Holiday Up North, Cheaper To Arrange Your Own?

[West]

Hi guys,

Just seeking out for some of your experiences with Travelling up North, mainly CAIRNS, the reef stuff. Is it cheaper to arrange your own fly, accom, tours......etc or let the Travel Agencies quote you.

Also is April a bad month to go due to weather wise (i heard its raining cats n dogs atm)?

My yankies nephew and neice are coming over for their school break, i want to send them to the best place in Australia, also one of the wonders in the world i believe which is the GREAT BARRIER REEF so they can have an experience of their life time, something that they can really exciting and tell all their friends about after this trip. ( I heard the Reef is dying as well )

So if you've done it or know someone that is in the industry, please throw some advises.....

Thanks

[Z1LLA]

Hey mate,

I recently booked a holiday to Hamilton Island, went through Flight Centre, I had my doubts about the prices they would quote but when I went home and researched it, the flights and accomodation were the same/slightly cheaper than if I did it myself through the internet, plus they did everything (ringing places, organising it all), I just had to provide my credit card

I was up in Brisbane last weekend, the weather was beautiful, but I understand it was still raining a fair bit further north.

Hope this helps.

[Snowman]

April is usually a good time to go for the weather (it should be warm but not so wet) - however the reef isn't super great at that time of the year as all the rain makes visibility pretty crap. The best time for going to the reef is usually October as the water is clear and the winds are low.

However - April is the bst time to go if they want to look at all the falls (there's HEAPS of them up in that area) and rain forresty stuff - plus if they want to try and catch a barra April is usually the best month for that.

[West]

Thanks guys.

Too bad about the visibility though i'd still book them in anyway, catching a Bara sounds like fun for the kids too, i'll definately look into that as well.

I've got about 3 quotes from different travel agencies already, very close to each others so i guess i'll just have to choose one that more customer services.

[chris_r31]

a mate of mine purchased tickets an accomadation threw flight center, tiger airways or airlines..

cost him and his mrs return flight in a 4star hotel for 5nights to surfers for 270 dollars in total..

my bet would ask about tiger airways...

[West]

a mate of mine purchased tickets an accomadation threw flight center, tiger airways or airlines..

cost him and his mrs return flight in a 4star hotel for 5nights to surfers for 270 dollars in total..

my bet would ask about tiger airways...

That's dirt cheap mate.

[mesmerized]

went to whitsundays december last year, price-wise wasn't any different booking myself as opposed to using a travel agent. travel agents generally make things much easier, everything organised, they find the cheapest prices etc.

but honestly, i found the whitsundays extremely disappointing, and didn't see what the big deal was. sure the barrier reef is beautiful, but all the whitsunday islands look like dried up bushland surrounded by water. lot's of humidity, rain and mosquitoes.

but note - my previous holiday was in fiji, so my expectations were high. it was kind of like going to warner bros movie world after going to disneyland, major let down.

[West]

went to whitsundays december last year, price-wise wasn't any different booking myself as opposed to using a travel agent. travel agents generally make things much easier, everything organised, they find the cheapest prices etc.

but honestly, i found the whitsundays extremely disappointing, and didn't see what the big deal was. sure the barrier reef is beautiful, but all the whitsunday islands look like dried up bushland surrounded by water. lot's of humidity, rain and mosquitoes.

but note - my previous holiday was in fiji, so my expectations were high. it was kind of like going to warner bros movie world after going to disneyland, major let down.

Just like when i went to Disney Land in LA then Movie World in the Gold Coast but hey, we're get there.