I can’t begin to express how glad we are that we choose to spend two days on the reef. If we ever come back to Australia it will be to sail on the reef for a week or more. This really is just one of those places you have to go and see for yourself! The photos don’t do it justice.
Yesterday, we went on a much larger boat to the outer reef. The good and the bad are: the reef is much larger and more colorful at the outer edge, however, the current, waves, and depth are also larger, which is very hard to snorkel particularly while trying to watch our seven year-old son. I recommend the inner reef for snorkeling and small kids and the outer reef for diving. But, I am sure every individuals experience is unique and therefore opinions will differ widely.
On the outer reef we saw more fish but catching them on film was not easy, except for the one fish that kept attacking me when I came near his home. He’s the goldish-brown fish in the photos below. He pecked at the camera and my facemask. I also caught a small stingray on film below. I should have worked less on photographing the fish and more on the wonderful corals!
At the end of the day we hung out on a sand cay (sand bar) that only pokes it’s peak out of the ocean at low tide. The water around the cay was the turquoise of the Caribbean. What a wonderful end of a great day on the reef.
Our Trip to Australia 