Great Barrier Reef Scenic Helicopter Tour and Cruise from Port Douglas

Port Douglas, Australia

Explore Australia's Great Barrier Reef from the air and the water! A scenic helicopter flight or high-speed catamaran cruise from Port Douglas will take you to the Outer Barrier Reef platform on Agincourt Reef, a sheltered base for a day on the Great Barrier Reef. Explore the reef snorkeling, from a semi-submersible submarine or from the underwater observatory. You can choose to travel by scenic helicopter one way and cruise by high-speed catamaran the other, or take the helicopter in both directions. The choice is yours!

The permanent pontoon moored at Agincourt Reef provides a sheltered base for a day on the Great Barrier Reef. Located on the very edge of Australia’s continental shelf, Agincourt is a magnificent ribbon reef teaming with a wide variety of fish life, both large and small, and a kaleidoscope of magnificent corals.

Departing from Port Douglas, the high-speed catamaran will take you directly to Agincourt Reef in 90 minutes. Or you can choose to travel by scenic helicopter and fly over the World Heritage-listed Daintree Rainforest and take in the views of the white sand cays and the magnificent colors as you fly over the Great Barrier Reef, arriving at Agincourt Reef in 35 minutes.

You'll have three hours to enjoy the reef at your leisure. Grab a snorkel and fins and hit the water on your own, or join an optional guided snorkeling tour with a qualified marine biologist. Snorkeling is a great way to explore the Great Barrier Reef, and there are friendly staff on hand to show you how.

Prefer to stay dry? You can explore the stunning reef from the comfort of a semi-submersible submarine. You'll take a leisurely cruise through colorful coral gardens, giving you a snorkeler's view of the marine life without getting wet.

A delicious hot and cold tropical buffet lunch is included, containing fresh prawns, pastas, meats, salads and fruit. There are full bar facilities available where you can purchase drinks.

You can choose to cruise back to Port Douglas by high-speed catamaran or by helicopter.

USD $439.00

Review by:   Michael B,    May 2018
It was an extremely impressive Trip and i would highly recommend it to everybody. It was pure luck that i was rhe only passenger in the helicopter that day so the very friendly pilot could show me all the beautiful places at the coastline and in the reef. The platform is clean and the staff is very kind and helpful during the whole time. It is located in a beautiful part in the reef and you see a lot of corals and fish.

Review by:   David H,    January 2018
Exactly as advertised! :-

Review by:   Thomas W,    July 2017
It was my parents first visit to Australia and the Helicopter Barrier reef tour was the Perfect combination. We enjoyed the boat trip out to the reef and was filled with great information relating to marine life and culture. The reef itself is just Magical ._br/_ A great lunch is provided._br/_ Then do yourselves a favour _br/_ Take the helicopter back. this can only be described as _br/_ The icing on the cake to a wonderful day on our wondrous and beautiful reef._br/_ Congrats and thank you

Review by:   Thomas W,    July 2017
It was my parents first visit to Australia and the Helicopter Barrier reef tour was the Perfect combination. We enjoyed the boat trip out to the reef and was filled with great information relating to marine life and culture. The reef itself is just Magical ._br/_ A great lunch is provided._br/_ Then do yourselves a favour _br/_ Take the helicopter back. this can only be described as _br/_ The icing on the cake to a wonderful day on our wondrous and beautiful reef._br/_ Congrats and thank you

Review by:   Tamara O,    December 2016
In March we had Great Barrier Reef Scenic Helicopter Tour and Cruise from Port Douglas. The weather on the day when our tour was originally scheduled was absolutely awful, some leftovers of the hurricane, very strong wind, showers and thunderstorms. We were very upset, this trip was supposed to be a highlight of our entire trip to Australia. We were lucky to re-schedule this tour to the very last day of our trip. We were also very fortunate: that day weather was absolutely fantastic, actually the best weather for the entire week. Bright and sunny with great visibility and water was almost calm, cloudy and a bit rainy on our way back

Review by:   wwmelton,    October 2016
Great way the see the Reef system. Lots of options at destination.

Review by:   dawn P,    October 2016
Fantastic trip great snorkeling at an amazing reef. The helicopter ride was well worth the extra cost - amazing

Review by:   Dawn S,    October 2016
This was my favorite part of my Australia vacation. It was a nice boat ride out to the reef when I did a guided snorkeling activity. The guide was great and really helped me overcome my nervousness!! It was absolutely beautiful. I took a helicopter ride back to get the most amazing views in this world. I highly recommend this tour.

Review by:   Tony A,    October 2016
We had a wonderful day, blue skies and calm seas, to travel out to the Great Barrier Reef on the boat. There was plenty of staff to help and answer questions as well as advise which activities may suit. Once we arrived at the pontoon where all the activities are based, we did the underwater panoramic tour. For this you are sat in pairs behind other pairs of people in the bottom of a boat which has glass panel windows at either side. The guide for this trip was able to point out the various species of fish as well as turtles that were visible along the coral._br/_ Lunch was served, which for all the people that were on this trip, was very good. A choice of salad with various meats and also a hot meal._br/_ At the spot where those people who wished to go diving or snorkeling there is also an underwater viewing area, which is interesting watching the fish interact with all the people._br/_ Our journey back to shore was by helicopter...this is definitely the way to see the great barrier reef. The view from above shows how beautiful it is and how vast an area it covers. The helicopter pilot was also very informative and willing to point out various amazing landmarks._br/_ I would recommend this trip to family and friends.

