The Great Barrier Reef

February 26, 2008
Reef Magic and Marine World on Moore Reef

I had selected Reef Magic because they have smaller boats and take fewer people to their pontoon. The companies take you out to a “pontoon” that is a big platform that is already anchored on the reef. The boat stays tied to the pontoon and you use the bathrooms etc on the boat, but everything else is on the pontoon.
This is our pontoon, but we were on a much bigger and faster new catamaran. Notice the small white rectangles in the water. Those are resting areas for the snorkelers.

They also offered a glass bottom boat ride, a semisubmersible and you could get a helicopter ride over the reef if you wanted to, but we were still planning on our flight to Lizard Island so we didn't do that. You can see the helicopter pad in the upper right on this pic and one of the extra boats as well.

We were going to try diving, but due to ear problems because of colds etc, we couldn't. The water is so incredibly clear that we could see a huge amount with snorkeling.

We decided to get the Lycra suits so we would be protected from the sun and also “stingers” (jellyfish). We brought our own snorkel vests, masks and snorkels which really helped us spot each other in the water. They were a little different from the others that were rented.

The water was absolutely wonderful! It was clear and warm. It was an overcast day which really helped too. We loved the fish, but I think I actually liked looking at the coral more. It there were areas 30 or more feet deep with coral, upon coral, upon coral. Different types, colors and shapes. Stunning! Some areas were very shallow. Once I hit it with my flippers (big no, no) because I didn't notice that it had gotten shallower. The water is so clear that you can't really tell if it is foot deep or 20 feet deep by the visibility.

A Giant Clam

Moorish Idols
Nudibranch
Nemo


We had a wonderful day including a great seafood buffet lunch (featuring prawns). We forgot to take pictures of the lunch because we couldn't wait to get back into the water.

One of the highlights was coming across this great big fish and having our photos taken. This was truly one of the highlights of our trip so far. We were blown away by it.

Sarah