Premium Half-day Outer Reef Snokel Tour

Perfect half day trip out too the Great Barrier Reef, it was a smaller group so plenty of room to move around. Jacob and the crew were friendly and very informative both on the boat and in the water, a great tour we would definitely book again

What a fantastic experience, we had very limited experience and the staff and guides were brilliant Thank you

Excellent way to experience the reef. Staff were caring and helpful, catering to a variety of customer ability with snorkelling. Plenty of time in the water. Would recommend.

It was bsolutely amazing trip.

Absolutely great day I took my son for his birthday we ended up doing the scuba dive as well as the snorkelling 🤿 we both really enjoyed it great value for money very informative boat was also great with hot showers

Wonderful day! Took us to the BEST reef area! Saw so much! The guides were super helpful and helped make it an awesome experience! Really great day! Would do again! Best reef I’ve ever seen in 40 years!

We had a wonderful half day tour out to the GBR. All of the staff were knowledgeable and friendly. Jacob spent some time chatting with us as we sailed out. The boat was very clean and it wasn’t at all crowded. Good safety briefing and all of the crew were very professional. It was a perfect length of time..

Amazing!!! So perfect! I loved every minute

It always starts with the people, and we were looked after and entertained by a lovely crew (and Captain Jordan). Trip was flawless and we swam and dived for over an hour, feeling safe the entire time. Thank you Sarah, Lara and Jacob - great fun. Kathie and Rob

Best staff and experience ever! I highly recommend this! Thank you so much! 💖💖

Awesome experience, crew were friendly, fun, knowledgeable and safety conscious. They dealt exceptionally with all of their customers and we thoroughly enjoyed the day. Wouldn't hesitate to recommend Tusa for anyone looking for a Reef experience. Thanks Jacob and crew you guys were awesome!

Absolutely worth the money - not only is it a small group and big boat but they look after you if you are nervous and give you a guided tour of the reef. The crew are smart, fun but practical and take your safety seriously. And most of all it’s a lot of FUN!

What an amazing day! The staff were absolutely amazing from the moment we got on board. We have a young son who was nervous about snorkeling but everyone was patient and kind with him, he ended up having an absolute blast! The boat was beautiful, comfortable and clean! The staff have thought of absolutely everything to make the trip memorable! Thank you for having us!

The in-laws and my family went on a half day trip, four adults and five kids. Overall the experience was interactive and enjoyable. The marine guide Lara was amazing and was great with the kids. She did such a good jo of helping to explain evetything and keeping them engaged on the snorkle at the reef. I cannot say kind enough things about her. The boat was spacious and had comfortable couches and chairs. The tour was a little crowded, but the crew managed it well and I think everyone felt well taken care of. Overall, it was a great day out.

Had a fantastic day with TUSA Reef Tours snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef. The crew were friendly, professional and really helpful throughout the trip. The reef was absolutely amazing, with loads of beautiful marine life to see. Everything was well organised from start to finish. Would definitely recommend TUSA Reef Tours to anyone wanting to experience the Great Barrier Reef!

Great reef and crew. Lara was especially helpful and informative as we snorkelled

Awesome trip. Very well organised. All guides, photographer great. Would highly recommend.

Great tour, excellent staff who help as much as you require. Quality gear supplied and a hot shower available when you get out of the water. Sam was amazing guiding us about the reef pointing out many fish and corals that I would have missed. Adriana taking photos underwater was also a bonus. One more thing we didn’t have to worry about.

We were lucky to have a small group of about 20 onboard and only a few divers. 🐠 The length of the tour was perfect.🐙 We had loads of relaxed time underwater - a stressfree experience. We had a lovely time and would do this half day tour again.🪸 The crew was great as well!🐚

Great crew, great instructions, great experience.

Welcoming staff, comfortable boat. Arriving in Cairns a few days before the trip we did a walk through & found the boat. So glad we did, on the day there was not a lot to guide us. Relating to Guide, the general instructions were good. Completing the paperwork we were identified as vulnerable, pink wrist bands given. Once in wet suits we needed to ask for flippers & importantly life jackets.My husband Mark did not feel comfortable in the open water. He appreciated the staff member who held the floating ring with him.

