The GREAT Barrier Reef

So after all my training in the waters of Thailand, I finally made it to the Great Barrier Reef. There is a lot of back and forth about whether or not the Great Barrier Reef is worth all of the fuss made about it--some argue that the Red Sea is better, some just have bad days, but in order to really know, you have to try it for yourself.

We boarded Ocean Freedom early on a Sunday and headed straight out to the reef, a little over an hour by boat from Cairns. The sea was a gorgeous color of turquoise and the weather was clear and hot. We spent the first part of the morning snorkeling and learning about the reef on a glass bottom boat. We snorkeled at Upulo Cay--a small sand island in the middle of shallow water and reef. By small I mean it fits maybe ten people at most--in 20 million years, if conditions are right, it could be a real island. The water was clear and the visibility was great--just snorkeling we saw tons of fish and a blue spotted stingray.

Just minutes after snorkeling, they called all the divers together and told us we were heading out for us first dive. We pulled on stinger suits, a wet suit like outfit, but much thinner and meant to protect from all of the ocean's jelly fish. We piled into a little speed boat and motored away to a solitary spot, far away from the boat, with no divers for miles. Sitting on the edge of the boat, we tipped backwards and began our descent. We swam along a wall of reef covered in all sorts of colors and formations. The first dive was nice but it was easy to see why people were not overly impressed with the Great Barrier Reef; aside from a napoleon fish, we didn't see anything too exciting.

Back on the boat and with a few bites of food in us, we headed out for the second dive with a different dive master. This dive master rocked--she pointed out everything from sea sponges to nemos to a huge crayfish with tentacles a meter wide. We told her at the beginning of the dive that we really wanted to see sharks. she said she knew where one hung out 50% of the time, but I didn't get my hopes up too high. This spot was called the Wonder Wall and the reef itself was really beautiful. As we turned a corner, I saw the dive master raise her hand to her head, signalling that a shark was in view. I was so confused because all I could see was a huge sea turtle, but she kept signalling for a shark so I turned my head a little to the left and there was white tipped reef shark. Only a meter apart, the turtle and the shark hung out for a few minutes swimming around, letting us swim above and next to them. The shark even left and came back which is really rare as reef sharks usually leave when people are near. It was unbelievable. We surfaced and could not believe our luck. We are now part of the Great Barrier Reef fan club, so now when we are drawn into the debate between the Reef and the Red Sea, the Great Barrier Reef will be catalogued as a great place to dive. In just six dives, I have gotten to see two sharks, turtles, nemos and tons of big fish--by all means, I have been very fortunate, and it only serves to increase my excitement for my next dive.

To see photos of the Great Barrier Reef, please click me