How Much Travel To Great Barrier Reef From Thailand?

[Sandman77]

hello!

I must plan the journey now for our honeymoon in songkran,first we want go to maledives April would be a good time but 2500€ for 2 one week maybe not a good deal!

So how beautiful is great barrier reef realy ?

When Is the best time to go, what is nearest airport?

Did airasia go there?

Talk with a old Taiwanese man in the little smal nabour island in ko Tao one year ago!

He says ko Tao , Is even more beautiful for diving then great barrier reef, can someone confirm this?

I already was on the similian island 3 years ago , and was much better then ko tao my number one!

Is the island reopen now ?,after long time close ?

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

[Squigy]

Take a look at Tahiti for diving.. Bora Bora.. expensive but worth every penny. Fly to Auckland or Brisbane and pick up Air Tahiti. Otherwise it is Air Asia (Gold Coast) and then to Cairns and then a dive boat to the reef.

Enjoy

[UbonOz]

I am not a diver but I do know the Great Barrier Reef is good, I lived in Cairns for many years.

There are are probably other good reefs around the world but I cannot comment.

I can give you information on the location and how to get there.

Cairns has an international airport, the airlines that fly there are limited. If you want to get to to Cairns direct as possible it would be a choice of Cathay Pacific from BKK via Hong Kong, or Air Asia could make it cheaper using them to Hong Kong and Cathay to Cairns. Cathay only fly non-stop to Cairns and return on certain days of the week, the other days they fly via Brisbane which makes the journey much longer.

Jetstar is another airline which can be used but it will be via Singapore and Darwin.

Thai fly from BKK to Brisbane and Sydney, then you have to get a domestic flight to Cairns.

Air Asia fly BKK to Sydney and the Gold Coast via Kuala Lumpur and again you need a domestic flight to Cairns.

Cairns is a nice tropical city, not very large but has plenty to see and do.

You also have Port Douglas not far from Cairns, and the northern beaches all with good variety and standards of accommodation.

The weather can be a bit hit and miss in April as it is still quite close to the cyclone season, check weather websites for details. It is the tropics and would not be without its fair share of rain.

If you just want to dive, dive and dive maybe other members can comment where is best without breaking the bank.

Just bear in mind if you are not travelling on an Australian passport you will need a visa.

Anyway, whatever you decide Australia is a great country to visit.

If you need more information let me know.

Happy honeymoon planning.

[jcw]

Actually Scoot is a much better option than Air Asia these days. It is a Low Cost Airline owned by Singapore Airlines set up to combat JetStar and Air Asia. They Also do Gold Coast and Sydney via Sydney. Unfortualy on both of these routes, one direction have awesome connections and the other totally sucks. You can make it into a stop over in Singapore that has very easy transport to and from the airport with the train or just go Via Sydney and come back to Thailand via Gold coast. It really doesn' t make much difference where you get the domestic connecting flight to. Options for this are Virgin Australia, Tiger or Qantas (who's management, namely the Irish midget CEO is so total shit he is now listed in Guninises Wold Records for the biggest anal hole in aviation), They also trade as JetStar and QantasLink.

Cairns is a lovely part of the world. Cathay Pacific has great connections through HK, also why not make a over night stop in one direction maybe. Do note, the plane actually goes HK, Brisbane, Cairns, HK on week days and I think on the weekend it is reversed. (It was last year) So pick your days if you can to avoid the back tracking down to Brisbane and stuff around so you avoid Brisbaen on both legs. Also of note in Far North Queesnland FNQ are the Whitsundays with many island resort, with the main airport on Hamilton Island. All the major cities have daily Jets, used to be Dash-8's from Cairns. You can get some great bargains there as well. I would recommend North Queensland over the Maldives 10 fold, I have done over a dozen trips to the Maldives now, the last 10 not really by choice !!!! (You will be on the edge of the monsoon season as well which really sucks there, or int he monsoon). Most of these islands have coral on them somewhere and all have trips to the outer reef.

Thai fly direct to Brisbane but the prices ex BKK are a complete rippoff, by far the worse actually. Qantas BKK fly to Sydney direct once a day. JetStar (J* and Virgin Australia) service Phuket, and Jetstar do go out of Bangkok (when they have a full load and it suites them and are prone to cancelling at the last min, bye bye ScabStar in my book).

Also check out Singapore who connect using Virgin in Australia, they have heaps of flight to OZ and I mean HEAPS.

As a very general comment, I would avoid the large cats (boats) out to the reef though, very touristy and to be honest, the coral has been disturbed where they go (large moored platforms). Feel free to PM if you have any questions, I will probably forget about this post !

Question, are you comfortable to drive in Oz? They recognize a Thai License and drive on the left like in Thailand. If you fly into Cairns, exploring the mainland in a hire car can really take your breath away in that area, you are past the higher risk wet season, and be past the summer heat. You might cross the Easter school holidays which will suck for prices anywhere. Check that out.

Edited December 13, 2012 by jcw

[gamini]

Take a look at Tahiti for diving.. Bora Bora.. expensive but worth every penny. Fly to Auckland or Brisbane and pick up Air Tahiti. Otherwise it is Air Asia (Gold Coast) and then to Cairns and then a dive boat to the reef.

Enjoy

Why not Siri lanka. Much cheaper. Air Asia flies there. Great diving lovely people.

