Great Adventures

Where it operates

Great Adventures is a Cairns boat operator in Tropical North Queensland, Australia, running day trips to Green Island and to its own activity platform on the outer Great Barrier Reef. The About page says its "modern high speed catamarans depart daily" and that it is part of the Quicksilver Group. Boats leave from the Reef Fleet Terminal in Cairns, where passengers check in at the Great Adventures counter, and the site says the crossing to Green Island takes "approximately 45 minutes subject to weather conditions". Fares are "in Australian dollars" and include GST, and the listed prices are valid from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027.

Green Island itself is a 6000 year old coral cay about 27 km offshore, inside the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The site says it is a National Park of about 12 hectares and that "of the 300 coral cays in the Great Barrier Reef, Green Island is the only one with a rainforest". Its traditional name is Wunyami, which the page translates as "Place of Spirits", the sea country of the Guru-Gulu Gungganji and Yidinji people; Captain Cook named it in 1770 after the Endeavour's astronomer, Charles Green.

Green Island tours

The Green Island options are sold as a ferry-only fare and two packages. The Green Island Transfer, "your basic ferry transfer", is $112 per adult, $56 per child and $287 per family, and includes a self-guided eco walk, a Marine Biologist Reef Talk and Island Walk (spaces limited), up to 7 hours on the island, use of day facilities including toilets, showers and pool, and morning tea and coffee before leaving Cairns. The Green Island Eco Adventure adds a choice of snorkel equipment hire or the glass bottom boat tour for $127, $68 and $329. The Green Island Discovery, marked "Most Popular", includes both, plus exclusive swimming pool access and a beach bag, for $156, $85 and $404.

Travelers can mix and match departures. Boats leave Cairns at 8:30am, 10:30am, 2:30pm and 4:30pm, with boarding 30 minutes before. On the island, optional extras include scuba diving, a boat snorkel trip, a marine biologist guided snorkel, Seawalker helmet diving, parasailing, scenic helicopter flights, beach hire and the Marineland Melanesia crocodile habitat with daily shows.

The outer reef and combination days

The Great Barrier Reef Adventure goes to the Reef Activity Platform and costs $312 per adult, $172 per child and $805 per family. The homepage lists snorkel equipment, a semi-submersible reef tour, an eco reef talk and a fish feeding presentation with a marine biologist, a reef education presentation, "3 hours at Outer Reef Platform", a hot and cold buffet lunch and cheese and crackers on the way back. The reef menu also lists an underwater observatory, scuba diving, Scuba Doo and helicopter flights as activities there. The Green Island and Great Barrier Reef Adventure combines both, with 2 hours on Green Island and 3 hours at the platform, lunch and snorkeling in both places, for $343, $188 and $884.

On the day: what to bring and eat

The site gives a short packing list: swimwear and towel, comfortable shoes, hat and sunscreen ("we recommend marine friendly sunscreen"), a camera ("drones are not permitted"), and spending money. Lunch on Green Island is not included on the island tours; the page lists the Emeralds Restaurant with a $41 adult lunch combo ($22 for children), the Canopy Grill, the Lite Bites Café and the Reflections Pool Bar, and warns of a 15% surcharge on public holidays. Children are defined as ages 4 to 14, under 4 travel free, and a family fare covers 2 adults and 2 children. Residents between Cooktown and Cardwell get local fares with photo ID.

Credentials and history

The About page says Great Adventures is recognized by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority as a High Standard Operator and that all its tours hold Advanced Ecotourism and Climate Action Certification; its timeline adds induction into Ecotourism Australia's Hall of Fame in 2021 after 20 years of continuous Advanced Ecotourism certification. The history runs back to the Hayles family, who started a ferry between Townsville and Magnetic Island in 1890 and the first regular ferry to Green Island in 1924. The timeline credits Green Island with the world's first glass bottom boat in 1937 and first underwater observatory in 1954, records the establishment of Great Adventures in 1988 and its acquisition by the Quicksilver Group in 2005, and names fleet vessels such as the 33-meter Reef Adventure. Other milestones on the page include a semi-submersible for coral viewing in 1983, the first outer reef pontoon at Norman Reef in 1987, multi-level pontoons at Norman Reef and Moore Reef in 1992, the opening of Green Island Resort in 1994 and the takeover of the Seawalker operation on Green Island in 2018. The footer links other brands, including Quicksilver Cruises, Wavedancer Low Isles, Ocean Spirit Cruises and Pro Dive Cairns, and the site offers a live island webcam and a Japanese-language version.

The reef pages are a useful primer. They describe the Great Barrier Reef as more than 2900 reefs and 900 islands stretching about 2,300km, and Green Island's surrounding reef as home to over 190 types of hard coral and over 100 soft corals, with seagrass beds used by turtles and dugong. The site also counts over 55 bird species regularly seen on the island.

What the site leaves open, and who it suits

The site does not give group sizes or vessel capacity for each trip, and cancellation, refund and weather terms are not on the tour pages; the footer links Terms and Conditions and Conditions of Carriage. The site links pages for non-swimmers and families but the tour cards themselves do not say which activities suit non-swimmers. Prices for optional island activities are not shown with the tours.

For visitors in Cairns who want a flexible island day on a budget, the Green Island ferry fare and choice of departure times make it easy to plan, and the outer reef platform suits those who want a full reef day with snorkeling, a semi-sub and lunch included. Families get a clear family fare and a wide spread of activities in one place.