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Reef Safe Australia vs EcoZinc vs ThermaSun: 6 Things Reef Tour and Dive Operators Should Compare Before Ordering Sunscreen in Bulk

Updated: Jul 31

Reef tour, dive and snorkel charter operators are really making two sunscreen buys, not one — what goes in a guest's hand on the back deck, and what the crew works out of all season. WorkCore Australia supplies three Australian-made mineral zinc brands from the same Queensland manufacturer: Reef Safe Australia is the guest-facing, water-activity and coastal-retail brand; EcoZinc is the certified worksite brand for crew and shore staff; ThermaSun is the entry price point when a vessel needs volume at the lowest landed cost per unit. All three are zinc-only, non-nano and chemical UV filter free, so this comparison is about fit, format and price point — not quality.


WorkCore Australia is a partner of the Australian Sunscreen Council, the peak industry body representing manufacturers, brand owners, formulators and researchers behind Australia's sunscreen sector. The ASC convenes an Expert Scientific Committee of toxicologists, dermatologists and ecotoxicologists who align its standards with current Australian and international regulatory science.


Buyer decision table: reef tours, dive and snorkel charters

Brand / format

Best buyer

Best setting

Common WorkCore formats

Why WorkCore stocks it

Fit notes

Reef Safe Australia

Reef tour, dive and snorkel operators, resorts, marine parks, coastal retailers

Guest-facing — briefing table, dive deck, gift shop shelf

Resort Sachets 9g x 125; Zinc Mineral Surf & Snorkel Sunscreen SPF50+ 100g; Zinc Mineral Face Sunscreen SPF50 100g; 1kg and 2kg value sizes

The brand built for water-activity and coastal-retail settings, with a name and pack a guest recognises

Best fit when the product is handed to, or bought by, a paying guest

EcoZinc

Skippers, deckhands, dive masters, shore and depot staff

Crew-issued — sign-on point, wheelhouse, workshop, marina depot

Natural Mineral Sunscreen SPF50 Clear 100g / 1kg / 2kg bulk; SPF50 Tinted 1kg; Mineral SPF50 Sachets 9g; wall brackets for 1kg and 2kg pumps

Certified organic to NSF/ANSI 305, certified vegan and cruelty-free, dermatologist tested, and endorsed by unions and councils — the documentation a WHS file wants

The clearer choice for staff issue and tender or audit paperwork, not for guest retail

ThermaSun

Price-led and high-volume buyers — multi-vessel fleets, event and promotional handouts, first-time B2B accounts

Lowest landed cost per unit across many low-traffic points

Face & Body Zinc SPF50 100g / 240g / 1kg pump; Work-Shield Pro Zinc SPF50+ 100g / 240g / 1kg; Sport Pro Zinc SPF50 100g; Kids Zinc SPF50 100g; Gentle Apricot Zinc SPF30 100g

Australian-made mineral zinc at the entry price point, from $4.99 RRP, in formats that move

The more practical option when unit cost and volume decide the order

Resort sachets (9g)

Day boats, transfers, high-turnover guest handouts

One-trip guests who board and disembark the same day

Reef Safe Australia Natural SPF50 Sunscreen Resort Sachets (9g) x 125; EcoZinc Mineral SPF50 Sunscreen Sachets (9g)

Single-use dosing with no shared pump and no part-used tubes left on board

Reef Safe Australia for guests; EcoZinc sachets for crew kits, tenders and glove boxes

Bulk pumps (1kg / 2kg)

Operators standardising one product across a vessel or fleet

Fixed stations at the gangway, dive deck or sign-on point

EcoZinc SPF50 Clear 1kg and 2kg; ThermaSun Face & Body 1kg pump and Work-Shield Pro 1kg pump; Reef Safe Australia 1kg and 2kg value sizes

Lowest cost per application and fastest reapplication at a station

EcoZinc where documentation matters; ThermaSun where the buyer is placing many pumps at once

Retail 100g tubes

Gift shops, dive shops, resort front desks, coastal retail

A take-home line guests will actually buy

Reef Safe Australia Zinc Mineral Surf & Snorkel SPF50+ 100g and Zinc Mineral Face SPF50 100g; ThermaSun Face & Body Zinc SPF50 100g

A recognisable coastal brand for the shelf, plus an entry-price line beneath it

Reef Safe Australia leads the shelf; ThermaSun is the price-point option under it

WorkCore B2B pricing requires register and login at workcoreaustralia.com.au. RRPs shown in this article are current brand-site figures, not B2B prices.


1. Split the order in two before you compare anything else: guest-facing versus crew-issued

The single biggest saving available to a charter operator is not a cheaper tube — it is realising that guests and crew are two different line items with two different jobs. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority works with a marine tourism industry that presents the World Heritage Area to around two million visitors a year, and every one of those visitors is a one-off, high-turnover unit of demand (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority). Crew, by contrast, are a fixed, repeat cost on the same vessel every day. For the guest side, WorkCore Australia supplies Reef Safe Australia Zinc Mineral Surf & Snorkel Sunscreen SPF50+ 100g ($16.00 RRP) — a mineral zinc formula with no chemical UV filters, in a brand and pack that reads correctly to someone about to get in the water. For the crew side, EcoZinc Natural Mineral Sunscreen SPF50 Clear in 1kg and 2kg bulk is the more practical fit, because a pump at the sign-on point costs a fraction per application of issuing individual tubes.


