I love to snorkel. I’ll go to great lengths to strap on a mask and a pair of fins and float over brightly colored fish and coral for a day. There’s nothing I’ve found that’s more peaceful and at the same time more awe inspiring. I probably need to try diving, but I’m not sure I have the patience for strapping on the tank, testing gauges, etc. I like to just hop in and go.
So, I love the Great Barrier Reef. Once you’re on the Reef, it truly is like entering another world – crystal clear water, loads of gorgeous reef fish in every color, coral in every shape and hue, and the ability to do some really great stuff like swim through a school of hundreds of fish all floating suspended around you. There are any number of great places to snorkel or dive in the world, but the Great Barrier Reef is the granddaddy of them all and it lives up to the hype.
Many North Americans aren’t aware what the term “barrier reef” means in terms of a visit – unlike a shore reef that starts right off the beach, the Great Barrier Reef is 60-90 minutes by boat offshore, acting as a “barrier” for the shallower water near the coastline. As a result, a visit entails booking a spot with one of several cruise operators who take groups out to the Reef. Each has subtle differences – some highlight small group size, others focus on diving and divers, and some make special accommodation for non-swimmers, for example – but all offer a great experience snorkeling on the Reef, if that’s what you’re after. Yesterday we went out with Quicksilver – the largest tour operator by far, with a stellar reputation and offering the most options for visitors – to a section of the Outer Barrier Reef known as Agincourt Reef.
We were a little skeptical of the experience at first. It was a big boat with a large group, and our cabin felt a bit like a preschool gone wild, with a lot of very unruly tykes (and one poor kid who discovered that she has a propensity toward seasickness, victimizing the upholstery…). A few too many informational DVD’s and a hard sell to rent a wetsuit to avoid encounters with nasty jellyfish (when pressed, the staff admitted that such an encounter was highly unlikely), left us wondering if we had made a mistake – an hour into the trip, we had dubbed our day “Diving by Disney.” I missed the smaller group trips I’d make to the Reef in the past.
We bounced back upon arrival, though. Quicksilver has a terrific set up on the Reef – a large pontoon with plenty of room for everyone, and a pristine, terrific patch of Reef for snorkeling. Despite the numbers, we never felt hemmed in. There was plenty of space to create your own adventure.
And I may take that spirit a bit too far. On my last trip to the Reef – on a smaller boat – one of the lifeguards had to come get me in a motorized dinghy. I heard a motor mid-snorkel, put my head up, and saw the smiling but perhaps slightly exasperated crewperson say “need to swim back to the boat…it’s time to go, mate,” and looked back to see everyone else on the boat staring over the side to see what was up with the clueless guy still in the water. I was the only one still out snorkeling. It was an embarrassing ride back to shore.
I didn’t want that to happen again. So, here we are, 2009, and of course I’m a more seasoned, mature, rule abiding snorkeler, enjoying my day on the Reef, when I see a rubber craft floating into my line of sight. You’ve got to be kidding. I put my head above water, see one of the Quicksilver lifeguards in a motorized dinghy floating in front of me. It went like this…Lifeguard: “How’re you going, mate?” (Aussies say “how’re you going”, not “how ya doing”); Rob: “I’m out too far, aren’t I?”, Lifeguard: “No drama, mate, but we want you to stay in sight of the pontoon. There’s some great stuff to see closer in.” Rob: (thumbs up, head back down in the water, starts kicking his fins in the other direction, having no idea he’d swum out so far).
Therapy would probably reveal that I have a death wish associated with the film “Open Water.” Call me Jacques Clousseau…. Still a great day, despite my second brush with the Reef law.
So, I love the Great Barrier Reef. Once you’re on the Reef, it truly is like entering another world – crystal clear water, loads of gorgeous reef fish in every color, coral in every shape and hue, and the ability to do some really great stuff like swim through a school of hundreds of fish all floating suspended around you. There are any number of great places to snorkel or dive in the world, but the Great Barrier Reef is the granddaddy of them all and it lives up to the hype.
Many North Americans aren’t aware what the term “barrier reef” means in terms of a visit – unlike a shore reef that starts right off the beach, the Great Barrier Reef is 60-90 minutes by boat offshore, acting as a “barrier” for the shallower water near the coastline. As a result, a visit entails booking a spot with one of several cruise operators who take groups out to the Reef. Each has subtle differences – some highlight small group size, others focus on diving and divers, and some make special accommodation for non-swimmers, for example – but all offer a great experience snorkeling on the Reef, if that’s what you’re after. Yesterday we went out with Quicksilver – the largest tour operator by far, with a stellar reputation and offering the most options for visitors – to a section of the Outer Barrier Reef known as Agincourt Reef.
We were a little skeptical of the experience at first. It was a big boat with a large group, and our cabin felt a bit like a preschool gone wild, with a lot of very unruly tykes (and one poor kid who discovered that she has a propensity toward seasickness, victimizing the upholstery…). A few too many informational DVD’s and a hard sell to rent a wetsuit to avoid encounters with nasty jellyfish (when pressed, the staff admitted that such an encounter was highly unlikely), left us wondering if we had made a mistake – an hour into the trip, we had dubbed our day “Diving by Disney.” I missed the smaller group trips I’d make to the Reef in the past.
We bounced back upon arrival, though. Quicksilver has a terrific set up on the Reef – a large pontoon with plenty of room for everyone, and a pristine, terrific patch of Reef for snorkeling. Despite the numbers, we never felt hemmed in. There was plenty of space to create your own adventure.
And I may take that spirit a bit too far. On my last trip to the Reef – on a smaller boat – one of the lifeguards had to come get me in a motorized dinghy. I heard a motor mid-snorkel, put my head up, and saw the smiling but perhaps slightly exasperated crewperson say “need to swim back to the boat…it’s time to go, mate,” and looked back to see everyone else on the boat staring over the side to see what was up with the clueless guy still in the water. I was the only one still out snorkeling. It was an embarrassing ride back to shore.
I didn’t want that to happen again. So, here we are, 2009, and of course I’m a more seasoned, mature, rule abiding snorkeler, enjoying my day on the Reef, when I see a rubber craft floating into my line of sight. You’ve got to be kidding. I put my head above water, see one of the Quicksilver lifeguards in a motorized dinghy floating in front of me. It went like this…Lifeguard: “How’re you going, mate?” (Aussies say “how’re you going”, not “how ya doing”); Rob: “I’m out too far, aren’t I?”, Lifeguard: “No drama, mate, but we want you to stay in sight of the pontoon. There’s some great stuff to see closer in.” Rob: (thumbs up, head back down in the water, starts kicking his fins in the other direction, having no idea he’d swum out so far).
Therapy would probably reveal that I have a death wish associated with the film “Open Water.” Call me Jacques Clousseau…. Still a great day, despite my second brush with the Reef law.
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