Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef

We have officially returned our Van and taken the opportunity to sleep on a boat this time! We spent one night on a aboard the Ocean Quest to discover the Great Barrier Reef and it was amazing!

We left early in the morning, and by the time we were introduced to the team on board, met our fellow divers (some really cool people) and tried our diving gear we were at our first diving spot on Saxon reef called The Coral Garden. Our first surprise was that we could actually see the reef from the boat! It is a nice combination of blues, greens and yellows. We did two dives there and managed to see a lot of fish and of course a lot of corals. We also spotted a few sting rays, sometimes hiding in the sand and sometimes swimming, they can go very fast! The first dive was a bit overwhelming as it was the first time we dived at the same time as that many people, but by the second one we got comfortable.

After our dives we got served dinner and then it was time for "Sharks in the dark". We were told to lay flat and to hold onto a platform off the back of the boat which was lowered so we were just below water level. The captain then threw a bunch of fish food just in front of us which attracted a lot of fish and with them... sharks! They're reef sharks so not dangerous. It was cool (almost cold!) but very choppy so not very comfy, but exciting to see the sharks in feeding mode.

After all the emotions we had to try to find some sleep in our cabin. It was pretty rocky but our sea sickness tablets seemed to help, that or we were rocked asleep by the boat.

Next morning before breakfast the boat was underway to our second dive site, twin peaks and after a hearty breakfast we did two more dives. We saw some more fish and nudibranch (these are little sea slugs that can take crazy shapes). Thanks to our diving guides we saw a cuttle fish and a flowery cod. They are big but camouflage really well within the corals so difficult to spot for us!
Of course we also found Nemo 🤭
As we can't take pictures while diving we put some pictures from the internet to give you an idea!

Back on land we spend a day around Cairns in its museums and art galleries. It's a very cute little town with a very laid back vibe, lots of nice restaurants, coffee shops and cafes. Think we may well need to come back one day to see more of the Reef and Cairns seems like a great place to do it from.Read more