October 9-10, 2023 2nd day on Great Barrier Reef

I was up at 6:00am to see the sunrise.  So were Eddy and Amanda.  I told them about my leg cramp and the "sounds of wild sex" coming from our room.  Eddy said we'll know if anyone heard it if we get a thumbs up at breakfast lol.  We had to be back in our rooms by 6:45am for a "bed check" before they started to move the boat.  I guess that's a safety/liability issue.  At 7:30am we had a breakfast buffet.

layout of the boat

had to try the salty vegemite

 At 8:30 we had our briefing to dive/snorkel Troppo's on Normal Reef.  Our second snorkel was on the same reef, different section.    I tried to show the size of the reef in some photos.  But "you had to be there."

 

trumpet fish

wrasse?

triggerfish?

this looked like a large grouper

small clam in the coral

parrotfish

Moorish idols/ Gill in Finding Nemo

butterfly fish

juvenile midnight snapper

trumpet fish

view of the reef from our boat

 After the second snorkel, we had to shower and check out of our rooms by 12:00.  We had a lunch buffet of hamburgers, potatoes and coleslaw.  We hung out in the lounge until we transferred to Sea Quest at 2:30 to take us back to Cairns.  We played cards again with before leaving.  Dave spent a lot of time with the only child on the boat (of course).  She was about 12 and from Spain on board with her mother.  Dave taught her "real magic card tricks", and she had so much fun amazing the other guests.  Her mother thanked Dave for making her trip so enjoyable. 

Here is our impression of snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef.  We loved the boat adventure, being on the water, spending the night, good food, and met such interesting people from all over the world.  The snorkeling was interesting to see the huge growth of the reef, larger than we have seen anywhere else.  But the sea conditions were rough which decreased the visibility at times and sometimes made it hard to swim against the waves that crashed over the reef.  There were about 10 snorkelers with varying comfort levels in the water.  One other woman and I kept wanting to go further to explore, but we were always called back to stay with the group.  The different corals and the huge clams were great.  There were a few unique fish that we don't see in the Caribbean.  But there wasn't any large sea life that we hadn't seen elsewhere.  I understand, the reef has been dying over the last 10 years, which may have caused the change.  Maybe it was the time of year, or the weather conditions.  We brought our own snorkel and mask, but used their fins (harder to pack).   I ended up with blisters on my toes.  I would recommend traveling with Neosporin/triple antibiotic cream.  It was not sold over the counter in Australia.  Dave only snorkeled the first location and decided to enjoy the peacefulness of being on the boat the remainder of the trip.  I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see all that was offered.  We would still recommend the trip to others, especially overnight, maybe make it 2 nights.  It's still an experience of a lifetime if you love the sea.

We were back in Cairns by 4:30 and were taken by bus to our hotel.  We just enjoyed the evening at our hotel with the food we had left there.

Sea Quest, our transfer boat

my beat up toes

 Oct 10-Our next connection to head south wasn't available until tomorrow.  It was actually nice to have some down days between adventures.  That happened a few times because of connections, but looking back, it was appreciated.  We did laundry and enjoyed the pool.  We walked to a nearby Thai restaurant, which have been very good in Australia.  As we were packing, I accidentally spilled a water bottle on the bed.  We had to strip the bed and dry the sheets before we could go to bed.  So much for an early night.