Michaelmas Cay

Michaelmas Cay

Michaelmas Cay
4.5
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

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4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles643 reviews
Excellent
430
Very good
147
Average
47
Poor
14
Terrible
5

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Alex F
4 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
June 2021
Beautiful coral cay. Lots of sea birds, marine animals, fish and corals. Absolutely stunning and highly recommend a visit to the Michaelmas and Upolu Cay Marine Park
Written 12 June 2021
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.

MrBoggen
Skara, Sweden293 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2023 • Family
Took a trip with Ocean Spirit and can recommend it. Fantastic crew who took care of the guests on board. Good food, good drink and good water for snorkeling. We had a great guide for the snorkeling. Definitely a great day at the reef
Google
Written 5 April 2024
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.

hawkeye321
Mount Clemens15 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2022
I went here as part of my snorkeling trip. The birds were wonderful! However, I wish the informational display was closer or a little larger to read. It was difficult to see. Also, it would be nice to have a better description of the birds that were there. I know the informational and gave some information but it could have been more helpful. Wonderful that we get to see and explore that beautiful place!
Written 16 November 2022
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.

Jannie
8 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2020
We had the most wonderful time on this trip. The sailing to Michaelmas was nice. The snorkeling was quite okay although we have done more varied snorkeling with more views. But overall we had a really nice day. A pity that the sails have not been used, only the engine. Drinks and food were good.
Written 12 March 2020
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.

stugillCheshire
Runcorn, UK30 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2020
Brilliant day trip with Ocean Spirit. Everything so well organised. Loved the semi submersible. Not good swimmers but the staff were so helpful and patient that we were able to say we had snorkelled on the Great Barrier Reef. Unforgettable day!
Written 18 April 2020
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.

JimRiesterer
Edina, MN6,026 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2014 • Family
Our family traveled out to Michaelmas Cay with Ocean Spirit excursions in
late December 2014 as part of a holiday down under.

Things that were amazing:
- warm clear water teeming with fish- saw a moray eel too
- small island (a large sandbar actually) literarily covered with a variety of shore birds swooping all about you- many had chicks
- seeing green turtles around the reef and huge clams and lots of kinds of coral
- helpful staff on the boat and in the water

Other things to know:
- sun is super strong! Most people ended up renting these black Lycra suits on board- only $7 (AUS)- to protect from the sun
- bring sun screen and a hat
- a large bottle of water is handy as well although our boat worked to keep us hydrated
- never hurts to have a few snacks as well
- just float above the reef and keep your eyes open- I saw the most when I was just drifting versus paddling along

The process:
- check in or buy tickets at the reef tours office just in front of the marlin marina - all the various companies leave from this pier
- Ocean Spirit cruise left about 8:30 ( boarding started at 8:00) and got to the reef at 10:30 - their boat is a lot smaller than many of the other companies, not so crowded- it was also a sail boat but they seemed to be more for show
- try to be among the first off the boat. They anchor offshore then ferry you to the tiny beach to start snorkeling
- lunch was served from 12-1:30 - they offered bbq chicken, coleslaw, rolls, rice and chicken in a sauce and an Indian curry (vegetarian)-food was good but nothing special
- things wrap up around 2:45 and we got back to the dock around 5:00

Thing was a full day and one to remember. The only annoying part was the staff photographer and making you pose for those dopey pictures holding a life ring before you get on board.
Written 27 December 2014
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.

Jason-ASDF
Adelaide, Australia187 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2014 • Couples
Michaelmas Cay is good. Really good in fact. BUT it is nowhere near as good as the outer reef.

I was impressed when I got to Michaelmas Cay, it is what I expected to see at the great barrier reef. There was a reasonable amount of fish and a few coral colonies. But when we moved on to the outer reef (Hastings Reef) I was blown away. It was much much much better than anything I expected or even hoped for. Hastings reef had more fish, more diversity in the fish, more coral, more diverse coral, more colourful coral and everything was denser.
Written 26 April 2014
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.

JackOntheroad V
Silver Lake CA61 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2013 • Family
Cloudy water, poor coral cover, half way to the Great Barrier Reef.
Most of the trips go to the outer reef.
Half a dozen trips only go to Green Island, Michaelmas Cay, Upolu
Cay or Fitzroy.
The outer reef is the Great Barrier Reef
The rest is a waste of time.
Written 11 March 2013
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.

MrsSim2014
Leamington Spa, UK7 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2013 • Couples
We were advised to choose this trip for the snorkelling rather than a trip to Green Island. There is a lot of birds on this island and only a small strip of sandy beach but we didn't have a problem with this as we spent most of our time on the island snorkelling. We were lucky as we had a semi-sub tour with only one other person in the morning as everyone had gone snorkelling on the boat. The lunch on our boat was delicious and we were the only people snorkelling after our lunch as everyone else had gone back for a later lunch. We saw so many amazing fish including a leopard shark. My husband also saw a large turtle which swam under him.
Written 5 January 2014
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.

Furryflaps
Newton Abbot, UK108 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2012 • Couples
The trip to this Cay with Ocean Spirit cruises is one of the best ways to experience the GBR , a small number of people with excellent staff , catering and diving / snorkelling. I have been a couple of times with them and cannot fault a thing.

The only negative is the on board photographer who is there constantly taking pics and trying to sell them at the end but its probably the same on the big commercial boats too.

The trip back with champagne, live music and a chance to reflect on your day is brilliant.
Written 14 May 2013
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.

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