Snorkeling with turtles on the Great Barrier Reef - By Hannah Lindsay

Hi, Hannah here.  So far we've had an amazing trip. One of the things I've been looking forward to most is snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. It was hard knowing it was going to be right at the end of our travels and having to wait nearly 5 months, but I've been kept  busy doing some pretty  cool things and other unexpected experiences.  Anyway finally the day arrived and it was sooo much fun and something I will never forget!

Firstly Mum wants me to tell you about the boat we picked.  She said it is quite mind boggling trying to decide which reef trip to go on, as there are so many different operators to choose from.  Our friend Leah recommended Calypso because she had recently been on one of their reef trips and had a great experience, so we decided to give them a go.  The picture of the reef above is Opal reef where the Calypso took us to.  The boat was really nice, there are a couple of pictures of it below.

Calypso have two boats that leave from Port Douglas.  We went on the one that caters just for snorkelers.  Apparently this is an advantage because they go to great snorkeling spots only, rather than having to cater for divers too.  They have a maximum of 38 on the boat so you get special treatment.  The staff were really nice and Ben and I were the only kids, so we were looked after!  The boat had 4 levels, downstairs where you put on your fins and goggles, and got into the water.  The next level up was where the food was served, and the picture below shows the 3rd level.

 Then the 4th level was my favorite, because you could lay on the banana chairs and warm up in the sun.

We are so glad Mum picked this reef trip because it was fantastic, and we loved it.

The Calypso is pretty fast, taking only an hour and 20 minutes to get to the reef. They took us to 3 different snorkel sites on the Opal Reef which is on the "Outer Reef"  We got to snorkel for an hour at each spot. The coral there was soooo amazing, bright and colourful. Also the fish.... Wow they were in so many shapes and sizes, from super small glowing blue fish to giant green fish. We could also hear the crackling sound of the Parrot fish munching on the coral with their strong beaks.

Dad and I were snorkeling partners.

There were also giant clams that really lived up to their name!! A marine biologist took a group of us on a guided snorkel and pointed out some really interesting things. One of those was something that looked like a giant boulder but it was actually alive because it had lots of pairs of hearts and lungs sticking out of it. They looked like little blue Christmas trees and when you went near them they sucked back into their holes really fast.

Below is a picture of our whole family snorkeling.  That's Ben in the front, Mums legs behind him, Dad in the background, and it looks like I'm taking a closer look at something down deep!

Lazing around and resting up between snorkel sites.

I bought a special waterproof case for my ipod touch so that I could take photos underwater here are some of them.

One of my best experiences on the reef was this....a turtle came up close to Dad and I and I got to pat it and swim alongside it. I think that it was a green turtle. It wasn't scared because it could of swum away but instead it swam with us for a few minutes. Below are some photos Dad took of me whilst swimming with the turtle.

Mum says I couldn't wipe the smile off my face the whole way back to shore.

The experience on a whole was really fun and exciting and made me want to become a marine scientist even more!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by Hannah