verystormy

Hi guys. One of the things i want to do is have a holiday over christmas and i have been thinking about seeing the great barrier reef. I have a had a little look on line but everything i have seen is stupidly expensive and the rooms dont look that great!
We want somewhere romantic with a great beach and probably 5*. The ones i have seen were asking over $2000 per person per night - i could fly to the Maldives and get fantastic 5* for a fraction.
This holiday will be important to us as i am sure all you guys understand the stress that the move to Oz invloves and we havent had anyform of break for nearly 3 years so would love any recomendations

comet555

Why do you want a beach spot? I know normally it would be great to have but it might not make a lot of sense during box jellyfish season (November to March). If you just want the views it would be ok, but if you're hoping to go in the ocean along the shore then you're out of luck. There might be some areas that are enclosed in netting but I personally still wouldn't go in then. There aren't any problems with the jellyfish out at the reef though, just along the shore.

Anyway, as far as accomadation you could try this:
http://www.cairnsconnect.com/
http://www.cairnshotelsaccommodation.com/

What area are you hoping to stay in? You could fly into the Whitsundays area and stay at the islands, or you could fly to Cairns and maybe farther north.

Baby75

hi ya

Sounds expensive all right I know its something ild like to do as well as like your selfs we haven't been away at all in about 5 years but because it was so expensive we were thinking of getting a camper van and starting up around cairns and driving down another option is the caravan parks they have cabins that you can stay in some we looked at are really nice my hubby was in Earlie beach for his best friends wedding and loved it beautiful and they have lots of boat trips one idea is save money in other places then splash out in a beautiful place and stay in a fancy hotel and get spoilt

As far as the as the jelly fish go their was over a 100 people at the wedding and they swam in the water with stinger suits on and in the safe areas not one person got stung if you follow the rules you'll be ok but better to avoid them if your worried

check out Frasier Im really looking forward to seeing it as well as well as diving off the great barrier reef
http://www.paronellapark.com.au/accommodation.html

good luck with the holiday and visa

verystormy

Thanks for the advice guys. I had forgoten about the jellyfish. I have looked at the whitsunday islands and these are the ones that are stupidly priced and in my opinion not that nice compared to other 5* places we have stayed in around the world - closer to 3*.
Swimming in the sea is a must, so probably gonna have to keep looking at the offshore islands or worst case forgett the reef and think about maybe somewhere in the south pacific.
Not willing to forgo the luxury, as i work in a job that involves camping in the desert, so the sea is a must and 4 or 5 nights as a treat is a must

comet555

The reef is fine, no problem swimming there. It's the areas close to the beaches on shore that are the problem.

After seeing a show on tv about the jellyfish I personally would not be swimming along the show even with a suit in a protected area.

Baby75

Oh im glad i didn't see that my friend was telling me about it are they the really big ones cause i probably wouldn't get in the water with them I think when my dh was there it was the little blue jelly fish. good to know the barrier reef is ok not that ill be doing that for a while

datamile

You do know that the reef is at least 30 miles offshore, and takes 1.5-2 hours to get there by boat from port douglas.

Baby75

I didnt but that doesn't bother me My father has a folk boat so we love the sea wouldn't bother me being out that long

trice_ie

you could try magentic island by townsville, never been there but heard it's fab

Baby75

add it to the list I think when do you hope to be in Townsville we are hoping to be on the Sunshine coast by June and we are Dubs as well

Fly Away

We've stayed on Heron island and Fitzroy Island. You can snorkel right off the beach onto the reef from both these resorts. Much cheaper than Whitsundays, less touristy etc. More like 3* though (That was 10 years ago)

Happy holiday!

MartinH

Have a look at these people - you can book online and download the brochures.

http://www.sunloverholidays.com.au/brochures/

Once you have decided on a hotel or accommodation - take a look at:

www.tripadvisor.com

and see what real travellers thought of it.

Personally I wouldn't stay in Cairns as it doesn't have its own beaches. When we went we stayed in Port Douglas which is very nice.

Day trips to the reef are IMHO very expensive. But you can get a similar experience (snorkeling etc) by visiting either Green Island or Fitzroy Island. Fitzroy Island has a (cheap) ferry service.

snappy

Is it a hotel type resort you are looking at or a nice apartment? If it's the latter then try Sea-S-Ta in Mission Beach, Bix stayed there for Da Bosses birthday and had a great time. http://www.sea-s-ta.com.au/ I was amazed how it was like a home from home with heaps of things like music and DVD's as well as everything you need to make an enjoyable holiday. It looks out on to the beach and Dunk island. You can get a fast cat out to the reef from Mission Beach and it is the fastest journey to the reef from there.

As someone has said the jellies are more of a problem along the coastline not out at the reef. The weather will be warm at that time of year up this way and if it's a good Christmas you will spend it by the pool enjoying the view anyway.

trice_ie

[QUOTE=Baby75;6119526]add it to the list I think when do you hope to be in Townsville we are hoping to be on the Sunshine coast by June and we are Dubs as well[/QUOTE

Arrive on 12th of May, really can't wait! Where exactly on the SC are you going to?

Baby75

[QUOTE=trice_ie;6122469]
We will be around Maroochydore beside the river oh and close to the big shopping center Hoping to be gone in June
May only round the corner you must be so excited