My friend and I researched many websites and brochures, looking for the best reef trip for us. Tusa was the perfect choice. We enjoyed every moment of the five hour trip, three hours return voyage on the beautiful, modern, smaller-sized vessel, with only 37 passengers. The experience was first class and personalised. All the snorkeling equipment and wetsuits were in excellent condition and the fabulous crew helped us to wear everything correctly. Safety was a top priority; we felt in the best of hands. Those of us who were not the strongest swimmers received as much care and supervision as we required, whilst being offered the ultimate snorkeling experience. The whole crew was AMAZING, though we must make a special mention of Lara, the beautiful Marine Biologist Mermaid who kept my friend and me under her watch, as we were the oldies on the tour. Thank you, Lara, Adriana, Jacob, Ryan and all the other smiling crew. We will always remember our fabulous day with you. 🫶🫶

The experience was absolutely amazing and totally unique. The staff were high energy and friendly which made the enjoyment increase and keep energy up. On board there was a photographer to take profesional photographs of you and the environment for an extremely good price. We payed for the snorkelling and lunch ticket which costed us $215 per person which held extremely good value for 2 hours swimming and 2 hours travelling to and from the site. We managed to fluke a quiet day of about ~20 people which I would say is the absolute maximum I’d be okay with. A busy and full boat of 60 people would make me become overwhelmed and frustrated and unfortunately probably ruin my experience. I would say this is best for people with a little swimming experience. They did have life jackets and a ring to take breaks on but there were quite a few people not confident enough to swim alone at all and I was swam into many times by other snorkellers which frustrated me a bit. I also struggled to identify where to go and meet up as I think the wording in the email was a bit confusing but the staff called us up and asked if we required assistance to locate the place. In a whole absolutely an amazing and worth it experience :)

Such a great way to experience the beautiful Great Barrier Reef. With no other boats in the area that our boat took us to, it was private, pristine, well managed, educational and had such friendly, caring crew. Great value for money. Captain Jacob together with Matiide, Adrianna, and scientist Lara collectively made our experience so worth it and wonderful. Thank you.

It was our first time doing snorkeling. And all I can say is do it. The experience was incredible. I was always scared to go in the ocean. And these guys made it so easy to enjoy. Thanks again to everyone. And Jacob thanks again for talking with us and telling us the stories. AAA++++

The people were very Nice and Funny Jacob was very Funny Lara was friendly and the Fotos were Perfect taken

Amazing experience! The team were very kind/friendly and supportive. Great time, relaxed and georgeos dive - many thanks to Mathilde!!! Wonderful Special photos - many thanks to Adriana. Special stories about the reef and history by Jacob, many thanks for these special information and your support all the time! Also many thanks to Lara, who explained and showed us the reef. And last but not least thanks to the „Skipper“ who provided a whale watching on the way to the reef 😊. Highly recommended!

Very enjoyable half-day! The boat was spacious and comfortable. The staff were knowledgeable, warm and friendly (thank you, Jacob & Lara). We saw some high quality reef with abundant sea-life. Highly recommend. Maisy took some amazing photos for us to take away some cherished memories :-)

What an amazing day. The crew were super helpful and friendly. There was only a small group on board so it was even better as you got to have a tour of the reef and learnt about the fish and coral whilst snorkelling. The boat and equipment (wetsuits etc)!were comfy and clean . We got to choose photos of us and received them straight away. The weather was overcast and raining but it didn’t put a dampener on our day!!! Thanks crew, you were all brilliant!!!!

Our scuba instructor was fabulous! Really enjoyed this tour and highly recommended.

Small group 25 - so was good. Short wetsuits but water was too cold to stay in for a long time. Picked a relatively flatish day so that helped. Reef had some color - went to Hastings reef but some of h the w bright color was missing. Quite a few fish some colorful but thought there would be more.

Snorkling was amazing, even though it’s July and not as warm as the end of the year we were provided wet suits and stinger suits were an option. Our supervisor was lovely, great banter and very informing of the land. It was very bumpy out and would recommend to take the trava calm even if you think you’ll be fine. I would do again!

Beautiful experience, even if the weather was not the best, we had a beautiful day. All the staff was quite professional and knowledgable.

Staff, equipment, boat, location, everything great for solo or group, well worth it!

