Tayla Gardiner

Review of Quicksilver Cruises

My husband and I recently did the day cruise with ...

My husband and I recently did the day cruise with our 5-year old daughter on the Quicksilver out to the stationary pontoon on Agincourt reef. When looking at the different companies and reef expeditions on offer, we knew our options would be limited by needing to find something that would be appropriate for our young daughter. Whilst our preference would have been to go on a smaller boat, with fewer people, and also one that visited different parts of the reef during the day (rather than being confined to one site), in the end we chose the Quicksilver as it offered a couple more child-friendly activities such as the glass-bottomed boats, fish feeding, etc. It was also 'promoted' to us as a very family-friendly option. So I knew going into it that the snorkelling experience would not be quite what I wanted, and I was prepared to make this compromise; but to be frank, I did not expect it to be so dismal and underwhelming. The area that is cordoned off for snorkelling is not very large (I realise there are constraints from a safety point of view) and one has to actually swim right to the outer perimeter/buoys to start seeing some coral reef that is half nice. Closer to the boat there really is nothing to see. The water is deeper, and even with good visibility (we had 15m on the day we went out so visibility was good), there is just some brown/grey coral/rocks at the bottom, nothing to get excited about. I was one of a handful of people who swam out a bit further; most people just snorkelled closer to the boat and would not have seen much at all. This may have been reflective to some extent of peoples' confidence in the water, but I was very disappointed that the staff did not even let people know that if they felt up to it there was more to see if one went out just a bit further. On another note, the glass bottomed boats offered quite a nice experience, especially for the kids; but again, don't expect to see the colour of coral and teeming fish life that is presented in the promotional photos and glossy brochures. The buffet lunch is also extremely ordinary; yes there are prawns, but the rest is really very average and nothing to write home about. Overall, the cost is extremely high for a very ordinary experience. Certainly from a pure snorkelling perspective, this is definitely not value for money! I think they are exploiting people's eagerness to get close to the reef and taking top dollar, but what is on offer does not match the price point at all. If the intention is to protect the reef (which I am absolutely fine with) then don't offer such a trip, or price it accordingly. The cost for 2 adults and one small child is over $600 and there are much, much better things to spend this type of money on. Do your homework, but make sure you understand exactly what you can expect.