A couple of months ago I was sat at my desk, wrapped in a blanket, desperate for some sunshine and warmth. I spent my entire lunch break searching for cheap flights somewhere hot with great snorkelling, and after ruling out the Southern Great Barrier Reef and Northern Western Australia, I settled on Cairns and Tropical North Queensland.
I’m really happy I made the decision, as I had the most incredible weekend snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef with all the fishies!
So, ready to explore the Great Barrier Reef with me in one weekend? Let’s go!
4pm: Check-in at your hotel
I set off on my journey Saturday morning, arriving in Cairns late in the afternoon just in time to check into my hotel. Unfortunately Cairns doesn’t really do luxury as it’s a backpackers town, with the only ‘luxury’ hotels being the Shangri-La (which was fully booked), the Hilton, and the Doubletree by Hilton.
I went with the Doubletree purely because it was right on the waterfront, had an amazing-looking atrium filled with trees, and they provide guests with a free cookie when you check in. Yep, I booked a hotel for a free cookie.
Overall I was really disappointed with the hotel, it was incredibly tired and my room smelt of damp, and the wifi didn’t work the entire time I was there. Also I’m a Diamond Hilton Honors member and I didn’t get a room upgrade or late checkout. The whole hotel felt like it just needed a good clean!
Unfortunately it was fully booked for my dates, but if I went again I’d stay at Shangri-La instead.
Wake up in time for sunrise
Anywho, I checked in and had a pretty lazy evening lounging around the hotel. I had a super early morning the next day so wanted to be fully rested! I woke up at 5am to the sunrise, and it was one of the most beautiful sunrises I’ve ever seen. It made me really happy that I’d booked an oceanfront room!
Choosing a Great Barrier Reef boat tour
After getting showered and dressed I walked down to the marina where all the boats go from. I’d spent hours scouring the internet for reviews on all the boat companies, and in the end I feel I made the best decision possible!
I was travelling alone so didn’t want a huge boat filled with hundreds of people, nor did I want a boat that just went to Green Island or to a ‘pontoon’ that would be full of families and children. I also wanted a boat with space to lay in the sunshine and read a book!
Passions of Paradise new catamaran tour
I eventually chose Passions of Paradise, who have a gorgeous new catamaran that feels really luxurious. They visit two different reef sites in a day trip, and I was so impressed I’ve been recommending them to everyone since!
I paid about $170AUD (about £80) for the day trip, and it was worth every single cent. There were only about 30-40 people on board, and they provide morning breakfast of muffins and juice, an absolutely fantastic lunch spread, and then afternoon tea of meats, cheeses, crackers, and fruit.
After picking up my boarding pass from the reef terminal and finding the boat, we set out and were given a safety briefing. You also have to fill in a health and safety form, and when the staff saw I had asthma they put a coloured strip of tape around the top of my snorkel so when I was snorkelling the staff would be able to keep an eye on me.
After the briefing I found a spot on the deck to lay out, and slathered on my sunscreen before delving into the latest book I haven’t been able to put down (this one), only lifting my eyes from the pages once in a while to survey the wide open ocean before us and take it all in.
Arriving at the first reef site
A couple of hours later we arrived at the first reef site, and got ready to jump straight in! We were given a special solution to pour into our goggle to stop them fogging up, and it helped loads. I snorkelled for hours without having to worry about any fogging at all.
Passions were really good with the less confident swimmers too, once I actually get in the water I’m really confident and happy swimming in the open ocean (I actually much prefer swimming in open ocean than the water on a beach), but there were a few people on my boat who the staff took out with safety floats to make sure they were comfortable etc.
Snorkelling in the Great Barrier Reef
I swam out away from the boat towards the reef, and dipped my head below the water to be faced with an entire world not dissimilar to Atlantica in The Little Mermaid…but minus the mermaids. The array of colours were astounding, there were fish happily swimming around everyone, and I felt as though I were swimming through an aquarium. Sadly my underwater camera does the colours no justice at all – it sort of makes everything look a bit blue and bland :/
I spotted a bright green giant clam and dove down to get a closer look. As I took a deep breath and swam down towards it, the clam could feel my movement and closed up to protect itself. I was in my element under the water; I adore twirling around, using the fins to push my body further, and the feeling of freedom being underwater brings you.
