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Winter in the Northern Hemisphere Means Fun in the Sun, South of the Equator

October 25, 2011 at 12:17 PM | by | Comments (0)


Quicksilver floating pontoon at Agincourt Reef

As the weather begins to turn a bit colder and a bit gloomier in the US, we're already seeking out a winter "light at the end of the tunnel." While doing some wanderlust brainstorming, along with a wide variety of flight searches, we recently came upon the option of escaping the blustery Northern Hemisphere for a little—or a lot—of sunny, summery Southern Hemisphere.

What screams Middle-of-January escape more than a diving trip to some of the most beautiful coral reefs on the planet? We knew that would get your attention. Celebrating its 30th anniversary as being named a World Heritage Site, the Great Barrier Reef lies just off the coast of Northern Queensland in Australia. Don't worry, this is no where near the floods from last year and, we mean, it's more than 600 miles away.

Snorkeling in this part of the Coral Sea means amazing views of underwater life most people had no clue existed. Stingrays, reef sharks and various schools of small fish are only the "tip of the coral" to what you can see through a face mask.

In our experience, Quicksilver might be one of the finest reef tour companies in operation (and no, they didn't tell us to say this). Zippy catamaran trips depart from tropical Cairns or Port Douglas, with plenty of options for diving at a handful of the area's 2,900 individual reefs. Quicksilver also has their very own floating pontoon in the middle of the Agincourt Reef that offers helicopter tours, glass bottom boat tours and snorkel/dive adventures, not to mention a seafood buffet included in the price.

In our searches for flights down under, we found an excellent deal with Qantas called the "Ultimate Aussie Pass." This pass allows travelers to fly round-trip to Sydney from LA and includes 3 internal flights down under; all for $1,599. Other options are package deals with hotels, tours and transfers for $2,499.

[Photo: cairnsvisitorcentre.com]

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