East Coast Adventure Day 3 ..... Cairns Passions Of Paradise Great Barrier Reef Trip - Sunday 6th October 2013

Well one word to describe today – AMAZING! Not only have I seen one of the Seven Wonders of the World and been somewhere I’ve always wanted to go, but I also got to tick off one of my things to do before I die – snorkel and scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef!

Today was my last day in Cairns (not that I spent a day actually in Cairns) and I was up early once again to check out of Gilligan’s and get ready for another full day of adventure and once in a life time experiences (I mean sleep is overrated anyway and you have to make the most of the days while you’re travelling). It was another warm day and seemed a bit overcast at first heading to the Marina but by the time I had checked in and stepped aboard the Passions of Paradise Catamaran, the sun started to make an appearance for what seemed to look like and turned out to be a beautiful day on the Great Barrier Reef – now this is what Australia weather is about!

We had around a 2 hour sail out of Cairns, past Port Douglas to the Great Barrier Reef and our first snorkel destination of the day. This gave us enough time to do all the boring stuff of filling out paperwork and having safety talks, whilst also leaving some time to sit on the boat and catch some rays (I think my first actual opportunity to tan since being in Aus!).

You could tell when we were approaching the reef as the colour of the ocean changed from a deep, dark blue showing the mysterious depths of the ocean to a beautiful bright, light and clear blue, showing the shallower waters filled with life and movement of the coral and sealife below. By the time the anchor had dropped near Paradise Reef, our first snorkel spot of the day, I was ready, raring and very much looking forward to jumping straight into the inviting sea to explore the large array of colourful fish and coral and other dangerous and killer animals (yes I was being a nutter and hoping to see a shark!). Being on the reef at the beginning of October I was a few weeks outside of stinger season (aka killer box jellyfish season) so declined the offer of a sexy stinger suit to wear in the water, as did most people and decided it was just a ploy for them to make more money (yes they came at an extra cost) and prevent me from getting a tan! Besides if they thought it was that dangerous they would’ve made it compulsory! I had signed up to do a scuba dive at this snorkel spot which I was pretty excited about because I had always said I wanted to scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef and it was also going to be my first scuba diving experience and what better place to do it?! Luckily I was in the third and final dive group which meant I could have at least a 45 minute snorkel on the reef first before having to get kitted up for my dive. The snorkeling was awesome and the reef was amazing! I don’t think words can even begin to describe it and pictures certainly don’t do it justice (as with the pictures from the last two days, they can’t quite capture the awe and beauty of it). I was amazed at how I was just inches from the coral when snorkeling over it and I was trying to be so careful not to touch or kick it with my flippers, especially as it destroys it when this happens. Some of the colours of the coral and all the different types were so pretty and I loved how it moved as you swam by, especially the way the clams closed up when they felt the water moving above them. There were so many fish too swimming in and around the coral and they also had some beautiful colours. I can now see and understand why it is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World! After about a 45 minute snorkel I headed back to the boat to get prepared and kitted up for my dive. We had about 30 minutes down under the water and we went down to around 10 meters I think. I found it a lot of fun and didn’t have any problems at all with it! In terms of the reef and coral I didn’t find it too much different to the snorkeling but it was still good and cool to go deeper and continually swim without having snorkel issues, plus I got to see nemo – another tick of animals to see in Australia!

Two Different Shades Of Blue In The Ocean

Again The Colourful Ocean

By the time we had finished our dive and resurfaced, everyone was back on the boat, lunch was served and we were ready to head to our second snorkel destination of the day – Michaelmas Cay. There was another opportunity to do a second dive at this reef however I decided I would just enjoy the snorkel and thought if I want to dive again I’ll do it at a different location further down the coast at one of the reefs in the Whitsundays. This was another really good snorkel spot where I got to see even more coral and fish and I made the most of the long time we had to explore this beautiful underwater garden. At this snorkel spot there was also a pristine sand cay (Michaelmas and Upolu Cays and National Park) and I swam over to this and admired the fact that it was a beautiful day in North Eastern Australia and I was standing on a beach literally in the middle of the Coral Sea. I must admit I was a little gutted though because when we got back on the boat some of the other people had said they saw a shark and I wished I'd seen it but I guess I'll save that for next time haha!

Michaelmas and Upolu Cays and National Park

After an awesome day spent snorkeling and diving on the Great Barrier Reef (oh and tanning), it was time to make the long sail (2 hours 30 mins) back to Cairns. It was a very relaxing and chilled sail as the sun was still glaring down and the waters were fairly calm.

When we arrived back in Cairns I went for a little wander around the Esplanade which was nice and grabbed some dinner as I had a couple of hours to kill before my bus was due to depart to Mission Beach to head onto the next destination for the next part of my adventure. It wasn’t a long bus journey just an hour and a half and by the time I checked in and had been shown around the Jackaroo Hostel, Mission Beach it was time for a quick shower and then bed, ready for an action packed day tomorrow!

For more pictures of the Great Barrier Reef Click Here - 6th October Cairns Day 3