Day 2 on the Reef - Tusa

Pictures taken with Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS3 Waterproof Camera

Tusa 6 out of Cairns

For our second trip out, we took a recommendation from our hotel concierge and tried Tusa out of Cairns.  Tusa had just unveiled its latest, Tusa 6, boat the week prior.   As a diver (perhaps we needed to talk to a snorkeler), the concierge said this was the group she would suggest and helped us pick one day of the two we had left to try to make sure we had calmer seas. She also said by going out of Cairns we'd have less travel time.  Well, yes, there was less travel time to the dock because we could walk there in ten minutes, but the boat ride was quite lengthy to say the least.  I think it took us a good two and a half hours to get out to the Outer Reef despite the fact that the brochures said 90 minutes travel time.  Additionally, the seas were rough once again.  We managed fine, but there were quite a few paper bags being passed out by the crew.  This didn't make for a very pleasant ride especially since the boat was smaller than the Quicksilver one.  There was no escaping the paper bags, the sounds of the sick passengers, etc...


Tusa had also been recommended because it was a smaller boat with fewer people than our first trip with Quicksilver.  Although this boat had fewer people, I think we actually ended up with less time in the water.  Tusa was very much focused on the divers and those doing introductory dives that those of us who were just snorkeling lost a lot of time in the water.  We had to wait for some of the divers to go off before we were even allowed on the lower level to get off.  Then we were called back to the boat for lunch and to move to the next stop. However, we ended up waiting more than an hour before the boat moved on to the next location because some divers were just leaving as we were called back.  This was so disappointing because this first stop was a wonderful location to explore and we too would have liked more time. Considering the cost of this trip, I found this pretty unfair and it cost us precious time at our next stop.  


At the second site, a very brief ride away from our first site, we didn't even get 30 minutes in the water and we were quite a ways from the actual Reef, so, it took some time to make your way to where all the coral and sea life was easily seen.  Otherwise, the water was pretty dark.  This is where I had a glimpse of the Reef Shark (supposedly harmless I know) directly below me and called it a day.  My husband continued to explore, but was genuinely disappointed in this second location.  By the time he got to the Reef part, we were all being called back to head back to shore.  Then it was time for another long ride back to port with more sick passengers.  The return trip ended up taking longer because we were lucky enough to see some whales which was a highlight of the day.  


It is hard to really compare this day to our Quicksilver day because they both had pluses and minuses.  We really enjoyed being able to visit two sites with Tusa, but found the crew generally more friendly on Quicksilver.  The size of the boat made it easier to relax a little too because there was more room to spread out throughout the day.  I can't blame either for the rough seas, but Quicksilver did seem to handle it a bit better.  Perhaps that is because fewer people were sick because it was a bigger boat.  Either way, we created memories each day which is the most important thing.  We hope to go back to the Reef, but will probably pick a tour operator that is for snorkelers only or will do one of the overnight stays on the Reef, so, we can spend more time in the water than on a bus or a boat.