A great day out - I thought the day was really well organised. There were plenty of staff around all day to give instructions. The boat ride to and from the pontoon was very smooth. Food was fine. The submersible was the highlight for me - great viewing , and was able to do 2 trips. Staff were helpful for snorkelling which I had never previously done. All in all a great day out.

Well Organised Incredible Experience - We had an incredible experience! There’s so much to do at the Quicksilver Pontoon. The helmet dive is a unique experience. We had fish swimming all around and thru the group. We felt safe with our guide Kevin, who briefed us thoroughly and was very friendly. The semi-sub provided a nice easy view of the reef, made better by our guide Tanya with her thoughtful and funny commentary. The free swim snorkelling area is expansive. We felt safe and secure with all the instructions provided. All of the crew are very knowledgeable and experienced. This was an amazing bucket list experience that we will treasure forever.

Excellent tour, you can not miss visiting Great Barrier - spectacular everything. The impeccable organization, the perfect and comfortable catamaran, the very well organized pontoon, the very good food, the snorkeling equipment and the instructions of the guides were perfect. We really enjoyed this tour.

Unforgettable Experience - We had a fantastic day with Quicksilver to the Great Barrier Reef. The team on board especially took care of us. We felt safe, and enjoyed the day. It was an incredible experience to see the reef and marine life up close. There were plenty of options to choose from - snorkeling, diving and the semi submersible boat.

Very professional & well... - Very professional & well run operation. Excellent food and staff. Only downside was if you suffer from sea sickness it’s 90 min ride to the reef and then 90 min return.

The tour was well run and... - The tour was well run and catering for all skill levels including non swimmers with the semi sub trips

Fun day out! - Such a great experience, informative fun and relaxing. Everything was taken care of and we didn’t have to think of a thing except enjoying ourselves

Great family day - This was such a fun family day. We had perfect weather which helped I’m sure. If you want to hear lots of interesting information about the reef on the way, make sure to sit inside the boat where you can hear clearly. We all loved the semi submersible, especially our 3 year old- the marine biologist that guided the tour could identify all the sea life we saw and we got to see plenty including turtles! Lunch was ok, lots of prawns, salad, bread rolls, vege curry etc. Snorkelling was well organised with all the gear you need, we saw plenty of fish, coral, giant clams and had a ball. It’s about 90 mins on the boat each way so you spend about 3 hours at the pontoon- that worked well for our family and 2/3 kids slept for the boat ride home.

Overall Good but with Limitations - We knew at the outset we were compromising a small group experience (which we prefer) for a large group experience so that the options of a semi-submersible and a helicopter flight could be accommodated. With that in mind, we still think while the experience was overall good, there is room for improvement. We had opted for the boat ride out and helicopter flight back (organised through Nautilus Helicopters) and pick up from our accommodation was arranged for 9.30. Pick up was on time (in fact a few minutes early) however on arrival at the marina we still had to queue up to get our tickets and when we boarded most other passengers were already onboard (arrival time of 0900 stated in the email we received) with limited seating available to us. To sit together we had to sit upstairs outside. We were lucky to get 2 of the last few seats under shade. Announcements were being made regularly over loud speaker but with people talking around us and the quality/volume of the speakers it was difficult to hear what they were about. A leaflet was handed out with the agenda for the day but only as we were getting underway so didn't want to do too much reading to avoid getting seasick. With no TV screens outside (even undercover) there were no visual prompts as to what was going on. Most of the talk about the reef was not able to be heard clearly and I missed the start of the snorkeling talk - what to expect, where to pick up fins, snorkel, goggles etc. Once I realised it was on I went and stood inside to watch the video and listen to the audio and lifeguard talking. There was a LOT of information given, hard to take it all in. Once we arrived, lunch was starting to be served before we even got off the boat (was under the impression it would be set up on the pontoon but it wasn't). We decided to eat first, then do the semi-submersible and underwater observatory (hubby is not confident in the water so this was an important part of the day for him) before snorkeling to allow some of the masses entering the water to die down a little. We were happy with the quality of food provided but ate quickly and not to our fill as wanted to get to the next activities and knew there was limited time. Went to check when the next semi-submersible was leaving but the clock at the station was set to an earlier time and there were no staff around to ask. Surely stating the times the semi-submersible leaves would be better than relying on someone to update the clock. Went to have a look at the underwater observatory while we waited - what a disappointment. Very short length to walk along and windows far from clear to view the reef and fish. Back to wait for the semi-submersible, clock still wrong, finally tracked a staff member down to give us an idea of when the next one would be leaving and sat down to wait for 10 minutes. The upside of this was we got the front seat when we boarded and this trip was great. Excellent commentary given as we went along and lots to see for most of the trip. Half an hour was quite long in such a small narrow vessel, it felt a little claustrophobic but this was a highlight of the day. Then back to get ready to snorkel. Most of the equipment did not seem to be where the video had shown it would be and discerning child equipment from adult required careful reading (again no staff around to help, we helped several children out who were very confused). Finally got into the water right on fish feeding time (not ideal as had to skirt the feeding area). Once away from the pontoon, the large schools of fish were great to see although the coral was not so exciting. The ropes were great for guiding you out, across and back to see a variety of terrain. Hubby did not see most of this as was not confident to venture far from the pontoon. By the time we were both out lunch time was over and we were hungry. Luckily we had packed some snacks otherwise would have had to pay for some. All too soon it was time to helicopter back, the day felt very rushed. The flight home gave a great view of the reef, sadly rain was over the Daintree Rainforest so we missed that. All in all we are glad we did the trip but please sort out the audio onboard and the support on the pontoon. We feel we did not make the most of the day due to confusion re timings and location of equipment. Staff overall seemed a little disorganised/disinterested. Perhaps the ratio of staff to guests is a little low. More could be done to ensure guests get the most out of the day. By the way, the boat was not full on this day, about 230 people versus the (I think) 300 the boat can take. I would hate to be competing with 70 more people onboard!

Great Barrier reef - The barrier reef is all brown and dying. When we went 23 years ago it was vibrant and beautiful. Very disappointing. Quicksilver was good except for the lunch. Chicken was dry and cold.