Silverswift | Great Barrier Reef Day Trip

Silverswift is ready to whisk you away for a day of fun and adventure on the Great Barrier Reef. This is an active day all about being in the water for your dive or snorkel adventure of a lifetime!

• 5 hours on the Reef
• Departs Cairns 8.30am
• Returns Cairns 4.30pm
• Experience more - visit 3 different Outer Great Barrier Reef sites
• Features unique ride control for a smoother journey

You'll explore spectacular coral formations and underwater gardens awash with vibrantly coloured marine creatures as you visit three different outer reef sites at Flynn, Pellowe, Milln and/or Thetford Reefs. Locations vary with the day's conditions however each site is chosen for visual impact, ecological diversity and the challenge of discovery!.

Onboard, our friendly crew will encourage you to relax and enjoy Silverswift's comforts and in between water activities there's a delicious lunch for hungry adventurers. The spacious deck areas are great to bask in some sunshine or share a refreshing drink from the licenced bar and tales of your adventures.

Inclusions

• Return Silverswift cruise from Cairns Reef Fleet Terminal
• Scrumptious morning tea including focaccias and muffin cakes on boarding, Afternoon tea cakes, cheese & biscuits.
• Hot and cold tropical buffet lunch.*
• Reef Interpretation.
• Snorkelling equipment  (mask, snorkel and fins).
• Guided Snorkel Tour
• Snorkel brief at each site.
• Qualified lifeguard supervision.
• Equipment for divers provided, including wetsuit.
• Hot freshwater showers.
• Prescription masks available at no additional cost.
• Lycra suits included

Lunch
Our buffet lunch is catered by a 5 Star Cairns Hotel to meet a variety of tastes and needs, including Gluten Free and vegetarian dishes. If you have any food allergies or specific dietary requirements, please advise at time of booking. 

Your Day with Silverswift

• 07:45am:  Check-in commences at the Reef Fleet Terminal
• 8.15am:  Vessel boarding. Complimentary tea / coffee and  a gourmet breakfast including focaccias, muffins and cakes is served in the saloon
• 08:30am:  Depart Marlin Wharf for the trip to the Outer Barrier Reef. On the way, detailed certified and introductory dive briefings are given.
• 9:50am: Arrive at the first site. Divers gear up, while snorkelers listen to a site briefing by the snorkelling advisor. Get ready to view the beauty of this natural wonder!
• 11.15am: Silverswift departs for second reef location. Option for introductory divers and certified divers to do their second dive. Snorkelers are once again briefed as to the best areas to snorkel.
• 12:30pm: After the water activities, enjoy a tropical hot and cold lunch served in the air conditioned cabin. The lunch includes fresh prawns, pasta, meats, salads and fruit. There are bar facilities available where you can purchase drinks.
• 1:40pm: Silverswift departs for third reef location. Snorkelers are once again briefed as to the best areas to snorkel. Option for Certified Divers to do their third dive OR second introductory dive. 
• 2.15pm: Afternoon tea is served
• 2.45pm: All passengers to board vessel for head count
• 3:00pm: Silverswift commences return to Cairns
• 4:30pm: Silverswift arrives at Cairns marina

Snorkeling
A day with Silverswift is all about being in the water and experiencing the magical underwater world of the Great Barrier Reef. It’s exciting, exotic and breathtaking!

With our roaming permits and remote sites, you’ll be able to snorkel three uniquely different and ecologically diverse reef sites, each chosen to suit the day’s conditions. As coral relies on sunlight for growth, some of the best snorkelling is in the shallow areas around the reef top.

With a guided snorkel tour included, snorkel briefs at each reef site and lifeguard snorkel officers supervising, you’ll be able to explore the underwater delights in complete safety. Access to the water is so easy with Silversonic and Silverswift’s large submerged platforms from the back decks.

If you haven't snorkelled before, that’s ok! Our crew will be on hand to give you instruction but we do recommend the ability to swim and fairly good fitness as snorkelling can be a strenuous activity. Flotation devices and buoyancy vests are available on board if needed. Prescription masks are also available at no extra cost.

To learn more about the marine life around you, make sure you join the guided snorkel tour, as the marine interpreter guides you over shallow coral gardens, pointing out fish and marine life, corals and areas of interest along the way.

It is a wonderful, exciting and indeed memorable experience to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef.

Intro Diving
So you’d like to take the plunge! With an Introductory Dive (or sometimes known as a "Discover Dive" or "Resort Dive"), no previous experience is necessary and you’ll be able to experience the excitement of scuba diving whilst under very close supervision of an instructor.

Our onboard and highly skilled dive instructors will take you step by step through the whole experience, from the dive briefing lecture, the equipment and the dive, to ensure all facets of your dive are comfortable and most of all enjoyable.

On the outward journey to the Reef, instructors assess the suitability of potential introductory divers and you’ll be required complete the necessary paperwork which includes a medical questionnaire. You’ll be taught fundamentals of scuba diving as well as the use of equipment. There’s a video to watch and a quick quiz to complete. All equipment, including wetsuits and prescription masks (if required) are included in the price of the introductory dive.

