Great Barrier Reef: a must-do before you die
Among the many places and things to do before one dies seeing the Great Barrier Reef is definitely one of them. I haven’t yet seen Australia entirely (mostly the east coast) but the Great Barrier Reef was one place I kew I had to see while I was in Australia.
The Great Barrier Reef stretches for more than 2,000 km over an area of approximately 344,000 square kilometers, and yes I totally wikipedia’d that because I can’t keep numbers in my head that well, so it is big. The great barrier reef is composed of different islands and all in all the farther you go the clearer and and deeper the water can get. The water is warm all year long so chances are anytime you’re around it’ll be good.
I was in Cairns with a couple of friends with the Great Barrier Reef in mind, the city of Cairns itself there’s not much in the centre of it, you have to move outside of it to the nearby islands and beaches for more options of places to see and explore. We were not in Cairns for so long so we stayed mostly in the city and more specifically at the Cairns Esplanade Lagoon, an artificial white sand beach right in the city and the best thing, it is completely free! Just bring your towel and sunscreen and you’re ready to go.
Esplanade Lagoon
Right next to the Esplanade Lagoon is Shields St, where most of the party scene in Cairns is concentrated, bars, restaurants, shops, they are all there, it is also around Shield St where there are thousands of agencies selling scuba diving, snorkeling and any other activity package you are able to do in Cairns, and by thousands I really mean thousands since they’re every 5 meters form each other. If you’re on a budget and every dime counts I suggest spending half a day bargaining and talking to all the agencies to find a package that fits your budget.
We ended up buying the snorkeling package from Paradise Adventure Travel to the Pellowe Reef, the package included breakfast, lunch and all the gear we needed for snorkeling (goggles, snorkel, fins, rash vest and life vest) for AUD 120, and once on board they offered an upgrade to do the scuba diving for an extra AUD 60, since there were not that many people on board doing it. I even thought about doing the scuba diving but ended up sticking to the snorkeling, I’m not really afraid of the ocean but at that time I was not so sure if I could do it.
The whole thing starts quite early in the day (worst case scenario for a night person like me), we woke up around 5:30 and had to be there at the dock by 7. Needless to say I took a nap on the way to the reefs, which was about 3 hours each way. The breakfast is served as soon as you board which was great since we decided to sleep longer and starve until breakfast on the boat. But it is a smooth ride, besides some people getting sea sick, and we ended up crossing a couple of islands on the way like the Fitzroy Island which looked beautiful.
Fitzroy Island
On the way to the reef the staff was pretty cool and helpful, there was a kind of snorkeling/scuba diving 101 which came in handy for sure. They also tipped us on what kind of fish we would likely be able to see during the snorkeling. Among the many things that were said one that I can remember quite well and I quote from one of the instructors “if your goggles get foggy and smudged rub some spit on them, the thicker the spit the better it is”. It was on that note that I knew I was ready for snorkeling. We still had an hour until I was able to hit the reefs so we just took it all in hanging out on the deck.
Once we arrived it was time to get geared up, I tried the rash vest but I felt as stiff as Robcop and decided not to wear it. We were told the snorkeling/scuba diving would last about an hour and a half if I remember well. Off we went into the ocean. At first I was only equipped with the fins, goggles and snorkel but I could tell I was going to drown at some point so I played safe and grabbed myself a life vest, and was I right about it.
Before you ask, no, sharks are not known to hang out in those surroundings so we were told we were safe. The life vest did help a ton since I could just lay there in the water not having to be constantly working those fins.
We were back at Cairns around 5 and literally dead. Food and a nap was all we had in mind.
I didn’t use to travel much but once I started, I just can’t stop travelling. On Can I Pack? I try to share how I make my travels work out because travelling shouldn’t be hard.
