Passions of Paradise - Great Barrier Reef Tours Cairns

This full day trip is seriously amazing and so worth it, you'll totally lose track of time. The whole crew was super helpful and really wanted to make sure all were comfy. Huge thanks to Parker for great advice, care, tips, especially since I'm a nervous swimmer. The hastings reef was amazing and we saw plenty of fish, turtles and the beautiful reef. Darcy is so strong that he can pull 4 adults and take everyone on a tour around the reef. At the second site, I was confident to go without a guide. Thanks again to Parker for ensuring I took the most of the opportunity. The vibe, the boat, the crew, the food, and especially their knowledge of the reef, and water safety, hats off to Passions of Paradise. I'd totally do it again with these guys. We finished off with Simon's card tricks that really felt like magic. Great Boat, Great Crew and Great service Highly recommend!

Unless you want to experience the Great Barrier Reef once in your life, or you’re a big fan of water sports, I cannot really recommend this boat tour for the following reasons: 1. It’s expensive. For the same amount of money, you could rent a car for several days and visit all the national parks in the area. 2. The boat gets really crowded, obviously because they want to maximize profit. It’s hard to relax or even find a comfortable seat. 3. The snorkeling spots were mixed. The first location was truly impressive, but the second one had almost nothing to see. It felt like being dropped into the sea at a random spot. And it’s not very spectacular when you’re surrounded by a hundred other snorkelers. As a first-time experience, this tour might still be okay. And to be fair, the tour is extremely professional and efficiently organized. The staff is experienced and very friendly.

Absolutely loved our experience with Passions of Paradise! We added the beginners scuba diving into our package, and the crew members were very informative and made sure everyone one good to go and comfortable before proceeding on. From the check-in counter to the crew on the boat, everyone was very kind and provided the best service! In the water, we had 2 opportunities to snorkel in 2 different sets of reefs. They had the crew on the boat and in the water to ensure the safety of the guests. At the end of the cruise, while heading back to Cairns, they held a very informative marine and ocean presentation which was great information! Not only this was a great cruise, but they are also the last few remaining business that is family owned! Which is something I value when choosing an experience.

As a tour operator ourselves, we are always extra vigilant for literally everything. Passions of Paradise offered the best experience we have seen so far, especially in Australia. We did a snorkel tour in Airlie Beach as well, and the organization was terrible. Passion of Paradise had such an amazingly relaxed vibe. The boat is really comfortable. Every single person of the staff enjoyed working there with a smile, and they have spent so much attention to every single group on the boat. The safety briefing was cool, informative and funny. The marine briefing on the way back was such a great way to make people aware of the health situation of reefs. The equipment is very professional including the wetsuits. The food is super delicious made by a chef onboard. People, don't hesitate. This is the best tour you can take in Cairns!

Just got back into Cairns dock from what has been a fabulous and memorable day on the sea. Welcomed with some fruit and drinks for breakfast. Then 2 hours out to the reef during which time you get to try all the equipment on. They even have optical face masks for those who wear glasses (minus only available) so no need for contact lenses. The safety and medical checking was very detailed and 1 to 1 for each passenger to assess suitability and what assistance you would need for the snorkeling or dive. The patience and professionalism of the staff was exceptional with nobody getting rushed or pushed at all - any trepidation was met with such gentleness, if you didnt want to get in the water, or get back out once in, it was not a problem and was instantly accepted and resolved. The focus on safety was second to none with novices being kept in groups of 3 to 1 instructor who had life saving rings attached to them for you to hold onto as soon as you were in the water. There was multiple head counts by 2 crew at every stop to ensure everyone was still onboard. It was almost 2 hours to the 1st stop and then about 2 hours in the water after which a delicious and bountiful healthy lunch was served with 2nd helpings available. After lunch it was a trip to a 2nd reef for approx 90 mins of the same again. Both reefs offered wonderful sights as you would expect and an abundance of different corals and fish and huge clam shells. Unfortunately today we only saw 1 turtle but thats the luck of the draw. During the return leg to port further cheese and biscuits and fruit was served along with hot refreshements whilst a very imformative talk and slide show with interaction with the guests was laid on explaing all about the reef. Numbers on the boat were about 95 which felt spot on as it was not crowded and felt just right. Passions of Paradise is apparently the last family owned operation out of cairns and you could tell. The whole crew were engaging all day and you could just see they loved their job and the reef. As said, the crew were exceptional but a particular thank you to Andi who looked after me and some of the other novices - Andi has the patience of a saint and a wonderful demeanour that would put even the most nervous at ease. Simon was also great and helped our group and just seemed to be everywhere on the boat. Ice cold beers were only £4, underwater photo from the professional was £12.50 by air drop or USB stick (supplied by photographer) and the crew t shirts £15. A memorable day, worth every penny, bought the T shirt and the photo. Thanks again.

My husband and I are locals went out with Passions for a second time in 9 months and had THE BEST day at Milne reef. We visited Club 10 and 3 sisters and it was spectacular. The crew were outstanding. Cameron enjoyed dive with Roberto and my guide was super informative about reef species. We got a locals discount and want this local business to thrive. Highly recommended.

