Air Whitsunday - Reef Adventure Tour

Having decided we couldn't afford it, when we were in Airlie and realised the 6 hour round trip to the reef would not be enjoyable with two less than boat friendly kids just for a few hours snorkelling, and given we'd be stuck on the pontoon with hundreds of other tourists, I decided to throw my budget out the window. It was one of the best decisions we made that holiday.








Arriving at the sea plane airport, we checked in and got our wetsuits and snorkelling gear, as well as the safety briefing. The kids were bubbling with excitement as we boarded the plane with one other family, so our tour was nine people in all, five of whom were us.

As we flew over the islands to the reef, the pilot pointed out which were re-opening, which were defunct, having never recovered from earlier cyclone damage as well as a little history and other tourist stories.





One of the most interesting things for me on this flight was seeing the Great Barrier Reef as a barrier. When you're in the water, you don't really see the reason behind the name, but it's abundantly clear from the air.






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We flew over the famous Heart Reef, and circled to take photos from both side of the plane.

Then we landed and pulled up next to the pontoon. The boat has a glass bottom submersible hull so we sat there as we motored to where we would snorkel. The joy of this tour is you have the reef to yourself and you can swim freely within the large area that the pilot recommended. We didn't cross paths with the other family the whole time we were in the water.






There is plenty to see and the reef is in good condition in this rather isolated spot. After about 90 minutes or so, we returned to the boat and had some sparkling and cheese and crackers while we dried off and motored back to the plane.

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We made a final tour of different islands of the Whitsunday before a rather exciting steep decent onto the runway. It was one of the kids favourite part of the day!










My advice is save your pennies and plan a splurge while visiting the Whitsundays. It was definitely the highlight of our trip and all the kids loved it too. For them even just landing on the water was exciting, let alone the wonders of the reef! There was no whining and we all felt a little buoyed by the luxury of it all, as well as awed by one of the natural wonders of the world.







Practicalities:
Air Whitsunday Seaplanes https://www.airwhitsunday.com.au/






Further reading:
Whitsunday Mirage Resort
ZigZag Whitsundays (Island Hopping Boat tour)
Cape Goucester Eco Resort (perfect place for lunch)

 


 Linking views of the sky and from the sky with #Skywatch & #GaleriaHimmelsblick