Reef Pontoon Tours from Cairns

A reef pontoon is a big floating platform moored permanently at a site on the outer reef. The catamaran ties up alongside it, and you spend the day there: snorkelling from the steps, riding a semi-submersible, looking through the windows of an underwater observatory or sitting in the sun. It is the easiest way to take a mixed group to the reef, because the people who won’t snorkel still have plenty to do and see.

Our top pick: Sunlover at Moore Reef

The Sunlover pontoon day (our breakdown) runs from the Reef Fleet Terminal to a multi-level pontoon at Moore Reef, about an hour and a half each way. Snorkel gear with a Lycra suit and life jacket, a glass-bottom boat, a semi-submersible tour, the underwater observatory, a buffet lunch and a waterslide off the pontoon are all in the $200 fare. Marine experts give talks on the way out, and there is a daily fish-feeding session. It is rated 4.5 by 403 guests.

Two things aren’t included. The guided snorkel tour costs extra, so first-timers who want someone alongside them should budget for it, and there is no hotel pickup. You can upgrade to a scuba dive or a 10-minute helicopter flight from the pontoon when you book.

Two more pontoon days

The Reef Magic five-hour pontoon day (our breakdown) gives you five full hours on the outer reef, longer than most pontoon trips. It has the same trio of dry ways to see the coral, a semi-submarine, a glass-bottom boat and an observatory, plus marine naturalist talks in a science laboratory on the pontoon. A hot buffet lunch and both morning and afternoon tea are included. It costs $228 and is rated 4.7 by 184 guests, and it is the trip we point non-swimmers to in our non-swimmers guide.

The Great Adventures island and pontoon day (our breakdown) splits the day in two. You spend two hours on Green Island first, snorkel gear included, then three hours at the company’s platform on Moore Reef with a semi-submarine ride, the observatory, a fish-feeding presentation and a buffet lunch with prawns. It is $219, rated 4.6 by 97 guests, and hotel transfers are extra. If you only want the platform, the same company sells a Moore Reef day without the island stop from $199.

Pontoons with an island or a flight

Sunlover also pairs its pontoon with an afternoon on Fitzroy Island in the reef and Fitzroy Island boat tour (our breakdown), from $200, with lunch at the island resort; our Fitzroy Island page compares it with the ferries. For a helicopter view on top of the pontoon, see the combinations on our scenic flights page.

Before you go

Pontoons suit families, grandparents and anyone nervous in open water. If snorkelling is the main event, the small-group snorkelling tours put a guide in the water with you and move between two sites. Stinger season runs roughly November to May; Lycra suits come with the gear on the Sunlover and Great Adventures days. Each boat collects the reef charge, AUD 8.50 per person for a full day, in the fare or on board. Turtles and Maori wrasse are common sightings on the outer reef, but no crew can promise them.

Where to go from here

Still deciding between a pontoon and a snorkel boat? Our guide to which reef tour is right for you walks through it. For the crossing time and what the sea is like, read how far the reef is from Cairns.

Ready to go? Check availability for the Sunlover pontoon day.