GREAT Barrier Reef

Thursday 22nd February 2007
Wow. Another ‘life experience’ to tick off the list. The Great Barrier Reef is as awesome as we’d hoped.

The day started with some cloud, and some blue sky – which was much better than predicted on the weather charts here. We knew the sea wind level would drop to 15-20 knots today – all this week its been 20-30 knots and above so all the smaller boats didn’t do the trips. Only the Quicksilver boats (which take 400 divers and snorkellers) had gone out. Every hotel and tourist shop here has weather charts to help people decide which day to do the GBR trip. Today and tomorrow looked best, changing again at the weekend. So blue-ish sky in Port Douglas looked promising, but really gave us no indication of what to expect at sea.

The Wavelength minibus picked us up from Portsea at 8 am and so we knew there would be just 16 of us on this trip. I’d ‘sneaked’ a seasick pill with breakfast, even though I knew that we’d be given some on the boat if we wanted them. Just as Sid has a fear of flying (and has never been able to enjoy snorkelling because of mask-claustrophobia), I have a fear of seasickness on boats (borne out by having thrown up on cross channel ferries, the Isle of Man ferry when I went to a Nalgo conference once, and even in the Greek Islands and one night on our Caribbean tall ship cruise).

You may be wondering at this point why two people (ie Sid and Myra), one who has a fear of snorkelling and one who suffers seasickness amongst very few ailments (touch wood), chose the smallest boat to go snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef. I suppose the only answers would be ‘because it’s there, because you’ve just got to do it to tick off the list, and hey, this trip is supposed to be about once-in-a-lifetime adventures.’

I took another two seasickness pills as we boarded the boat (Sid took one – his one and only) and then we rock and rolled. The Wavelength took us 30 miles out to the outer reef.
Great snorkelling advice, really good equipment and almost individual help and tuition from the skipper (Aaron) trip leader (Bruce, yes really!) and Vanessa, the Marine Biologist.

At the first stop, Opal Reef, after morning tea and biscuits, off the back of the boat we went. Wow, wow, wow. The sun was shining, the reef was stunning – can’t describe the colours, the scale, and the fish. Absolutely amazing. We snorkelled for a full hour.
Back on the boat, to another part of Opal Reef for another full hour’s snorkelling, watching and swimming with turtles and masses of fish of the most amazing size and colours, including a White Tip Reef Shark

A lovely buffet lunch on board was accompanied by an interesting talk from Vanessa. They really are very knowledgeable and protective of the reef. Then onto the third stop, nicknamed Turtle Reef, because of the number of turtles there.


A Canadian trio on today’s trip were there because they’d done Quicksilver yesterday, which they described as ‘Factory Reefing’ with 400 people around you all the time. Not so today. You could swim and snorkel around without seeing another person from the group at all, giving you the feeling that you were just out there alone with the reef and fish in what can only be described by the cliché, Another World. It really is.

No seasickness – the odd queasiness of course, but not a real problem – for Myra. And all Sid’s swimming pool practice paid off. He loved it and for the first time really enjoyed snorkelling and saw all the things I’ve raved about and more. So, what a good decision. The right boat, the right place, the perfect never-to-be-forgotten day.