Auckland to great Barrier Reef

But if you had to choose: Great Barrier Reef

I am travelling to Australia in November with a busy timetable and have to either 3 in AKL/New Zealand or 3 a day in Cairns/Great Barrier Reef. But I estimate that a third one is to slice my in SYD from 4 to 3 day and do 48 hour (or slightly less) in AKL and Cairns.

At 48 hrs in the central nervous system, can I make at least one good dives? Isn''t there a great site near the central nervous system that would allow me to do it? Cairns is better than Auckland if you are mainly interested in scuba divers. I would recommend the Great Barrier Reef if you are already in Australia and have only 3 workdays.

Pretty simple getting from SYD to Cairns and out to the reef. When you are already in Australia and only have 3 working day I would suggest the Great Barrier Reef. Pretty simple getting from SYD to Cairns and out to the reef. I would definitely suggest the three day in Cairns as a scuba diving trip.

When you are into big shots (really big), the Cod Hole is a great dive. You can also find coral fringe around the island near Cairns. The Green Island is a great excursion from Cairns, but it is very "touristic". I recommend an excursion to the Barrier Reef for the best scuba experience.

You can make 5/6 logged trips on a 2 day/1 nights excursion, which includes a fantastic reef diving at noon. After visiting both, I would also choose Cairns over Auckland, although you might want to stay in Port Douglas, unlike Cairns. It is a short journey to the reef and the resorts in Port Douglas are, more beautiful than Cairns, and all the big diving businesses are operating from Port Douglas.

The last time I was there was in 2005, I stayed a few nights at the reef and spend the last of my stay with a tour through Kuranda and the rain forest before my trip to the AKL. I used Haba Dive and Quicksilver for my travels. I was with both and would also go for Cairns/Great Barrier Reef over Auckland.

There is nothing wrong with Auckland, but the choice between these two places is simple for me. Also as a non-diver I would still chose Cairns / Great Barrier Reef over Auckland. Not an insult to Aucklanders (if there is such a term), but I found Auckland a very boring and downsized copy of Sydney.

When I need to go to a larger New Zealand metropolis, I would go to Queenstown (or somewhere on the southern island) via Auckland. Yes, the people of Auckland are Aucklanders. Aucklander is also known as JAFA - Just Another F-ing Aucklander for the remainder of New Zealand. - A barrier reef over New Zealand!!

Also, I concur with other reactions to the stay in Port Douglas over Cairns - much more elevated and better approach to the reef. The Cairns is interesting if you want to see many Aboriginal people in their homeland. Verify your stay on one of the many reef islets - Lizard Island is a great place to stay.

We wish you a good journey! I' d choose Cairns and the Whitsunday Isles - some of the Isles are very rustical and romantic (Dunk, Bederra) and others are just plain luxurious (Hayman) or just a little laid-back (Hamilton). If you are flying to Cairns, you should stay overnight in Port Douglas, because Cairns is more backpacking land.

That' a great information. So it'?s Port Douglas! Turns out I may have two whole working day to see NZ. This is what my journey would look like: Things like Queenstown is the place to go with only 2 bloody day in NZ. It' good that you count the number of the day and not the night, because my AKL journey in March sees me in the town for 5 night, but given the time of my journey it really is only about 3 full day and one day before I go to Rotorua.