The Great Barrier Reef

A seaplane to an empty sandbar is among the signature moments of a private Great Barrier Reef journey. The flight sets down at a sandbar in the Coral Sea that appears only at low tide, and a private lunch is laid out there on the blue. Forest Travel holds the seaplanes, so this moment is woven into your island stay or honeymoon as part of a seamless journey.

Yes. On the Great Barrier Reef, Forest Travel arranges a private dive with a marine biologist who guides you below. You move through the coral gardens with the turtles to yourselves. Marine science is also at the heart of the Family on the Reef journey, which pairs snorkelling, marine science and island days for every generation over 6–8 days.

Yes. The Reef & Rainforest journey pairs the Great Barrier Reef with the ancient Daintree rainforest over 6–8 days, arranged privately with a focus on nature. It is a point of departure rather than a package: your advisor reshapes it entirely around you, balancing time on the warm Coral Sea with days in the rainforest.

A private-island stay on the Great Barrier Reef centres on an island resort held quietly for you, with the house reef warm and empty and the Coral Sea at your door. The Island Resort journey runs 5–7 days, built around the beach, the house reef and private access, and can be extended with seaplanes to sandbars or a guided dive with a marine biologist.

The Great Barrier Reef suits a honeymoon well. The Reef Honeymoon journey spans 5–7 days and brings together a private island, seaplanes and the bluest water on earth, for two. Couples can add a seaplane flight to a sandbar that appears only at low tide for a private lunch on the blue, or a private dive among the coral gardens and turtles.

The best time to visit the Great Barrier Reef is set around the experience you want rather than a single fixed month. Your Forest Travel advisor shapes the timing of your private journey: the warm Coral Sea for island and house-reef days, and the seaplane flight to a sandbar that appears only at low tide, where a private lunch is laid out on the blue. Each journey is a point of departure, reshaped entirely around you.

Most Great Barrier Reef journeys run 5–8 days. The Island Resort and The Reef Honeymoon each span 5–7 days, built around a private island, the house reef and seaplanes. Reef & Rainforest, which pairs the Reef with the ancient Daintree rainforest, and Family on the Reef, with snorkelling, marine science and island days, each run 6–8 days. These are points of departure, not packages, and your advisor reshapes the length around you.

Yes. Forest Travel designs every Great Barrier Reef journey privately around you, treating its journeys as points of departure rather than packages. Forest Travel holds the private-island resorts, the seaplanes to empty sandbars and the marine biologists who guide you below. Your advisor can weave an island stay, a private sandbar lunch, a private dive among coral gardens and turtles, or days in the Daintree rainforest into a single, seamless journey on the Coral Sea.

May to October, the dry season in Australia's north, is the window Forest Travel plans for on the Great Barrier Reef. It suits the private-island stays, the house-reef days and the seaplane flight to a sandbar that appears only at low tide, where a private lunch is laid out on the blue. If the trip also includes Sydney, whose best months run October to April, your advisor sets the order and the dates around both.

A private Great Barrier Reef trip starts from around US$1,900 per person per night. Journeys run five to eight days, from the Island Resort to Reef & Rainforest with the Daintree, and the figure rises with seaplanes to the sandbars, a private dive with a marine biologist and the island you choose. Your advisor gives the starting point first and the total once dates are set; the planning fee is US$250 per itinerary.