Norman Reef: Woman dies during Great Barrier Reef tour

The Cairns arm of an international tour operator has issued a statement following the death a day tripper at Norman Reef.

A day-tripper has died at Norman Reef off the coast of Cairns.

A woman has died following a snorkelling trip to the Great Barrier Reef, 60km northeast of Cairns.

At 11.45am on Wednesday the Rescue 510 helicopter headed off shore following a call for medical help at Norman Reef.

At 12.06pm, according to Queensland Government Air flight records, the rescue aircraft arrived at the reef to treat a day-tripper who collapsed after returning to the boat during a snorkelling trip.

Paramedics attempted to revive the patient however efforts were unsuccessful.

By 1pm the chopper had returned to base at the Cairns Airport.

A 51-year old female tourist from the Netherlands died at the scene.

Divers Den chief operating officer for Queensland, Genevieve Wardleworth, said the incident occurred on-board the company’s vessel shortly after the guest returned from a snorkelling activity.

“Our staff are trained in emergency responses and provided immediate assistance until support arrived from the emergency services,” she said.

The Dutch tourist died during a trip to Norman Reef operated by Divers Den.

“Our priority now is to support the family, customers and crew who were on-board, and we have no further comment or information to provide at this time.”

Cairns based Tourism Minister and former Quicksilver boss Michael Healy said while any death at the reef was a concern the Queensland marine tourism industry had some of the best safety practices in the world.

“We’ve got really good staff and protocols are in place,” he said.

“This will be before the coroner and if there’s something that comes out of the inquiry that we’re not doing … it will go through the appropriate process.

“Any death out there is concerning but we have really solid practices in place to ensure maximum safety.”

Whether the woman’s collapse was caused by a medical episode will form part of the police investigation.

The death is the second fatality at the reef in the past six months and follows the drowning of South Australian man Adrian Meyer who died during a tour to the same reef in November 2023 as a guest aboard the main Reef Experience boat.

Divers Den: Great Barrier Reef Dive and Snorkel Tours is a subsidiary of New Zealand based company Entrada Travel Group.

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Originally published as Norman Reef: Woman dies during Great Barrier Reef tour