Great Barrier Reef -Which Outer Barrier Reef Liveaboard? PADI AOW Worthwhile?

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Hello Fellow Divers,

I am planning a trip to Australia for this August with my family of six and one of our destinations is Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef. I really like the idea of doing a liveaboard, but I am having trouble on deciding which company to use. Unfortunately, I do not have the budget to do a liveaboard to sites like Code Hole and Osprey Reef. Therefore, I am probably going to do a 3 day/2 night or a 2 day/1 night with some companies that go to Outer Barrier Reef sites like Norman and Milln reefs. The companies I am considering are Pro Dive Cairns, Reef Encounter, and Deep Sea Divers Den. In my group, my brother, father, and I are PADI open water certified with about 20 dives under our belts, but my sisters and mother are snorkelers. One of my sisters really dislikes being in the water because she is mildly autistic. Are there other things to do on the boat to keep the snorkelers in my group busy if they get tired of snorkeling? While on this trip, my father, brother, and I are looking at possibly getting Advanced Open Water Certified just because some of the required dives like the Night Dive, Boat Dive, and Deep Water Dive can easily be covered in a liveaboard's itinerary. Does this require a lot of class time or is it mostly completing skills during dives? Would it be worthwhile for us to explore this option while on the GBR? How do the dive sites that each company visits compare? While I like that Reef Encounter has a glass bottom boat for the snorkelers in my group, they do not offer PADI Advanced Open Water certification. Instead, they offer SSI certifications. I am not very keen on making a transition to SSI. Pro Dive Cairns and Deep Sea Divers offer PADI. Reef Encounter and Deep Sea Divers Den visit Norman, Saxon, and Hastings reefs while Pro Dive Cairns visit Pellowe, Flynn, Millnn, and Thetford reefs. How do these regions of the GBR compare?
 
Whew!

I have been to the Great Barrier Reef twice, and both times my wife went along as a snorkeler and loved it. The first time was better, probably because of the sites that were chosen had more good shallow stuff to see.

It is very easy to get your AOW on a liveaboard. There is very little classroom time involved.
 
Well you have pretty much named the best 3 out of Cairns for the Outer Reef trips. Pro Dive are the most expensive but very good trip and crew. Scubapro goes out and returns after 3 days.

Ocean Quest and Kangaroo Explorer stay on the Reef and move around utilizing a daily transfer vessel, so you can do 2 day 1 night, or 3 day 2 night if you wanted to. As there are a lot of you consider Kangaroo Explorer as its one price for all cabin types, whilst OQ has different prices for each cabin type and only 2 quad (4 share).

2 less dives on KEX compared to OQ over a 3 day trip though. Bear that in mind.

Advanced will cost around an extra AUD$160 and is easy to do. The theory is self study with the manual provided and if you get it from the shop prior to the trip you can complete the knowledge reviews and save some time. Its a practical course and so the 5 dives are easily fitted in with the normal dive schedule. You can do the AOW on a 2 day 1 night trip as well if you wanted to.

Dive sites are very similar with all 3 of these companies and if you follow the links I gave above there are links on those pages to more detail about the sites visited with maps etc.

Good luck, and feel free to PM me if you need more specific info as I am based in Cairns and worked with all these guys.
 

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