Once at the Reef, it’s out to the dive deck and ready to gear up! Your instructor will make sure you’re comfortable with the basic skills again and you’re ready for your underwater adventure! The Great Barrier Reef is more about shallow scuba diving and your dive may take you as deep as 12 metres (40 feet).

The instructor is by your side the whole time and you can even link arms if you feel the need. Your dive experience will generally last around 30 minutes underwater, and if you’re hooked by the end of, you’ve got the option to try a second introductory dive at another site to experience a whole new reef environment!

After your dive experience, you’ll get a PADI Certificate as a memento of your underwater adventure. This certificate is not a qualification - it is simply a memento of one of the best experiences of your life.

Certified Scuba Diving on Silverswift
As a certified diver, you can enjoy up to three spectacular dives, experiencing three different Great Barrier Reef environments when you travel with the Silver Series for your dive adventure.  With the most extensive range of dive sites to visit daily, divers of all levels from novice to experienced, will be excited by the range of experiences our magnificent sites present including drift and wall dives, bommie and pinnacle, coral gardens and swim throughs.

Our professional instructors accompany all dives at no extra charge, ensuring maximum safety and enjoyment. They have intimate local knowledge of the reef systems we visit and are passionate about sharing this! Certified dives last approximately 40 minutes or more. 

The Great Barrier Reef is an iconic destination and is a diver’s dream.  The warm waters of the Great Barrier Reef, with temperatures ranging from 22-29 Celsius (75-85 Fahrenheit), makes for comfortable scuba diving all year round.

The Great Barrier Reef’s ecosystem supports the greatest concentration of life on this planet including 1,500 species of fish, 400 different kinds of corals, 4000 species of molluscs and 10,000 species of sponges.

As a Certified diver, you’ll need to present proof of certification.

Dive & Snorkel Sites from Cairns
Silverswift takes you to many exclusive dive sites on some of the very best Outer Great Barrier Reef locations at Flynn, Pellowe, Milln and/or Thetford Reefs. These sites are chosen for their magnificent coral formations, varied marine life and underwater visibility. They have superb bay-like dive and snorkel sites providing spectacular underwater sand dunes and remote steppingstone-like coral bommie systems. These sites are also renowned for their congregating schools of large pelagic fish.

Flynn Reef
Flynn reef is one of our most popular reefs to dive and will offer the novice to the very experienced diver plenty of memorable dives. We have moorings at a number of the well known dive sites at Flynn reef such as Tracy’s Bommie, Gordon’s Mooring, Tennis Court and the Coral Gardens... 

Milln Reef
Milln Reef offers a number of exciting dive sites such as Whale Bommie, Petaj Mooring, Swimming Pools I, Swimming Pools II and the Three Sisters to name a few. Some of the walls are full of sleeping parrot fish in their mucus sacks, turtles and barracudas and the occasional bull ray.... 

Thetford Reef
Thetford reef is made up of numerous coral bommies where you can experience some very exciting wall dives and many swim throughs. This reef is home to many soft and hard corals like staghorn and plate coral and an abundance of marine life. Look for the giant clams, butterfly fish, damsels... More Info

Pellowe Reef
Pellowe reef is a very exciting dive site! A small isolated reef located close to the edge of the continental shelf. For this reason access to the reef is very weather and tidal dependent. The reef drops away very quickly at places to 30 metres and stronger currents can be present as well.... 

Swimming with Mike Whales
Silversonic has one of the few permits available from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority that allows our guests to swim with dwarf minke whales if encountered – a truly unforgettable experience!

From our experience, July to September is the peak season to encounter the inquisitive minkes as they frequent the Agincourt Ribbon Reefs where Silversonic visits. They are however common in our waters between the months of March and October.

The voluntary approach to the vessel and swimmers by minke whales creates a unique in-water experience.

Abiding by strict codes of practice, a maximum of two surface ropes will be placed in the water with swimmers then positioned 3-4 metres apart for a magical, and safe encounter. The whales actually control the encounter in that they decide how close they interact and swim with us!

The Dwarf Minke Whale Tourism Monitoring Program was a world first fully permitted swimming-with-whales program and is conducted in partnership between the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, researchers and the tourism industry. Silversonic and the Quicksilver Group pro-actively contribute to this program.

Why Silverswift

• Custom-designed for comfort
• Visit 3 reef sites in one day
• The Best Reef Sites!
• Five hours of actual reef time
• Dedicated Dive and Snorkel vessels
• Highly trained professional staff
• All dives guided by the professional staff
• Guided snorkelling tour included
• Small boat numbers.
• Five Star Food for hungry adventurers!

WHAT TO BRING

• Your camera.
• Swimming costume & towel.
• Hat, sunscreen & shirt.
• Certification Card for Certified Divers.

Available for Hire:
Underwater digital cameras available for hire.
Professional underwater photo and video service on board.

Please check-in at the Silverswift/Great Adventures counters inside the Reef Fleet Terminal (1 Spence Street in Cairns) between 7:30 and 8:00am. Silverswift departs the marina at 8:30am. Our staff will issue you with your boarding pass and direct you to our vessel.