Australia - Great Barrier Reef - July 2013 - Page 3
Kendra and I decided that the
"learn to scuba dive in 10 minutes
and go sit on the bottom 33 feet
down" was a little too dangerous
so we got into diving helmets and
went down about 15 feet. Lots
of fish and clear water
To get to the Great Barrier Reef, we took a pretty fast catamaran and it took 90 minutes to get the 50 km to the outer barrier reef where
we tied up to a platform anchored beside an offshore diving platform and a helicopter pad. We spent 6 hours snorkeling, swimming,
eating, taking a helicopter tour and boat tour and then helmet diving.
Its hard to explain the diving platform, look at the 3 pictures below. The large boat was tied to the platform and several hundred yards
away was another platform that was an offshore helicopter pad. We did wear wet suits as 6 hours in the water would have been a bit
much. Remember, it is winter time in July.
We started off snorkeling and took a guided snorkel tour to find out
about the coral reef, the outer reef wall, the fish and the plants. A very
large fish named Wally hangs out there at the diving platform and
comes by looking for food. We got some good pictures of us trying
to get away and then later trying to touch the fish. Felicia took a glass
walled submersible tour and got a lot of good pictures. She and
Susie then took a helicopter ride to see the reef from up high and
to get a good view of how big it is and see all of the different colors
of the water, coral and sand.
Great Barrier Reef
The divers at the diving platform took the nice pictures of us in the water and the turtle and colorful fish.
Their cameras were a lot nicer than our underwater disposable camera so I have used about 6 of their
coral and fish photos. It was not a cheap day, but we learned a lot and had a lot of fun, I would recommend
spending a day on the reef if you get the chance.
Click on any photo to see a larger view