Review by:   steven w,    August 2016
absolutely amazing, a great day out

Review by:   steven w,    July 2016
absolutely amazing, a great day out

Review by:   Tracey P,    June 2016
Excellent trip, would highly reccomend

Review by:   Ashley S,    May 2016
Fantastic experience, well worth it!

Review by:   Tong G,    April 2016
Great experience with lots of activities available, the helicopter ride was the highlight of the trip.

Review by:   Tong G,    April 2016
Great experience with lots of activities available, the helicopter ride was the highlight of the trip.

Review by:   Alison W,    March 2016
It's was the highlight of our holiday as it was our daughters 18th birthday and it was a fantastic experience. Thank you.

Review by:   ecairns,    February 2016
From beginning to end this was a fantastic trip that was well organised. We enjoyed the high speed catamaran trip out to the reef and while my husband did the snorkelling, which he said was out of this world, I took a trip on the semi-submersible which was brilliant. After a beautiful buffet lunch we then finished our day with a helicopter ride by to Port Douglas, during which our Pilot took us over part of the reef and along the coast, enabling us to see the beautiful coastline and beaches and the Daintree River. Would do it all again in a heartbeat. Brilliant

Review by:   Sharon W,    November 2015
Great tour, well organised.

Review by:   Peter H,    November 2015
The trip out on the helicopter from Port Douglas was an experience of a lifetime. We had a beautifully clear and calm day and the pilot took us down to see turtles, sharks and rays. The reef are truly stunning and best appreciated some distance above them and underwater. If you don't want to get wet then there is a submersible which gives a guided tour and you can take good pics from. Lunch on board the catamaran was fine and the sail back was ok - but you don't appreciate the reefs this way - so if you do this once in your life book the helicopter trip.

Review by:   Farhad M,    November 2015
A must

Review by:   Rose C,    October 2015
Excellent all around. We did the cruise to the reef, helicopter back. The overall experience was fantastic.

Review by:   Walter B,    August 2015
Caught the catamaran out and helicopter back at the end of the day. Very well run and staff all very helpful and polite. Felt very rushed because we caught the helicopter back and it left for home 1 before the catamaran for the journey home. By the time you line up for lunch and for all the activities 2 o'clock and time to come home in the helicopter was upon us.

Review by:   Yvonne B,    June 2015
This was an experience that will stay with me for life. All the people I dealt with were fantastic. The flight was amazing, seeing the majesty of the reef from the air. Then another first, snorkelling. Great fun. All in all something I am very glad I did.

Review by:   Vinod N,    February 2015
Very good. I only wish the catering could have been more varied than totally of Chinese cuisine. ( I accept that ninety percent on board were Chinese._br/_ special mention of the helicopter... The pilot, the land crew ... Excellent, polite and friendly

Review by:   Wai Ping W,    November 2014
We all had so much fun, both the cruise and the helicopter tour. Weather conditions were excellent. We saw lots of coral and fish in the semi-submerged boats. Food was delicious.

Review by:   dave,    April 2014
Great Barrier Reef is absolutely beautiful! Would definitely do it again. I want to move to port douglas

Review by:   Jennifer M,    January 2014
We did the jet foil out and the helicopter back which was a great combination. The jet foil was much larger than we anticipated and felt a bit like a cross channel ferry, but there were lots of different places to sit and we chose one of the open decks so could enjoy the sun, the scenery and the fresh air. The pontoon was a little crowded once everyone had disembarked but the lunch was very good and the semi-submersible was excellent. Didn't do diving so can't comment but the snorkelling area was rather small for the number of people._br/_ The helicopter ride home made the day a wonderful experience instead of just very good and I would thoroughly recommend this option.

Review by:   Martin E,    July 2013
A very interesting and pleasant trip over the reef, followed by an enjoyable time on the pontoon. Everything included (except for drink) made it all the more pleasant, as there were no hidden charges to be hit with. I'd recommend this for a brief trip, although it would have been good to see more of the reef itself.

Review by:   Gareth J,    June 2013
A great tour highly recommanded

Review by:   DJCraigPeter,    April 2013
Quicksilver is operated very well. After jumping on the catamaran, you are driving an hour and a half to the outer reef. During that time a marine biologist will give you a lesson in the animal life on the reef; if not, you can site inside near the coffee and biscuits or outside and soak up some sun. The platform on Agincourt reef easily accommodates the 100+ people on your catamaran.

Review by:   Kaj N,    April 2013
In every aspect the best excursion during our long Australia trip. The cruise, the stay at the platform the lunch and in particular the hell trip back to paort Douglas. What a nice and informative pilot ! WOW !!!_br/_ A trip that was worth every penny !