Great Barrier Reef snorkel trip

Today began with a 90 minute boat ride out to one of the 3000 individual reefs that make up the GBR. The ride out was choppy to say the least and nearly everyone on board were throwing up. Not me though, I just tucked into the free Danish pastries and tried to ignore the sound of people heaving and yacking up 🤢!
The boat arrived at a platform that sat next to a reef so snorkellers could enter the water easily down a large set of steps. I got into a wetsuit and grabbed my flippers, mask and snorkel then made my way into the water. I'm not a strong swimmer and so when I looked down into the choppy sea I lost any confidence I had that I could do this. The depth here was at least 60ft - staright down into the dark blue. One of the friendly guides saw me holding onto the steps for dear life and gave me some encouragement and tips for relaxing. I thought to myself I hadn't come all this way to hold on to the edge and so I just relaxed and went with it. The swim to the actual reef was about 40ft over the deep water but then, at the reef, it was only about 4ft deep. The difficulty here was managing the swell and chop of the sea - initially, I was in a state of constant panic that sea water would flood my snorkel. This soon went and I found myself enjoying the experience of drifting over a pristine coral reef. Annoyingly, my phone wouldn't respond to my touch in the water after my first video (which happened to be the part of the reef with the least fish and coral 🤬). A bit further out was just awesome with so many fish that I didn't know where to look. I've kept marine fish over the years and I've got pretty good knowledge of GBR species, so it was magical for me to see these type of fish in their natural environment. I saw damsels, wrasse, tangs, rabbitfish, foxfaces, butterfly fish, sweetlips, angelfish and, incredibly, a pair of stunning Moorish Idols. I've added some pics of some of these types of fish for reference (gutted I couldn't get some of my own) . Once I got confident in the water I didn't want to get out but my legs were knackered constantly swimming against the waves pushing me backwards and forwards 😂. Of all the amazing things I've done on this trip, this was the most special and I'll never forget it.Read more