Best beaches. If you can afford it Tahiti is great. You could go to Moorea it would be much cheaper tha Bora Bora. The watre is crystal clear.

[bkkbarnstormer]

Guy in the dive shop in Cairns who had worked on Koh Tao referred to it as the Average Barrier Reef and he was right in my opinion. I have had several much better diving experiences in Thailand and many have said that Thailand is not as good as several sites in Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines

[Tomtomtom69]

I am not a diver but I do know the Great Barrier Reef is good, I lived in Cairns for many years.

There are are probably other good reefs around the world but I cannot comment.

I can give you information on the location and how to get there.

Cairns has an international airport, the airlines that fly there are limited. If you want to get to to Cairns direct as possible it would be a choice of Cathay Pacific from BKK via Hong Kong, or Air Asia could make it cheaper using them to Hong Kong and Cathay to Cairns. Cathay only fly non-stop to Cairns and return on certain days of the week, the other days they fly via Brisbane which makes the journey much longer.

Jetstar is another airline which can be used but it will be via Singapore and Darwin.

Thai fly from BKK to Brisbane and Sydney, then you have to get a domestic flight to Cairns.

Air Asia fly BKK to Sydney and the Gold Coast via Kuala Lumpur and again you need a domestic flight to Cairns.

Cairns is a nice tropical city, not very large but has plenty to see and do.

You also have Port Douglas not far from Cairns, and the northern beaches all with good variety and standards of accommodation.

The weather can be a bit hit and miss in April as it is still quite close to the cyclone season, check weather websites for details. It is the tropics and would not be without its fair share of rain.

If you just want to dive, dive and dive maybe other members can comment where is best without breaking the bank.

Just bear in mind if you are not travelling on an Australian passport you will need a visa.

Anyway, whatever you decide Australia is a great country to visit.

If you need more information let me know.

Happy honeymoon planning.

There are two Chinese airlines that fly to Cairns now, including China Southern and China Eastern. One of them offers year-round service, the other is seasonal. China Southern offers good connections from Bangkok via Guangzhou direct to Cairns.

OP, your style of writing sounds like you are Chinese to me, but of course you could be Thai given this is thaivisa.com. Anyway, my point being that you would need a visa in advance as New Zealanders are the only passport holders that can travel without a visa (and have indefinite rights to stay), nationals of many other countries can get an ETA (effectively like a visa exemption, and similar to the US ESTA system, but Thailand and China are not on that list).

[UbonOz]

Below is the Cairns Airport link which gives the current domestic and international airlines using the airport.

http://www.cairnsairport.com/

[David006]

Re Cairns and environs......Don't have a too much to add except that do drive around, lots of great almost deserted beaches..go up the sky ride to Atherton Tablelands and or drive the hair raising views road ...the drive up to Palm cove is a must also....do not expect clear blue waters on the mainland beaches if there has been any rain..runoff from sugar plantations makes it a bit murky...but you can go cane toad crunching on the roads ..lol

Check for blue stingers on mainland beaches..don't worry about the crocodiles on mainland beaches the sharks ate most of 'em.

Many beaches have picnic and free barbeque facilities/showers toilets, water not for drinking though....great way to spend a few hours

Green island is worth a trip but the now Jap resort is/was rather tacky..beaches on seaward side of island are nice though..worth the walk.

Some small operators (sail or power) are better than those mega cats if you don't want the crowds .......

Food in most pubs is excellent and reasonable also in the RSLs ..nice one in Palm cove..you just have to sign in. There is areal nice outside/inside restaurant at the Yorkies Knob marina ( just north of Cairns)good for Sunday brunch.

Enjoy..the GBR is stunning...

Edited December 14, 2012 by David006

[theslime]

I,ve snorkled at Koh Tao and Barrier Reef and the sheer size dwarfs the tiny reefs near Koh Tao. There are cheap flights to Darwin if you hunt around. Congrates and live long

[simple1]

OP: 2,500 euros is roughly A$3100. A$3100 for travel for 2 people to the GBR from Thailand plus accommodation, dive fees, food etc for a week is not enough. Also you need to allow two days for return travel to Australia. Unless you can increase your budget rule our going to GBR

[David006]

OP: 2,500 euros is roughly A$3100. A$3100 for travel for 2 people to the GBR from Thailand plus accommodation, dive fees, food etc for a week is not enough. Also you need to allow two days for return travel to Australia. Unless you can increase your budget rule our going to GBR

555?

Thought it was his honeymoon? A few grand on his CC is probably not here or there..think many would consider a visit to GBR on life's agenda?

Edited December 14, 2012 by David006

[simple1]

OP: 2,500 euros is roughly A$3100. A$3100 for travel for 2 people to the GBR from Thailand plus accommodation, dive fees, food etc for a week is not enough. Also you need to allow two days for return travel to Australia. Unless you can increase your budget rule our going to GBR

555?

Thought it was his honeymoon? A few grand on his CC is probably not here or there..think many would consider a visit to GBR on life's agenda?

Agree, but OP was commenting a week in the Maldives for 2,500 euros is not a good deal & seeking input for the GBR. If it was me I would budget for staying on one of the BGR islands rather than doing the compute to the reefs from Cairns, perhaps total cost from Thailand A$4/5K, each to their own...