Rum Runner
Rum Runner
4.5
6:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Monday
6:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Tuesday
6:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Wednesday
6:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Thursday
6:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Friday
6:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Saturday
6:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Sunday
6:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Full view
About
WELCOME ABOARD S.V. RUM RUNNERWe are Australia’s Premier Budget Dive Expedition and Cairns most affordable Outer Reef Liveaboard dive and snorkel tour operator. Rum Runner offers the very best Liveaboard dive and snorkel deals to both Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and the remote Coral Sea. Dive, snorkel and sail away with us on trips of 2 Day / 1 Night duration depart from Cairns to Australia’s top attraction - The Great Barrier Reef, to the outer reefs that we visit, with still abundant healthy tropical reefs, rich with marine biodiversity. Dive Expeditions of 3 nights / 3 days duration depart weekly from Cairns to one of the world top 50 dive destinations – Holmes Reef. Shark dives, sheer walls laced with massive soft corals, schooling barracoota and big eye trevally, and if you’re really lucky manta-rays, whale sharks and hammer head sharks, are just some of the high-lights you'll experience with Rum Runner shark diving Expeditions.
Cairns, Queensland, Australia
Features animals
Awards
Travellers' Choice
2023
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listing
Travellers talk about
(14 reviews)
Contribute
Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
Popular mentions
We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
4.5
212 reviews
Excellent
142
Very good
39
Average
12
Poor
4
Terrible
15
Jack D
1 contribution
Oct. 2023 • Solo
Unbelievable first experience on the reef thanks to the Rum Runner crew. Richard, JP, Massa and Tom were all absolute legends to spend 2 days with out on the yacht. Took us to some awesome sites and cooked incredible meals. JP's reef and fish show was bloody hilarious. Highly recommend this tour, incredible value as well and such an authentic Aussie experience.
Written 25 October 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Haggai S
Modiin, Israel2 contributions
Sep. 2023 • Family
Simply excellent. Best way to experience the great barrier reef!
We had great time snorkeling and scuba-diving. Great locations. (don't forget your sea sickness pills...)
We had great time snorkeling and scuba-diving. Great locations. (don't forget your sea sickness pills...)
Written 18 October 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
flomooney
Birmingham, UK4 contributions
Aug. 2023
Had never dived before, but did the "intro diving" option. Great instructor for an incredible first diving experience. The trip includes the opportunity for 5 snorkel/dives over the two days, giving the opportunity to spend most of the trip in the water. Great value for money
The boat had everything we needed and we were well fed. The crew was amazing and even managed to get a live stream of the football up on an iPad above the reef for this travelling football fan!
The boat had everything we needed and we were well fed. The crew was amazing and even managed to get a live stream of the football up on an iPad above the reef for this travelling football fan!
Written 18 September 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Riccardo D
2 contributions
Aug. 2023 • Solo
Full diving experience in the great barrier reef. Even if we have been unlucky with the weather the crew was super cool and the reef was worthy even with clouds. 6 dives in something like 32 hours with one night dive and an early morning dive. Absolutely worthy the price. Fun crew, good and abundant food and good explanation of the sea life around the reef.
Written 30 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kate F
2 contributions
Aug. 2023 • Family
Did the overnight trip.. Awesome experience for the whole family.. fantastic staff.. incredible snorkelling/scuba diving at four different locations on the reef! Highly recommend!!
Written 17 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sam C
4 contributions
Jul. 2023 • Couples
Unfortunately not a good review. Run runner didn't send me any emails to the email address I provided then cancelled the trip last minute. They told me I could get a full refund.
We were already on the plane up to cairns, so we booked another diving tour. We were then told by the tour agency that we would lose 20% as an 'admin' fee if we wanted a refund in cash.
Appreciate going out on the boat is weather dependant, but the lack of communication costed us.
We were already on the plane up to cairns, so we booked another diving tour. We were then told by the tour agency that we would lose 20% as an 'admin' fee if we wanted a refund in cash.
Appreciate going out on the boat is weather dependant, but the lack of communication costed us.
Written 5 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kiara K
1 contribution
Jul. 2023
We had some issues with the our flights to arrive in Cains and the crew was very helpful and understanding. Would 100% recommend!
Written 17 July 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Janis F
Oakland, CA29 contributions
Jun. 2023 • Couples
Expert Skipper, Excellent Crew… healthy food.
VERY FUNKY.
Definitely NOT for your average tourist. That said, it was a magical trip: our days filled with warm winds, mostly clear skies and a very special evening, filled with music and laughter as crew and passengers picked up the guitar and we all tried to sing-a-long.
We are in our a couple of lesbians in our mid and late sixties who felt very comfortable with our sailing partners; there was a family of 3 with the young one just starting 5th grade; some business executives who were roughing it, and the rest, young adults out to experience life to its fullest not sweating the trifling stuff.
If you are a backpacker type, no matter your age, this may be the boat that makes it possible for you to afford an overnight trip to this World Heritage site.
Bring your own bottled water, something to eat for your first day breakfast (there is an early departure and only coffee is served).
Bring a towel and a desire to engage with people from all over the world and some reef safe sunscreen!
Kudos to everyone who helped conjure this fantastic, FUNKY magical tour!
VERY FUNKY.
Definitely NOT for your average tourist. That said, it was a magical trip: our days filled with warm winds, mostly clear skies and a very special evening, filled with music and laughter as crew and passengers picked up the guitar and we all tried to sing-a-long.
We are in our a couple of lesbians in our mid and late sixties who felt very comfortable with our sailing partners; there was a family of 3 with the young one just starting 5th grade; some business executives who were roughing it, and the rest, young adults out to experience life to its fullest not sweating the trifling stuff.
If you are a backpacker type, no matter your age, this may be the boat that makes it possible for you to afford an overnight trip to this World Heritage site.
Bring your own bottled water, something to eat for your first day breakfast (there is an early departure and only coffee is served).
Bring a towel and a desire to engage with people from all over the world and some reef safe sunscreen!
Kudos to everyone who helped conjure this fantastic, FUNKY magical tour!
Written 5 June 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Agnė G
10 contributions
Apr. 2023 • Couples
Great trip, the reef is something everyone should see at least once. We really like the boat and the crew, very organized, but also relaxed so we did not feel like tourists being watched at every step.
Written 16 April 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hannah J
2 contributions
Mar. 2023 • Friends
Smaller group of people which makes it possible to talk to everyone and the diving-crew have time to help you with the diving-stuff both on the boat and in the water. We were uncertified divers but still did 2 dives along with five snorkels. The trip with the Rum Runner was definitely focused on diving and snorkeling, which was amazing! We visited many different parts of the reef and spent a lot of time in the water. The food was great and we slept well in the bunk beds.
Would 100% recommend going with the Rum Runner 2 day 1 night trip.
Would 100% recommend going with the Rum Runner 2 day 1 night trip.
Written 30 March 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
No questions have been asked about this experience