KEY POINTS:
It seems a bit barbaric to swim in the world's greatest underwater utopia, then eat the residents' cousins for lunch.
But whether you're an avid marine-life spectator or a seafood gastronome, Far North Queensland has a fishy option for everyone.
Great Adventures is one operator that offers day
trips out to the reef from Cairns.
The price includes snorkelling and lunch, but for an extra charge, you can parasail, take a helicopter ride, scuba-dive or sea walk.
And when you've had enough of the beauty of it all or have taken a trip on glass-bottom semi-submersible, you can feast on the little critters.
The other key draw to Far North Queensland is the Daintree Rainforest.
Our group took a private luxury charter tour with Down Under By Appointment, which specialises in tailor-made tours.
We walked through Cooper Creek, a private section of the forest, with passionate and inspiring owner Prue Hewett, and swam in the local creek (yes, that was a snake - cue unbearable shrieking).
We also had an educational and unmissable introduction to the indigenous heritage of the area with Kuku Yalanji Dreamtime Walks and visited the award-winning Daintree Eco Lodge and Spa.
The lodge has dreamy private rooms, many with spa baths overlooking the forest, built there without disturbing the natural growth.
In addition to the separate spa, which offers massages and the like, the lodge also features the beautiful pond-side Julaymba Restaurant, where we stopped for lunch and I had ... seafood.
Cairns is a good base to explore the sights of the region and cheaper than Port Douglas.
We stayed at the Cairns International Hotel, which combines the best of the two themes that seemed to be emerging on our tropical getaway: fish and luxury.
It was everything a five-star hotel should be: spacious rooms, some overlooking the seafront, a well-maintained, heated pool in lush surrounds and some great restaurants featuring, you guessed it, seafood.
At the Genkai Japanese Restaurant, a skilled Tepanyaki chef grilled us a mouth-watering array of prawns, scallops and fish. Kingsfords is the hotel's award-winning restaurant. Its two signature dishes, flame-grilled Moreton Bay Bugs with grapefruit, chilli and lemongrass butter sauce, and grain fed tableland tenderloin of beef, were equally delectable.
On the more casual side of the coin, there is also the Cafe Coco seafood buffet every Sunday, frequented by guests and locals alike.
- AAP
