Watson's Beach

The morning started early with a hike up to the summit of Lizard Island to Cook’s Lookout. Captain Cook climbed up here to get away from his broken ship troubles and to scout a way out of the Reef. He found a good way, but hadn’t brought navigation tools to mark the route. So he ended up missing his planned route out, once the ship was repaired, yet still slipped through safely elsewhere. The hike up was strenuous , but the views at the top and the emerging flowering plants were well worth it!

After a ‘second breakfast’ (like Hobbits!) the divers suited up and went out with the dive master, Robbie. Darryl was under the weather and sat out the dive, and Diane’s air tank valve sprung a leak after 10 minutes, ending her dive. There was still plenty of air, and we were in shallow water, so not a big concern. Diane switched to snorkeling , while Nance continued the dive with the other diver in our group.

Around lunchtime we set sail for another part of the Reef, called the Ribbon reefs. Darryl wanted more time to get over his cold, so Diane and Nance went with a family of 3 and dive master Robbie. Again, there were many coral formations to see, and some royal blue sea stars with long arms. We were down at around 35 feet for about half an hour. We felt like we were still working on our technique and getting used to the sensation of breathing underwater for extended periods.

Overall, temperatures have been pretty comfortable both day and night—probably in the low 70s—a little less wind would be nice. Sometimes the sailing is a little rough, but Dramamine has been working for all of us. The nights have been too cloudy to do any more stargazing. The other passengers are friendly and the crew are great.Read more