My last few posts, including this one, have been published out of sequence, and not for any other reason than I’ve literally been doing so much over the last few days that I don’t quite know what to share first! 😂 Anyway, today (Wednesday, December 10th), I swapped my originally planned excursion – Wavedancer; Low Isles – for a trip on Silversonic, destination: the Great Barrier Reef.
🤔 Writing a travel blog is trickier than I’d imagined – especially with an itinerary that literally has so much crammed into such a short time!
The Low Isles are also part of the Great Barrier Reef and are supposed to be really beautiful, but around this time last year (from December 13th to December 28th, 2023), Tropical Cyclone Jasper hit near Port Douglas and for almost 5 days solid, there was torrential rain! This caused massive damage to the surrounding area, and the debris that washed into the sea has suffocated much of the reef around Low Isles. It still hasn’t recovered and won’t do so for many years to come; the general cleanup operation along this part of the eastern seaboard will go on for a number of years to come, too! For those who are interested, you can read more about it here.
So, after a chat with the lovely lady at reception during my check-in at Thala Beach, I decided to swap my planned excursion on Wavedancer for a trip on Silversonic, which goes to the outer part of the reef instead 😁
All Aboard
With a pick-up from Thala Beach, I headed down to the Port Douglas Marina, where, after a light breakfast consisting of sourdough toast and coffee, I made my way onboard with my fellow travellers at the allotted time. Today, we quite literally had the perfect conditions for an awesome day of exploration 😎
Exploring the Great Barrier Reef
There are numerous dive/snorkel sites around the Cairns area (see here for more details), and Silversonic makes most of its trips to those within the Agincourt Ribbon; the specific sites changing depending on the demand – i.e. more snorkelers than divers, or vice versa – and also the conditions. On this particular journey, we visited the 3 Sisters, Blue Wonder and Helms Deep.
Because I mainly spent my time snorkelling, I did not take many pictures – at least not with the camera on my phone. The boat was also quite full of young ladies et al in swimwear, so I felt that taking photos onboard would not have been appropriate either. I did, however, hire some waterproof GoPro equipment, and there is footage – like that below – taken using it. Thankfully, most of it’s of the actual Great Barrier Reef and not of me looking like a total loon! 😂
Even out here in the depths of the ocean, you can’t get away from the “Jellyfish of Doom”, so suiting up in an anti-stinger suit was a must; I confess I’ve never really felt that I look good in Lycra, but there you go! 🤷🏻♂️
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