There is no other company to select other than Tusa. This crew were vibrant, welcoming, humorous, considered and highly safety focused. We were lucky enough to follow Lara, the crew's marine biologist and hostess, throughout the snorkelling experience. Lara was engaging, informative, and helped ease our beginner-snorkellers' initial nerves. We were also so lucky to have some incredible underwater photography captured by the crew's brilliant and gifted photographer. We got to sea a beautiful turtle traversing the reef, and hundreds of magical fish and other marine life, including 'Nemo'. Jacob, the crew's supervisor, was excellent and treated us with one of his mob's Indigenous dream-time stories about the Cairns mountain ranges. This tour company have only been operating for 3 months and yet their advanced levels of professionalism made it feel as if they've been operating for decades. The boat is enormous, luxurious and extremely safe. I will return to Tusa tours in a heart-beat and recommend this tour to everyone. Many thanks to the Tusa crew - you have spoilt us Tasmanians with an awesome Cairns experience!

I wanted to have a half a day tour of the reef. Tusa Tours was the only company in the Cairns - Port Douglas region that met my requirement. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this company provided every material that other larger Reef tour company provides namely floaters, good snorkel, wet suit to fit. The staff was very friendly and made every effort to ensure that I got to see the reef and the fishes in spite of my handicaps - age and being non swimmer. I would recommend them whole heartedly. The staff on the boat provided services better than what is advertised.

We had a fantastic half day with Tusa. Weather in Cairns was miserable but the outer reef was bathed in sunshine. We were lucky as it is the slow season and had only 5 passengers ( with 5 crew). The crew were fantastic- friendly and knowledgeable. We had a solid 2 hours snorkeling the reef with a guide who pointed out interesting fish and coral - even pretty close to a white tip shark ( harmless 😁). One of the group was not so confident snorkeling and the guide had a life ring for her to hold on to and escorted her back to the boat for a rest. They do provide a lunch box for purchase but we took our own. They did provide a fruit platter on the way back. All in all I can highly recommend the half day cruise.

The embarkment location was a bit confusing because the days leading up to the tour I received email about "Finger A" as the moorage point. However, the boat was at "Finger H" after we asked around several other tour operators around "Finger A". It was good that we arrived a bit early to plan for searching the boat. We encountered several parties searching for this boat as well. Staff were very friendly and helpful. They provided the correct information and set proper expectations after we were onboard. Despite the water conditions (rough sea outbound and inbound), our snorkeling experience was great. Many folks felt motion sickness and unable to enjoy the reefs. The staff put safety as their highest priority. The boat can accommodate 60 people so it was a reasonable size catamaran.

Jacob and staff were great company, very comforting and friendly as the swell was quite rough. The half day option was perfect.! Beautiful underwater pictures for purchase also. Weather was not on our side, but a must do experience.

Tusa Reef Tours are incredible! Such a fun bunch but also very professional and know what they're doing. You can tell they all truly love to be out on the water and share their love of the Reef with tourists, locals, and everyone else on board. Getting the under water photos was an added bonus!!! Would highly recommend to anyone looking to explore the GBR :)

Tusa Reef Tour is the best tour to see the great barrier reef: The sites they presented for viewing the corals and sea creatures are unbeatable! They go to the outer reefs which are much further out from the shore where have various vibrant corals and very colorful tropical fish, very much like what we see in the movies. Their on-board service is unbeatable - Tusa has a very well maintained large faster boat that’s nice and clean with padded bench and table space for each of the tourists. They provide breakfast, a restaurant style lunch, and snacks. Hot tea and water throughout the day. They even have a hot water shower equipped in a clean bathroom. They give you a detailed tutorial in a very small group setting on how to use the snorkeling and scuba diving equipment, and each of the possible creatures that you may encounter under the water. They have at least one staff to help you put on the equipment from head to toe, and help you practice in water until you feel comfortable before diving into the water. They have a staff diving with you arm-in-arm at all times, which provides strong confidence needed for new divers. The entire prep and diving process makes you feel like you’re receiving a VIP service. The day before Tusa Reef Tour, we took a similar boat tour with another company, it was a very disappointing experience. It was a smaller boat with very loud engine noise. The boat was not well-maintained, we were told upfront the restroom toilets could be clogged. Tourists said that they saw toilet dirty water spilled on the entire floor in that tiny bathroom. Before diving they just briefly gave a quick overview to a large group of people, with a very loud boat engine noise (much less engine noise on the Tusa boat) it’s hard to hear clearly, and they don’t care if you’re ready or not, just rush you into the water due to the time scheduled. The worst part is that the boat only goes to the inner reef (they don’t tell you this), we ended up only seeing the reef rocks, no corals and only very limited number of non-colorful fish, and their staff told us that “this is what the real coral reef is like, don’t believe those you see on the Internet”. we were shocked, because that’s not what we took 30 hours of flight to come to the Great Barrier Reef for. After both tours, we did some searches and found out the differences: The Outer reef is more than 50 kilometers (31 miles) away from the shore, It has high biodiversity with a greater abundance of larger scale of species, clearer and higher visibility in water, and known for its spectacular coral formations. The Inner reef is less than 20 kilometers (12 miles) away from the shore, it’s much less in all characteristic features comparing to the outer reefs due to the sediments and the influence of freshwater runoffs. Based on this search finding and our actual boat tours experience, we believe the Tusa Reef Tour worths every single extra penny we paid (although Tusa tour is at higher price than other tours). We had the opportunity to see the good part of the Great Barrier Reef, it’s a once in a lifetime unforgettable stunning experience!

