, Great Barrier Reef Cruises

Sep 20

The Great Barrier Reef is looking good, damn good - although you may think travelling out in the comfort of Divers Den new boat, AquaQuest could skew our thinking.

All that brand new gear to play with, accompanied by a crew with a sparkly, fresh attitude and plenty of fish life and healthy coral to check out each time you go snorkelling. This trip is a must if you're keen for a 5-star reef experience.

**Leaving Port Douglas & heading for the reef**

It helped that we travelled out in luxury, on the top-deck of Aquaquest, lounging around on a huge sunbed, that wouldn’t have looked amiss poolside at a Balinese resort. We did have it one better though, as we got to enjoy a 360° view of the Great Barrier Reef...

The two sites we visited, a 90-minute boat ride north of Port Douglas, were both big on viz (visibility) and big on stuff to see – white tip reef sharks, rays, clown fish, giant clams and plenty of healthy hard coral were on display. Check out the video below for a quick snapshot of our day...

Although AquaQuest can take up to 80 passengers we did feel that we had our own special ‘Fathers Day’ charter as crew numbers appeared to equal passengers on the day.

This is another good reason to jump onboard and take advantage of this boat right now. Divers Den is new to the Port Douglas market and as with everything it takes a little while for a tour operator to get established in a destination, despite the fact they’ve been operating boats out of Cairns for years.

Being long-time operators on the reef it also means that when it came to designing their new boat Aquaquest, they knew what works and what doesn’t. Both the back deck snorkelling and diving activities flowed really well.

By the time us snorkelers were ready to jump in we had the back deck all to ourselves, there was no need to shuffle around divers and their big heavy tanks and no crowding on entry to the water.

**“All set for our snorkelling adventure mum”**

Some BIG healthy hard corals at this reef site

Check out the size of this Sea Cucumber

So much to explore, so much to see….

What I really liked about this reef trip was that there were no hidden costs. The snorkelling package includes everything – all your gear, right down to a decent set of mask, snorkel and fins, a wetsuit or lycra suit plus a snorkel guide if you need one.

It’s a big bonus if you’re a newbie to the underwater world and there’s somebody already in the water giving you assistance and showing you where all the good stuff is.

Aquaquest is a slick operation, the crew are genuine and fun, and the whole boat has that new car smell about it.

If the weather’s fine whilst cruising to your destination, the Great Barrier Reef, then try for a spot on the sundeck (top deck) or out the front on the bow.

The second level worked well with big timbered benches for sitting on and plenty of space to store snorkel equipment.

Ultimately there is plenty of space to choose from on this boat, hot showers (a huge bonus after a salty dip in the sea) PLUS a decent stocked bar – after all it was Fathers Day remember! So do yourself a favour, don’t miss it!

Divers-Den-AquaQuest-boat Port Douglas @adventuremumma.jpg

Divers-Den-AquaQuest-coral reef @adventuremumma.jpg

Divers-Den-AquaQuest-@adventuremumma 5.jpg

Good Things to Know:

4 hours on the outer reef
Visit two exclusive dive locations
Morning tea including pastries with choice of tea or coffee
Hot & cold tropical buffet lunch selection with fresh prawns
Hot fresh water showers
Detailed snorkel and dive briefings
Free guided snorkelling tour
Free professional certified diver guides (optional)
Free use of dive/snorkel equipment (including masks, snorkel, fins and flotation devices)
Free use of wet and stinger suits

**Hot & cold tropical buffet lunch selection with fresh prawns**

Please Note: We received our tour complimentary BUT all views, opinions and photos in this article are 100% my own.

Who's been snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef?? Have you checked out Divers Den new boat yet? Any other things that you would recommend that families 'must do' if visiting the Port Douglas region?

Click HERE to Book the Divers Den Aquaquest tour. Staying in Port Douglas? Then check out our post on 9 Things to Do in Port Douglas as a Family.