Water Sports

Lady Musgrave Barrier Reef Cruises. This company operates a pontoon in the vast deep-water coral lagoon off Lady Musgrave Island, with an underwater observatory, snorkeling deck, changing rooms, and sheltered seating. Their Lady Musgrave day cruises get you out to the reef in 75 minutes. Day Cruise passengers can enjoy more than 5 hours on the reef, including a buffet lunch and a 90-minute stopover on the Outer Reef, at a pontoon within a sheltered lagoon where you can snorkel, view 350 varieties of colorful live coral and 1,300 species of tropical fish year-round from a submersible or glass-bottom boat, take a guided island walk, see migrating whales in season, swim with turtles, or do some scuba diving or reef fishing before the boat cruises back to the mainland in the afternoon. Reef fishing and scuba diving are extra (for novice and certified divers, with or without gear). Cruises depart daily from the Town of 1770 and include a tropical buffet lunch, morning and afternoon tea, activities on the reef, and most gear. The day trip, including most extras, is A$190 per person (including an A$10 reef tax); campers staying on-island pay A$450 return—but get to take the cruise twice. Town of 1770 marina, Captain Cook Dr., Seventeen Seventy, Queensland, 4677. 07/4974–9077; www.lmcruises.com.au. A$190 day cruise; A$40 reef fishing; A$70 or A$90 for 1 or 2 dives; A$95 introductory lesson and 1 dive with gear.