We Found Nemo!

For those who don’t know much about the Great Barrier Reef, it is a 1,200 mile stretch of living coral that runs along the tropical northeast coast of Australia. In whole, the Reef is the same size as 70 million soccer fields, which is also roughly the same size as the UK. Today we went on a boat trip out to the Great Barrier Reef. Seeing the Great Barrier Reef was one of the coolest things we have ever done.

Early this morning we boarded a 125 foot cruise boat that took us 60 miles off the coast to Knuckle Reef, one of the 2,900 individual reefs that comprise the Great Barrier Reef. Once we got there we docked at an enormous pontoon marine base for the afternoon. (The boat is docked at the pontoon marine base in the photo below.) The marine base felt like it was in the middle of nowhere. From there, we spent the afternoon snorkeling, riding in glass-bottom boats, playing on an enormous water slide, and lounging on the viewing deck. Kristen even got a massage at the spa.

The weather out at the reef today was mostly cloudy. At one point it even clouded over completely and rained a bit on us. In a way, we felt we lucked out not getting clear weather because it meant it was not too hot. Since it is stingray and jellyfish season, we wore wet suits (for protection) as a precaution. Otherwise, we would not have wanted to wear wet suits in this warm tropical ocean water.

Seeing the Great Barrier Reef up close was truly amazing. We went on a guided snorkeling trip and saw all types of coral and sea creatures. We saw fish that were so colorful they looked fake. We saw several of the fish that the cartoon character Nemo is based on. At one point we even swam right over a baby shark. Snorkeling in this water was more fun than our past snorkeling experiences because the water is so clear here that underwater visibility was great.