Offers FANTASTIC tours of the Reef for anyone wanting to explore: doesn’t matter swimming ability or experience. Decent sized boat (with shade and sun options) and tour took us to two different spots with ample snorkeling time at each. Plus the lunch served was really top-notch. Left in the AM and was back in Cairns by early dinner time. We also signed up for the Eco-Tour add-on and was treated to a fabulous time with marine biologist Ben. He was super knowledgeable, friendly and answered any and all questions. He really helped make the trip extra memorable. Cant recommend this tour enough-there are many options out of Cairns but this is the perfect choice!!

We selected Passions because they promoted eco tourism and we quickly found out we couldn’t have made a better choice. There are many other options but do not hesitate to pick Passions. We had a wonderful day on board and in the water. The crew is super helpful and friendly, they went into the water together with us to show nice spots and point at special fish. We were lucky to meet a Manta Ray with its children. Catering is excellent too. An experience to remember, thanks a lot team !

Exceptional reef tour!! We left around 0800 and it took us about 2 hours to get to the first reef stop. On the way, we had fresh fruits, coffee, and tea. The boat had plenty of staff members who were patient and knowledgeable. They offered snorkeling, scuba diving, and introductory classes to scuba diving. Dave was incredibly kind considering we decided to cancel our dive and snorkel instead. Despite the skies being grey in the morning, the visibility was great! They also have a photographer who takes amazing photos of the guests and the marine life. On our way to our second reef stop, they included a delicious lunch. Butter chicken or vegetarian ravioli with various side dishes that my mouth is still watering over. We snorkeled at our second spot and then cruised back to Cairns. On the way back we had fudge brownies, fresh fruit, and refreshments. I can't say enough good things about this company! It's also one of the last remaining family owned reef cruise tours in Cairns. I HIGHLY recommend for anyone wanting to snorkel or dive the great barrier roof to book with these guys !! You won't regret it!

Lovely tour operator - professional staff! It felt like we were always taken care of despite having so many scuba divers and snorkelers on our boat. The staff did a great job of keeping instructions concise and helpful. There was plenty of time to get ready before the first snorkel site and then they fed us a really tasty lunch. I didn't realize our second snorkel would be less than half an hour after lunch and had to scramble to get my stinger suit back once I realized we were anchored in! This new catamaran is like a luxury oceanliner - I'm not good at judging the length of boats but if I had to guess this was probably about 100ft. When you look at all of the boats in the harbor this one definitely takes the cake for fanciest looking! It was nice to sit on the webbed hammock/trampoline style part of the catamaran on the way home and soak in the beautiful Aussie sunshine. The one downside of this huge boat is that a lot of the seating areas don't ever fully dry out - I realized when I got back to our hotel that my bathing suit reeked of moldy water - I had to soak it and do laundry in the sink to get rid of that gross odor! My one suggestion to them is to attend to the areas of the boat that frequently get soaked a little better. Also the inside seating area is huge, but not conducive to sitting in if you are constantly in and out of the water - unless you have several towels to sit upon! They could benefit by providing towels on their boat since they have the space to carry/store them. The boat had a photographer dedicated to only taking photos of the whole day and uploading them to the 3-4 iPads at the counter - this was nice but confusing to some of the older ladies on the boat who couldn't figure out how to find photos of themselves on the iPads at the counter. It was convenient for those wanting to purchase photos to be able to airdrop the photos to their iPhones albeit a bit steep in price. I had my own underwater photos from my iPhone and point and shoot so did not opt for these. It was a nice farewell when we docked back in Cairns as all of the crew were out on deck shaking everyone's hands and saying thank you. What a nice team, who worked well together to make sure we had a great day!

Amazing experience. Wonderful staff, super helpful and friendly. We were a big group with different abilities swim wise and the non swimmers were taken out with a guide. Those of us more comfortable swam freely. It was truly a once in lifetime experience.

Great tour and great crew. They were super helpful and friendly. I dove for the 1st time and Cristy was great. The were super friendly and accommodating with excellent knowledge. Highly recommend this tour.

Had an amazing time snorkeling the reef and they were very hospitable and nice crew. Thanks for the great memories and checking off a bucket list item.

I took the reef tour on August 1, 2014 and it was wonderful! They had coffee, tea and muffins as we left and the drinks were in porcelain cups. The restrooms were clean and larger than most boat facilities. The staff were very nice and helpful. The Michaelmas reef was beautiful and shallow with quite a few giant clams, beautiful corals and so many different fish! Our second stop was Long Bommi rather than the usual paradise reef since the water was very calm. It is a deeper reef with some reef sharks, plenty of clown fish, angel fish and many more! I was glad I rented a wetsuit. The lunch was amazing! I was also happy that I brought a water bottle which the staff happily refilled. The people who rented cameras sometimes crashed into everyone or chased the fish away trying to get the perfect shot so I am glad I did not rent one. I highly recommend Passions of Paradise!!! Be sure your sunscreen is very waterproof !