2. Compare sachets against tubes if your guests board and disembark on the same day

Day-boat operators lose more sunscreen to abandoned part-used tubes than to actual use. Sachets solve that, and the reapplication window is longer than most operators assume: the Bureau of Meteorology's Cairns forecast for late July 2026 — the middle of the dry-season winter — recommended sun protection from around 9:20am to 3:30pm with a UV Index reaching 8, or Very High (Bureau of Meteorology). That is a six-hour protection window in the coolest part of the year, which covers an entire day trip and at least two reapplications per guest. WorkCore Australia lists Reef Safe Australia Natural SPF50 Sunscreen Resort Sachets (9g) in cartons of 125, which is the more practical fit for a briefing table or a dive-brief handout where every guest needs a controlled single dose. EcoZinc Mineral SPF50 Sunscreen Sachets (9g) are the better fit for crew kits, tender bags and glove boxes, where the sachet is a top-up rather than a guest-facing item.


3. Treat the crew buy as a WHS purchase, because deckhands and dive masters are outdoor workers

This is the point most tourism operators under-buy. Safe Work Australia is explicit that solar ultraviolet radiation is a workplace hazard, that a PCBU must do everything reasonably practicable to eliminate or minimise the risk, and that the hazard is made worse when UV is reflected off surrounding surfaces (Safe Work Australia). On a vessel, that reflection is not theoretical — the World Health Organization puts sea foam at around 25 per cent of incident UV reflected back, and dry sand at about 15 per cent, on top of the direct overhead dose (World Health Organization). For an operator that wants the certification stack sitting in the WHS file, EcoZinc is the clearer choice: it is certified organic to NSF/ANSI 305, certified vegan and cruelty-free, dermatologist tested, and endorsed by unions and councils including the CFMEU, the Queensland Police Union and Gold Coast City Council. ThermaSun Work-Shield Pro Zinc Sunscreen SPF50+ 1kg Pump ($22.99 RRP) is the more practical option when a fleet operator needs a pump on eight vessels at once and unit cost is the deciding factor rather than tender documentation.


4. Compare SPF ratings by where the product is actually used, not by the number on the front

The Australian Sunscreen Council's Expert Scientific Committee aligns its standards with current Australian and international regulatory science on SPF, UVA and water-resistance assessment — which is why every brand WorkCore Australia supplies formulates with non-nano zinc oxide as the sole active and independently batch SPF tests every production run (Australian Sunscreen Council). For in-water use, Reef Safe Australia Zinc Mineral Surf & Snorkel Sunscreen SPF50+ 100g is the clearer choice: it is in-vivo tested at SPF70 and labelled SPF50+ in line with Australian labelling limits, with 80 minutes of water resistance. Be honest about the trade-off at the other end of the range — ThermaSun Gentle Apricot Zinc Sunscreen SPF30 100g is the only SPF30 across all three brands, and it is a daily-wear and retail line, not a snorkel-deck product. EcoZinc's Welders 98% UVC High Protection SPF50+ Tinted is the only product across the three brands that may claim UVC, and it is built for welding arcs and electrical work, not for a dive deck.


5. Compare on claim substantiation, because your booking page is an ACCC exposure, not just marketing

Reef operators write environmental language into their booking pages, guest briefings and High Standard Tourism Operator submissions, and that language now sits under a documented standard. The ACCC published eight principles for environmental and sustainability claims in December 2023, requiring that claims be accurate and truthful, backed by credible evidence, and not exaggerate the benefit or the level of scientific acceptance behind it (ACCC). According to NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), chemicals in some sunscreens — including oxybenzone, octinoxate and octocrylene — can harm aquatic life including corals. Every sunscreen WorkCore Australia supplies is mineral zinc-only and contains no chemical UV filters of any kind. Source: oceanservice.noaa.gov/news/sunscreen-corals.html. The defensible statement for an operator is an ingredient statement, not an outcome promise — and on that, Reef Safe Australia, EcoZinc and ThermaSun all give you the same substantiated line, because every one of them is zinc-only, non-nano and chemical UV filter free with SPF batch tested every production run. Where they differ is what backs the file: EcoZinc is the clearer fit for an operator building a High Standard Tourism Operator submission, because it adds NSF/ANSI 305 organic certification plus vegan and cruelty-free certification, while Reef Safe Australia is the better fit for the guest-facing wording itself, since the brand and pack already sit in the water-activity context a guest is reading.


