The Great Barrier stretches 2600 km down the Australian coast and is the size of Japan or Italy. It is the largest living reef system in the world and also the youngest in the world due to the way the past ice ages have carved out the reef shelves. Cairns is known as the joining point for the Daintree Rainforest which is the oldest rainforest and the youngest reef. The reefs that make up the Great Barrier Reef are spread out in the coast and the farther you get away from the shore, the clearer the water is. Today we took a cruise that took us 1.5 hours out from the mainland and to the Moore Reef.
From the boat we had the option to either snorkel or scuba dive. I had been dreaming of scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef and obtaining my PADI license to eventually become a mermaid with Wands and Wishes. I was devastated when I learned that I was not allowed to scuba dive in Australia with asthma. I called up nearly every doctor I could think of to clear me but no one would, sadly, so I didn't get to go which broke my heart. Instead I snorkeled which turned out to be amazing regardless.
The first spot we stopped to snorkel was epic! Immediately after leaving the boat I spotted the reef and there were thousands of fish swimming all around. The reef was probably the most stunning one I have seen. It was so vibrant and full of different bright colors. There was purple, orange, red, green, blue, pink, and more colors of coral. The water was so clear you could see everything including the fish popping in the water. I managed to spot the sea anemone with Nemo hiding out in it too.
While snorkeling around I spotted a reef shark. It was small but distinctly a shark as it was bigger and longer next to the fish. It was so cool and me and another boy followed it through the reef. What was nice about this spot was that they gave us a huge area to snorkel around and it felt extremely freeing. It was crazy to think that in the middle of the ocean there was a coral reef that came so close to the surface. We came so far out in the ocean and suddenly it was all shallow. You could definitely tell that the reef was young as it was so colorful and looked so fresh.
I snorkeled the entire time until they called us back to the boat where we ate lunch before heading to our next snorkel spot. The next snorkel spot was in jellyfish infested waters. It was stinger season so we all were fitted in stinger suits that covered our entire head and body. There were tons and tons of pink jellyfish floating on the surface of the water. They boat came to a stop and we all jumped in. Initially, I had trouble finding the reef as this part of the ocean was just open with tons of jellyfish. As I kept swimming I neared the edge of the spectacular reef. The formations of the reef are unreal and so beautiful! Left untouched mother nature is truly something. There wasn't any sunscreen bleaching either which was amazing! Everything was so crystal clear and I had never seen reefs this stunning. I absolutely loved snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef and hope to return one day!
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