On the day of the cruise we were up at 6 am and on the boat by 8. We had a quick snorkling lesson on the way out to the Reef. By 9 am we were at the 1st stop Saxton Reef. It was approx. 50 km off the coast of Cairns. The ocean was a little rough around us and made it hard to stay in one spot. As soon as you got off the boat and put your head under all you saw was coral and bright colored fish everywhere. We got some awesome underwater shots, but even they dont do it justice. It was absolutely beautiful. We stayed out about 45 mins and got back on the boat. They were serving lunch and we travelled to the 2nd stop Hastings Reef. As soon as we stopped in this area we could tell that it was going to be even better than the first. The water was alot calmer, clearer and the coral rose out above the surface. We had a few hours here so I took my time getting back in the water and suntanned on the front of the boat. After some people cleared out of the water (it can get crowded out there when you first stop) I jumped in. There is something exhilarating about jumping off a boat in the middle of the ocean. At this reef because the coral is so close to the surface you cant just float over the surface, you have to swim around it. I was really paranoid about touching it. Lots of people do damage to the reef by standing on it and kicking it with their flippers. And it looks kinda gross and freaked me out a bit. The fish are crazy too and just bump into you like your not even there. And they travel in huge groups and all make the same movements at the same time. The second reef was definately bigger than the first, but had just as many fish. In the end they were both amazing and there is a whole other world under there that we rarely get to see. After being out all day swimming in the ocean you feel really tired. I was glad to get back on solid ground at the end of the day. Thinking back on it now, a few days later, I feel so lucky that I got to see the Great Barrier Reef. It is insanely huge- 2500 kms along the coast and each reef has massive amounts of corals rising out of the ocean. There also must be thousands of fish species- it is crazy what is under there.
Enjoy the pics- I love them all. It was hard to pick which ones to post, so I posted lots of them. Tomorrow we head to the Rainforest! The pictures from there are some of my favorites. We were there for 3 days so be prepared for lots of them.
Cheers!
Brandy
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