Dive Review of Reef Encounter in
Australia/Cairns

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Reef Encounter: "Great value, comfortable and fun, but medicore diving", Apr, 2019, by Hugh E Aaron, FL, US ( Sr. Contributor 24 reports with 19 Helpful votes). Report 11090 has 1 Helpful vote.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Reef Encounter bills their live aboard operation as a “boutique floating hotel.” It is somewhat unique in that Reef Encounter, a 115 foot power catamaran, remains offshore on the GBR for months at a time. Guests are transported to and from Reef Encounter on the Reef Experience, a high speed catamaran that leaves from the Cairns Marina around 7:30 am every day. That means that you can pick the number of days you want to stay on Reef Encounter. We selected a four day stay which was longer than most people seemed to be staying. Four days, however, turned out to be about right for us. The crossings to and from Reef Encounter on the Reef Experience were pleasant. While the late April seas were fairly choppy, Reef Experience is a comfortable, fast vessel that can handle rough seas. The guests were generally not serious divers. In fact, a fair number were not divers at all. Most of them snorkeled. Others were beginner divers. In general, it was a younger crowd. There were also a fair number of families. With people coming and going everyday we met a lot of interesting people. Reef Encounter moves a couple of times each day. Although by the end of day three we were repeating dive sites. All of the dive sites were on one of the same three reefs — Hastings, Norman and Saxon. We did three dives on our arrival day, four dives on each full day and two dives on our departure day. There are six published dive times every day, including a night dive. Divers can pick when they want to dive from among the six designated times, but are limited to four dives per day. We were on board during an Australian national holiday. The Aussies love to travel. Consequently, most days, the boat was full with about 42 guests. The dive deck was usually crowded and chaotic. We were assigned bins for our gear, but the gear still tended to get mixed up. The dive briefings were ok, not great. The day we left only a few guests remained for the evening. They most likely had a more relaxed experience. Diving was from a large platform on the stern. We suited up on deck and walked down a set of stairs to the often crowded dive platform. Getting in and out of the water was probably the least pleasant aspect of diving on Reef Encounter. Once in the water, everyone dove at their own pace. We were not required to follow a dive guide. We liked that. The crew had a very good system for checking divers in and out of the water. The late April water was still comfortable without wetsuits. Stinger suits (dive skins) were required although stinger season was pretty much over. All of the dives sites showed a lot of stress. In addition to the large number of people on Reef Encounter, there were numerous other dive boats on the same sites. Even without pollution and global warming, there is no way those reefs could thrive given the huge volume of divers and snorkelers that visit those same sites every week. We suspect that Hastings, Norman and Saxon are probably the most dived reefs on the entire GBR. Reef Encounter is an old boat and it shows. The brochure describes the vessel as offering “luxury accommodations.” That is a stretch. On the other hand, Reef Encounter is relatively inexpensive. And, the crew could not have been nicer. In this case, you get what you pay for. We thought it was a good value. Probably the most luxurious aspect of Reef Encounter is the meals, especially the dinners, which bordered on fine dining. The boat offered a lot of comfortable areas for lounging. Even with a full boat one could usually find a comfortable place to relax. We especially enjoyed the upper deck as the views of the GBR were spectacular. Our cabin was comfortable and spacious, with two decent beds, an ensuite head with shower and plenty of storage space. We slept well as the boat is relatively stable even in sloppy seas. In summary, Reef Encounter offers a lot of fun at price that won’t break the bank. Just don’t expect spectacular diving.
Websites	Reef Encounter
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	USVI, BVI, California, Hawaii, Cozumel, Isla Mujeres, Caymans, Curacao, Dominica, Roatan, Belize, Saba, St, Barths, St Kitts, Nevis, Saint Martin, Culebra, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Bahamas, Bonaire, Thailand
Closest Airport	Cairns	Getting There	Easy. Cairns has a modern airport with good connections both domestic and internationally.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy, cloudy, dry	Seas	calm, choppy, no currents
Water Temp	80-80°F / 27-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	20-50 Ft/ 6-15 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	40 minute dive time, which we found frustrating.
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	no
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Reef Encounter in Australia/Cairns

Reef Encounter: "Great value, comfortable and fun, but medicore diving", Apr, 2019,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Reef Encounter in
Australia/Cairns