*Note, all underwater photos in this post are Gavin's, as he rented an underwater camera for the dive.
We awoke early Sunday morning, anxious and excited for our much anticipated excursion to the Great Barrier Reef. We had booked our trip with Poseidon Outer Reef Cruises, based on the recommendation of our concierge as well as our guidebook. The shuttle bus picked us up at 8:00 and took us to the marina, picking up a couple of other passengers along the way. We checked in at the Poseidon office, and then they directed us to the boat, where a photographer was waiting to grab our picture.
We boarded the Poseidon, an 80 foot, two story catamaran, and headed toward the enclosed deck in the front of the vessel to fill out some paperwork for diving. More and more people came on board, about 85 people altogether, including the dozen or so crew members. We embarked on what would be a 1.5 hour trip to the Agincourt ribbon reefs on the outer Great Barrier Reef, while one of the crew members gave us a briefing of what to expect and how the day would run.
After the briefing we were all separated, because we were doing different things. We had chosen this dive outfit because of the flexibility for diving or snorkeling. I had signed up to do an introductory dive since it had been so long, and my confidence was low. I felt more comfortable going in a smaller group. Gavin had signed up to do a certified dive in a larger group. They separated the two diving groups to do their briefings, and sent all of the snorkelers upstairs, so one of the crew members walked Ewan up so he could hear the snorkel briefing. Somewhere along the way, the boat slowed suddenly and came to an abrupt halt and someone exclaimed, “Whales!” Everyone ran to the portside windows where we waited breathlessly until we saw the spray from a blowhole and an arched back emerge quickly then dive down followed by the splash of the humpback’s fluke. That was exciting! We wanted more! We waited patiently and a few minutes later, not to disappoint, he jumped fully out of the water and splashed backwards onto the water’s surface, to the gasps and squeals of us delighted passengers. Unfortunately I wasn’t at the ready with my camera for the whale’s big jump, but we did purchase the photographer’s image, which we won’t be able to access until we get home as we have no CD drive with us. This image of the whale’s back will have to suffice.
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| If you look *really* close, you can see the whale's back. |
As we approached the first site, Gavin went out to the dive deck to gear up, and I went upstairs to find Ewan. They had given us Lycra bodysuits to wear, so I slid mine over my bathing suit (Ewan had already donned his, as well as a life jacket) and once we reached the first site, the two of us headed to the back of the boat, slid on our masks and fins, and jumped into the water. This was Ewan's first time swimming in open water and he was nervous at first. The water was by no means rough, but at the surface there definitely were waves and currents and took a little getting used to, and more effort to swim.
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| Ewan and me in our snorkel gear with our noodles to ease the "rough" waters. |
Once he put his mask in the water, however, any of his fears evaporated, as we glimpsed the beauty that lay just below the water's surface. We were absolutely amazed by the coral reef, teeming with life, vibrant with colors. We swam around marveling at the abundance of life; so many fish and other marine animals of all different shapes and sizes. The first site was called Castle Rock, and the water was quite shallow over the coral. Swimming at the surface, we probably were just four or five feet above the coral at the shallower points. At this site we saw tons of iridescent parrotfish, angelfish swimming around through the vibrant coral. Around the reef and a little deeper, we saw huge schools of fish, including barracudas, sturgeon fish, and even a couple of sharks down below.
As nervous as Ewan had been, he was squealing with delight, squeezing my arm and pointing when he spotted something of interest. When the boat sounded the horn indicating it was time to return, we reluctantly swam back. Once back on board we dried off a bit and went inside where the crew was serving tea and coffee and snacks before we took off for the second site.
As we approached the second site, called “Barracuda Bommie,” it was my turn to go to the dive deck and don my gear. The instructor gave me my wetsuit, weight belt and strapped me into my BCD, and I strapped on my mask and pulled on my fins. We stepped off the back deck into the water and held onto the rope to review a few skills (clearing our masks, switching our regs, etc.) before we descended. It had been six years since I had dove, so I was rusty. It took me a while to equalize, but once I got down there it felt great to be back. The diving experience was quite different than snorkeling, as the marine life on top of the coral tended to smaller and more colorful. The deeper down, the fish were much bigger and darker.
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| This huge grouper swam around with Gavin's dive group. |
We even saw quite a few good sized reef sharks, close to 6 feet long, and a huge school of barracuda. We circled the coral island several times, hovering around 40 feet for around 30 minutes. When we were done with the dive, I looked for my boys, but they were still out snorkeling. Lunch was being served and they had already eaten while I was diving, so I went inside and ate a surprisingly tasty lunch with a few of my new diving buddies.
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| Gavin and Ewan returning at the second site. |
Soon we set off for the third site, “New Stonehenge,” where Gavin did a second dive, and Ewan and I went on a guided snorkel swim with the ship’s marine biologist. She pointed out many interesting things, including some GIANT clams, and gently stroking one to show us how quickly they can snap closed.
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| Hard to tell scale from this pic, but these babies were at least 3-4 feet wide. |
At this site we also found Nemo! It was so exciting to spot two adorable clownish swimming in a beautiful iridescent anemone! Ewan was quite good at spotting things, and found several sea cucumbers amongst other fish. After an hour or so, the ship’s horn sounded once again and our snorkeling time was over. Sad face.
Back on board, we stripped out of our wet Lycra "rashie" suits and dried off. We grabbed a few snacks and drinks and settled in for the ride back to shore. After three dives we were tired from all of the swimming and time in the sun, and Ewan fell asleep on my shoulder.
While the passengers lazed about, the photographer worked hard for that hour and a half, as she ran around passing out tablets for people to peruse the thumbnails and select photos for purchase, then collecting money, burning photo CDs and passing them out. We purchased several, but there was no way to get them from the CD onto our computer. We’ll have to post these once we get home.
Overall the experience was absolutely everything we had hoped for and more. Once we got back to the marina, we decided to walk back to our hotel, where Ewan (big surprise) didn’t even change out of his swim trunks, but just hopped right into the swimming pool, the little fish that he is! We relaxed at the hotel, then walked to dinner around 7:00. We had another wonderful meal at an Italian restaurant called Sassi, where we were once again waited on by a friendly, International staff.
We were wishing that we had booked more time in Port Douglas and even for a brief moment considered changing our plan so we could stay longer, but decided that we should stick to our plan of heading to Cairns the next morning.
What an experience of a lifetime!
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