4 days heading north to reef from Gold Coast- where should we go?
 

My family (sister, BIL and nieces aged 5 and 11) are coming to visit from the UK in a couple of weeks' time and want to see a bit of the reef. We have hired a campervan and due to work commitments will only have 4 days to do as much as we can!
Does anyone have any recommendations of places not to miss/places to stay? I have heard 1770, Agnes Waters and Noosa are all great places to visit. Can anyone also suggest a good place to do a day trip to the reef from (we will be looking for something child friendly so maybe a trip to one of the cays?)

Thanks in advance :)

Re: 4 days heading north to reef from Gold Coast- where should we go?
 

hi, you should really try to get to the whitsundays, they do day trips to the reef from airlie beach, well worth going and one of the best trips i have ever been on.
13.5Hrs From Brisbane (1150Km
www.whitsundaytourism.com
hope you have a great time

Re: 4 days heading north to reef from Gold Coast- where should we go?
 

Thanks for the advice but I think 1150km there and 1150km back is pushing it a little in just 4 days. I have been looking at Lady Musgrave Island as you can access it from 1770..can anyone recommend a company that does day trips from 1770 to Lady Musgrave?

Re: 4 days heading north to reef from Gold Coast- where should we go?
 

Hey, www.imcruises.com.au do day cruises, you can also fly from Bundy.

Angela

Re: 4 days heading north to reef from Gold Coast- where should we go?
 

1770 is fantastic, as is Agnes Waters, very peaceful, still not really discovered by the tourists. Stayed there when my sister brought the tribe out a couple of years back and we had a brilliant time.

We used -
http://www.spiritof1770.com.au/island-cruises.htm
Excellent day out, great boat, and good crew both on the boat and at the reef.

http://www.funtours.com.au/1770-agne...larctour.shtml
is a great day out too - wonderful trip round the lighthouse, along the beaches etc. Plenty of time for the kids to enjoy the beaches and lots of wildlife to see too.

Its also a lot lot cheaper to spend time there than in Noosa!

Re: 4 days heading north to reef from Gold Coast- where should we go?
 

Thanks guys. imcruises and Spirit of 1770 are the two companies I have been looking at...just got to decide which one to book now! Any negative to either of them??

Re: 4 days heading north to reef from Gold Coast- where should we go?
 

Certainly can't remember any downside to the Spirit - kids and adults enjoyed it, great day out :)

Re: 4 days heading north to reef from Gold Coast- where should we go?
 

We were in Agnes Water for a couple of nights just after New year. Great place for a chill out. We used spirit of 1770 and had a fantastic day out. Me and the kids went snorkeling all morning just off Lady Musgrave whilst my husband went scuba diving. We had buffet lunch together and then went on glass bottom boat over to island and had a tour of that. Lots of wildlife and marine life to see including turtles and rays.
Staff are really friendly and nothing was too much of a problem for them. Just remember to take sickness tablets - my son wasn't well on the way over, was white as a sheet poor thing! Lot of people had the same problem as it can be quite choppy and it takes just over an hour to get there. Wasn't a problem on the way back and most people were asleep.

Although not cheap, I would recommend it but I would advise to book early. We just managed to get on the trip the day after we originally planned but it was high season.

Hope that helps and enjoy yourselves whatever you decide to do.

Jo

Re: 4 days heading north to reef from Gold Coast- where should we go?
 

You could go to Lady Elliott island on a day trip. www.ladyelliot.com.au There are flights available from Bundaburg.
My family have been and loved it. I drove up to Bundy to go to LEI but the weather turned for the worse and our flight got cancelled so we never made it but I'd love to go one day.

Julie. x

Re: 4 days heading north to reef from Gold Coast- where should we go?
 

After a bit of research we have decided to do and stay at the following...any suggestions/comments welcome!

Caloundra- Dicky Beach Caravan Park
Tin Can Bay- Kingfisher Caravan Park
Noosa- Noosa North Shore Retreat
1770- Captain Cook Holiday Village

Fingers crossed this bloody cyclone passes soon!

Re: 4 days heading north to reef from Gold Coast- where should we go?
 

We live in Bundaberg and when we came to Australia to see where we might like to live we were the same, only had a short time to visit, and one thing I wanted to see was the reef, so that was the only reason we came to Bundaberg as it is only a 5 hour drive from the Gold Coast, you fly from Bundaberg out to Lady Elliott for a full day... you can stay overnight too, I would highly reccommend it, there are loads of caravan parks around Bundagerg too, and a few other touristy things too, like the Bundy Rum Distillary, the Bundy Ginger Beer Factory too.

gillian

Re: 4 days heading north to reef from Gold Coast- where should we go?
 

yep spirit of 1770 is the one to get you out there, we had the most choppy ride ever though literally 3/4 of people on board were sick!! yiu know it's bad when the crew handing out the sick bags are being sick themselves haha

Had a great day tho:)