Great experience. Staff went above and beyond to make sure we are comfortable and take care off. Definitely recommend them if you are considering for a day trip.

Went out on the reef tour yesterday and the CREW absolutely made trip! We had bad weather and the crew made a bad day good! Couldn’t be happier with the experience we had. Very nice boat with a smooth ride and plenty of amenities. The crew waited on us hand and foot. If you’re spending the money to be in Cairns to dive/snorkle, don’t short yourself on the trip! Book with Tusa.

What an amazing experience, we absolutely LOVED our day with Tusa, and would highly recommend! We chose Tusa as they are one of the only operators in the area with a roving licence, enabling them to pick the best locations each day. We were looked after impeccably by all the crew, who all knew SO MUCH about the marine life and absolutely loved sharing all their knowledge with us. We snorkelled for well over 2.5 hours in total, and Sandra was the perfect guide, helping us along the way, teaching us about everything we saw and making sure we were comfortable. I could never have imagined we would have seen so many incredible fish and coral varieties, it was just the best day. The boat was stunning and so special and comfortable, and all our food and drinks were prepared fabulously by Juliet. Thank you all so much!!

Impressive company and workers...second only to some of the diving. Seamless operation of professional, talented and enthusiastic and safe team. I have done a fair but of diving over 20 years....I don't think it could be done better. Tusa should be proud of it's team. Everyone was giving their absolute all, Matt was my dive guide and was the example of an excellent dive guide. Thank you all for hopefully changing the standard for diving in general.

Neither of us had dived for a while so were a little nervous, especially as it usually takes me forever to equalise the first time I dive after a long break. I decided to abort the dive (safely and under supervision) to save the other divers waiting for me. Back onboard they arranged a different instructor to go back in the water with me so I didn’t feel like I was holding anyone up and after taking my time had a lovely first dive after several years. Second dive I joined the group again in the afternoon. Reef was fantastic but crew were amazing (each and every one of them). Could not recommend highly enough!

This was the perfect dive trip for myself, my wife and brother. This company is ‘dialed in’: they are an efficient, hard working well organized and passionate team. pros: was on schedule, Not overcrowded, large air conditioned clean and newer boat, great dive equipment, friendly staff, decent food, efficient but strictly following safety protocols, good dive sites. Cons: none really We had Sandra as a dive instructor. She was great. very friendly and knowledgeable and super passionate about what she does. She spent a good amount of time teaching us about all the marine life we encountered on each dive. She really we t above and beyond and it was very appreciate. Overall I Highly recommend this dive company and it truly lives up to its reviews. It is well worth the extra cost and I would definitely go again.

Had an amazing day! Great boat - not overly crowded, even at full capacity. The crew was amazing-very thorough safety briefing, very attentive and the food was delicious. Our guide (little Pedro) did an incredible job. He found some of the coolest and smallest marine life. Had such a great time and really wish we could go out with the team again!

Absolutely amazing experience ! It was my first dive, and I LOVED it ! a- Diving The diving instructors are very professional, giving a good briefing both on diving skill and on the flora & fauna we will see while diving. b- More than diving The mood onboard was very nice, with very helpful crew members, helping enjoyable fresh drinks. c- Spots The spots chosen for diving were really nice ! Among other things, we saw a turtle (about 1m tall), and a shark (not dangerous at all). d- Number of people Onboard we were no more than ~30p. (I think). This sounds like a lot, but we do not dive together, hence you do not feel at all you are that many.