We were at the Great Barrier Reef on March 16, 2020. We had rented an underwater camera for the day, so be prepared for a lot of pictures of fish and beautiful underwater scenery!
Having arrived in Australia somewhat clueless we quickly found out that Cairns is a prominent gateway to one of the big natural wonders of the world: The Great Barrier Reef. There are many companies offering day trips to the reef. We wanted to go either with a sailing boat or to the outmost parts of the reef. In the end we decided to take a tour from Port Douglas, about one hour north of Cairns. We chose to go with one of the smaller boats with 40 guests to three of the more remote sites close to the continental drop off. Because it’s so far off the coast, the boat travels at a rather high speed of almost 60 km/h.
We were picked up in the morning by a bus and drove up to Port Douglas. It was a really nice drive with many nice views of the beaches and bays. The road was very winding and would make a very nice tour on a motorbike. Before boarding the boat, we were offered to do an introductory dive but we decided against it. I am sure it’s a great experience to dive there but we felt that a first ever dive would probably be stressful and we wanted to enjoy this experience and focus on the reef.
During the drip to the first site we got an introduction to snorkeling and how to behave when swimming in the reef. Some things are rather common sense as ‘Don’t touch the fish or the corrals’ or ‘When swimming over the reef, make sure your leg kick is shallow so you won’t kick the corrals’, but it’s still good to be reminded. Everyone was given goggles, a snorkel and fins, as well as a full body lycra suit. The suit covered pretty much everything and even had gloves and a hood attached to it. It is necessary to wear it because there are poisonous jellyfish, so-called stingers, in the water during this time of the year. Since this invisible threat always makes me uneasy – however unrealistic it usually is – it reassured me to have the suit.
After a briefing about the first site we put on our gear and climbed off the rear of the boat. I have only ever snorkeled once before and got sunburned in the process (despite wearing a t-shirt). Another good reason for the suit! It is so different from just swimming. The whole mystery of what may be going on below you is gone. Instead the wonder of that wonderland is unveiled. It is also so easy to just float in the water with the current looking down or use the fins to propel you. Some of the other guests used live jackets or pool noodles for support but I felt even when I did nothing, breathing through the snorkel was easy. Of cause, over time I did swallow my share of salt water…
We stopped at three different sites and had about one to one and a halve hours there. Even though there was always lots to discover at every site we felt that this time frame was well chosen to have breaks. We were also served a tasty lunch to regain some strength. 😀 On the last site a guided tour was offered where you could swim with one of the crew members. They pointed out things to us that we would have missed. Our guide also dove down and picked up some of the creatures living there, for example a sea pineapple.
We saw so many different fishes and corrals, everything is very colorful close to the surface. The lower you go the less colors are visible until only the blues still glow. Our highlight were the clown fishes and the white tipped shark that roamed around below us completely unimpressed by our presence. We were so glad that we had decided to rent an underwater camera to have some pictures to keep the memories of this impressive, once in a lifetime experience fresh!
At the end of the day we were pretty exhausted but in a very good and happy way. To see something like the Great Barrier Reef, to get to glimpse into this different world, makes us feel so lucky.