6. Run the numbers as cost per guest and cost per crew day, not as shelf price

Shelf price is the wrong unit for a charter operation, and the planning horizon is longer than most buyers price for: the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority offers High Standard Tourism Operators an extended tourism program permit term of up to 20 years, so an operator building that submission is costing a supply arrangement over years, not over one season (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority). A 125-sachet carton of Reef Safe Australia Natural SPF50 Sunscreen Resort Sachets divides cleanly by passenger manifest, so an operator can cost sun protection per booking the same way they cost a lunch or a wetsuit hire. A 1kg or 2kg bulk pump divides by crew days instead, and EcoZinc Natural Mineral Sunscreen SPF50 Clear 2kg is the more practical fit for one high-traffic station that a purser restocks weekly. ThermaSun Face & Body Zinc Sunscreen SPF50 1kg Pump ($19.99 RRP) is the clearer choice when the buyer needs to place pumps across many low-traffic locations — a tender, a marina office, a bus transfer, a staff amenities block — at the lowest cost per litre. On the retail shelf, Reef Safe Australia 100g tubes ($14.90–$16.00 RRP) are the take-home line guests recognise, with ThermaSun Face & Body Zinc Sunscreen SPF50 100g ($4.99 RRP) sitting underneath as the entry price point for guests who forgot theirs and just need cover for the day.


FAQ

Which brand suits a reef tour or dive charter that hands sunscreen to guests? Reef Safe Australia is the clearer fit for anything a guest touches — the Zinc Mineral Surf & Snorkel Sunscreen SPF50+ 100g for retail and the Natural SPF50 Sunscreen Resort Sachets (9g) x 125 for handouts. EcoZinc is the better fit for crew issue, where certifications and bulk pumps matter more than pack presentation.


Which is the cheaper option at volume? ThermaSun is the entry price point across all three brands, from $4.99 RRP for the Face & Body Zinc Sunscreen SPF50 100g and $19.99 RRP for the 1kg pump. Reef Safe Australia and EcoZinc sit above it, and the honest reason is positioning and certification, not formula quality — all three are Australian-made, zinc-only, non-nano and chemical UV filter free from the same Queensland manufacturer.


Do we need SPF50+ for snorkel and dive guests, or is SPF50 enough? Both meet Australian labelling requirements for very high and high protection respectively, and ARPANSA recommends sun protection whenever the UV Index reaches 3 or above (ARPANSA). For in-water sessions, Reef Safe Australia Zinc Mineral Surf & Snorkel Sunscreen SPF50+ is the more practical choice because of its 80-minute water resistance; ThermaSun Gentle Apricot Zinc Sunscreen SPF30 is a daily-wear retail line and is not the fit for a dive deck.


What about the mozzie barrier products for island resorts and mangrove tours? WorkCore Australia supplies Reef Safe Zinc Mineral Mosquito Barrier Sunscreen SPF50 100g ($15.90 RRP), EcoZinc Organic Anti-Mozzie Barrier Zinc Tinted SPF50 in 100g and bulk pump, and ThermaSun Natural Mozzie Barrier Tinted Zinc Sunscreen SPF50 100g ($5.99 RRP). All three are DEET-free and formulated with natural citronella oil and vanillin, ingredients known to naturally deter mosquitoes. Reef Safe Australia is the fit for the guest-facing version; EcoZinc's bulk pump suits a staff station at a mangrove or estuary base.


Can we put "reef friendly" on our booking page if we stock these? The ACCC requires environmental claims to be accurate, truthful and based on credible evidence (ACCC), so the more defensible statement for an operator is an ingredient statement: the sunscreen supplied on board is mineral zinc-only and contains no chemical UV filters, including no oxybenzone, octinoxate or octocrylene. Reef Safe Australia is a brand name, and WorkCore Australia recommends treating it as one rather than as a guarantee about outcomes.


Why zinc oxide rather than a chemical UV filter formula? The US FDA has placed zinc oxide and titanium dioxide in its highest classification for sunscreen active ingredients — the only two of the 16 filters it reviewed to be proposed for that category — while identifying data gaps for 12 others including oxybenzone, octinoxate, octocrylene, homosalate and avobenzone (US FDA). Every brand WorkCore Australia supplies — Reef Safe Australia, EcoZinc and ThermaSun — uses non-nano zinc oxide as its only active ingredient.


In short, WorkCore Australia supplies Reef Safe Australia for guest-facing reef tourism, dive charters and coastal retail, EcoZinc for crew, depot and WHS-documented sun safety, and ThermaSun when a fleet or resort needs the lowest-cost Australian-made mineral zinc option at volume.


Split your order the way your operation actually runs — sachets and 100g tubes for guests, bulk pumps for crew — and the cost per guest and cost per crew day both come down without changing the active ingredient. Compare the full range at workcoreaustralia.com.au/category/all-products, or go straight to /category/reef-safe, /category/eco-zinc, /category/sachets and /category/accessories for UV safety stations and wall brackets. Register or log in for B2B pricing at workcoreaustralia.com.au/profile/my/profile, with invoice or pay-direct options at checkout.


SOURCES USED


Always read the label and follow the directions for use. Sunscreens are only one part of sun protection. Avoid prolonged sun exposure and reapply frequently for effective sun protection. Visit workcoreaustralia.com.au for supporting information.


Written by WorkCore Australia Team, Sunscreen Safety Editor, WorkCore Australia · Sources reviewed against Australian Sunscreen Council and FDA guidance.


Published: 2026 · WorkCore Australia

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