Diving the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

The number one thing on my must-see list was the Great Barrier Reef. To be honest, it was a little overwhelming to figure out how to ensure we saw the best spots while getting the best bang for our buck. The GBR is humongous and very far from the coast. There are several towns offering many trips of varying lengths to the reef. It’s a lot to sort through. Using travel guides loaned by our friends in Sydney, we read that it’s recommended to visit the GBR on a live-aboard ship. We also saw that the Whitsunday Islands were recommended for their beauty and sailing around them is very popular. Will did a quick search with that knowledge and found a sailboat, Anaconda III, that does a 3 day tour out of Airlie Beach. It seemed to be a good fit for what we were looking for but it did not fit into our budget. We took several days searching other options without any luck then weighed the pros and cons. Ultimately, we decided it was worth the extra expense to ensure we enjoyed the GBR. We started calling the trip a belated anniversary present to ourselves.

We were greeted at the ship, Anaconda III, by a friendly crew of 7 and 30 other passengers. Most passengers were backpackers from Europe (mostly Germany but Belgium and Canada as well). There were two Aussies on holiday. Also, several were enjoying a weekend trip during their time studying abroad in Australia – a nice couple from Denmark and a large group of Americans. With a total of nine, it was the largest group of Americans we’ve seen in months! But the group of 21 year olds were more like a reality show about sorority girls living on a boat than a home comfort.

The ship was full with every room occupied. We must have been one of the last to book because we had the worst room. First of all, we had to sleep in bunk beds – perfect for our “anniversary trip”! Also, it was the closest to the generators which meant the room was always noisy (they ran 90% of the time). Luckily, we did not need to be in the room much. There were some great communal spaces – the top deck for relaxing, a large room with benches where meals were served, and a small bar. There was just enough room for all 39 people to be comfortable.

There was not much relaxing with such a full itinerary. The ship motored from Airlie Beach Marina Friday evening and anchored in Hook Passage for the night. There was a short sail the following morning to the beautiful Whitehaven Beach. A small group of us walked a little trail to views of Whitsunday Island then relaxed on the soft sand beach. During lunch, we sailed to Luncheon Bay at Hook Island. We spent several hours in the water – first with a dive then snorkeling. As the sun set, the Skipper whistled to alert a few eagles then threw pieces of chicken carcasses in the air for them to catch (several fish enjoyed the pieces that were not caught). The next morning we sailed to Bait Reef – finally on the GBR! We did a morning and afternoon dive with snorkeling in between (all at the Stepping Stones). That evening, we sailed back to Hayman Island and anchored at Blue Pearl Bay. The final morning was spent snorkeling the bay which is known as the Aquarium of the Whitsundays. The waters are full of tons of fish but I’m sure the charters feeding the fish helps. After lunch, we sailed back to Airlie Beach. It was an awesome trip! That night, we joined the crew and passengers for one last drink in town to celebrate the successful journey. We have loads of pictures from the trip – here are just a few!