OZ - The Great Barrier Reef

We flew in the morning to Brisbane and then had a 5 hour layover until our flight to Proserpine, which is a tiny airport in an area of Queensland called the Whitsundays. The Whitsundays consists of a collection of 74 islands much like the collection of islands in the Bahamas. The town we stayed in on the mainland, Airlie Beach, is a common jumping off point to get to the Great Barrier Reef where we were going in two days. Airlie Beach is a young, backpackers dream crammed with live music, cheaper food and cheap shared dorm type accommodations right on the beach.


Most of the stuff we love but we did stay at Boathaven Resort and Spa and made full use of the pool and jacuzzi before we went for beers and pizza and to listen to live music. No worries!

On Monday we found ourselves carless for the first time of the trip and we had to get up and out early because the bus shuttle was picking us up at 7:10 am for the short ride to Shute Harbour. Shute Harbour was where we met the FantaSea high speed catamaran to go to their platform on Hardy Reef at the Great Barrier Reef. The platform is about 40 miles offshore.

We had booked not only a trip to the reef for snorkeling but also what is know as the Reef Sleep, which includes for a maximum of six guests, snorkeling on the platform all day, two introductary dives, champagne, cocktails and h'orderves, a gourmet dinner under the stars and overnight accommodations on the platform after everyone else has left for the night. Because we had booked the Reef Sleep, even though the platform can handle about 500 people, the 5 of us who were staying were treated special all day long.

It was quite a moment waving goodbye to the other day visitors as they pulled away leaving only the 5 of us and 5 crew members. They made us feel right at home with cocktails and h'orderves on the platform as soon as the other guests had left.


Alone on the reef, under the stars with the sound of the reef at night made for a peaceful and tranquil evening. It was really cool! But, the really best part, was the diving.

We had a dive scheduled for 11:30 on the first day with 5 other people and 2 instructors. They geared us up and took us to a specially constructed dive platform under the main facility where they instructed us on all the basics. After they tested you on clearing your mask and removing your regulator, they led us down these lines towards the reef. They carefully watched us as we all got adjusted and we dove to a depth of about 7 metres (apx 21'). The instructors took us off the lines individually giving us each an opportunity to get up close to the reef at various points.

We also had the opportunity to meet the resident 4' Australian Razzi, named "Wally" who actually hangs around with you when you are diving and lets you pet him. It was wild. We were diving for a total of about 35 minutes. It was an awesome feeling and an awesome experience, truly better than anything we had anticipated. But the best was yet to come.

The other three guests staying at the reef with us that night were all certified divers, an Aussie couple on their honeymoon and a young girl from Brazil. The next morning after breakfest on the deck, we scheduled or second dive for 9AM before the day boat arrived. This time it was only Pat and I and the Yasmina, the girl from Brazil. We went through the same procedure on the dive platform and then headed down. This time after decending to a depth 7 meters we all went off the lines and out to the reef. It was a very strange sensation.

You found yourself concentrating so hard on your breathing, the instructor and controling your depth that at times you had to consciously focus back on the reef, the object of being there. On this dive we went to a depth of about 12 meters before slowly heading back up. Unreal....

Later that morning before the new boat load of humanity arrived we went out for a snorkel on the reef, jus the five of us. In many ways snorkeling lets you see areas on top of the reef that you can't experience when diving. It is amazing how alive the reef is. There is life and movement all around you. We finished or snorkel and headed back to the platform before the boat from shore arrived.

After we had lunch on the catamaran we were preparing to go out on another snorkel when Emma our "dive instructor" asked us if we wanted to go out again. She was doing a dive with another group of certified divers and asked if we wanted to come along. We jumped out of our wet suits at the chance. For this dive we all boarded a platform pontoon boat and headed out to a very special section of the "Hardy Reef". This was one of Emma's favorite dives. This new experience gave us the chance to learn how to enter the water stepping off a boat. Inflate your VCT, hold your mask and regulator with one hand and step straight out, head up. We both did just fine.

We dove to a depth of 14 meters all along the reef. Incredible walls of hard and soft corals and dozens of spectacular and different fish and sea creatures. This was the absolute best!!!!! This time you really felt like you were truly diving on the "Great Barrier Reef".


I wish we could say the voyage back to the harbor was as pleasant an experience. The wind was at 25 knots and the seas were rough and getting rougher. Tom was bent over with a "Barf Bag" in hand the entire 2 hour ride. Pat was her usual sympathethic and helpful self and sat on the oppisite side of the boat talking with our overnight friends. The crew however were fantastic and did a wonderful job playing nurse not only for Tom but the many others that took ill.

The next day we hung out in Airlie Beach (had to because we had left our snorkels on the boat and had to wait for that days boat to return with them) then we headed up the coast to our next stop "Mission Beach".