Incredible vibrant colours, but also bleached coral
Snorkelling on the second reef
This second reef world was completely different to the first. It was a maze of living breathing coral, with huge structures of arches and passageways and bomies to swim through and around. It took my breath away, and I struggled to contain the emotion bubbling up inside me. I came up for air and thought how incredible it was that above the surface you could never guess what lay beneath.
I carefully snaked my body through some of the narrower sections of coral to go deeper in to investigate the different colours, shapes, and fish. Unfortunately I wasn’t lucky enough to see a turtle, manta ray, or shark, but the huge variety of technicolor fish more than made up for it. It’s amazing how quickly the time flies by when you’re in another world trying to look closely at every little thing!
I got injured by the reef!
I had a bit of an incident at the second reef, it was super shallow and the tide was really strong, and when cruising near the surface the tide pushed me backwards into a large chunk of coral! I wasn’t bleeding so ignored the pain and kept swimming, assuming the seawater would help it.
Then I dove down to check out a big fish and my ear popped sending a searing pain through my entire head – I’d gone too deep too quickly, and a few days later after days of not being able to hear out of my left ear, the doctor announced I had Barotrauma and gave me a $60 prescription. Oops.
After the ear incident I decided it was my cue to leave the ocean in peace and make my way back to where I belong. I swam back to the boat and when the Passions staff saw my back they sloshed it down with fresh water and then poured antiseptic on it.
Turns out my back was far more scratched up than I’d thought (bit hard to see…), and I should have gone to them immediately because algae could have gotten into my bloodstream and caused an infection. Oops #2. Luckily all was ok and it healed up within a week!
Dinner at Dundee’s in Cairns
I was going to be good and not have dessert, but then they brought round a dessert platter and I had three. Yeh. Three. To be fair it was a dessert platter so they were mini desserts…but still. Three.
PIN FOR LATER:
Such a precious and beautiful place. I hope it stays like this forever.
We have stayed at the Hilton in Cairns and it was very disappointing. We have also stayed at both the Shangri-la and the Pullman. The Shangri-la has lovely rooms but the common areas are just like a huge warehouse. The Pullman is very flash but it is also a casino so you don't get much in the way of a personalised experience. Overall I think I would opt for the Shangri-la again next time we go to Cairns. I will almost guarantee that the 'special solution' put on your goggles was Johnsons Baby Shampoo – it works brilliantly as an anti-fog. i always carry a small bottle when I go snorkeling.
We have stayed at the Hilton in Cairns and it was very disappointing. We have also stayed at both the Shangri-la and the Pullman. The Shangri-la has lovely rooms but the common areas are just like a huge warehouse. The Pullman is very flash but it is also a casino so you don't get much in the way of a personalised experience. Overall I think I would opt for the Shangri-la again next time we go to Cairns. I will almost guarantee that the 'special solution' put on your goggles was Johnsons Baby Shampoo – it works brilliantly as an anti-fog. i always carry a small bottle when I go snorkeling.
Oh wow – this is definitely one of my dream trips (although after a mini coral scratch on my knee in the south Pacific, I am ouching in sympathy for your back)
I stayed at the Double Tree also (for a work event), and agree that it could do with some work. The free cookie may have been the highlight! Love your underwater photos 😉
I love the underwater shots!!
Ooooof that coral incident sounds like all my worst fears come true (when I was younger I was tricked into believing that if you have a coral scratch, the infection would host parasites and a piece of coral would grow INSIDE YOU – AND OF COURSE I BELIEVED IT)! Precarious sea life aside I'm really impressed that the Great Barrier Reef is doable as a weekend trip (I always think of it as being so faraway and exotic) – now I'm seriously wondering if I should pop over when I'm in Melbourne this December! x
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Agree with your comments re the DT, I got an upgrade but the room had ants in it! The staff were good though. I’ve also stayed at the Hilton there, and it’s much better and the location is perfect for boat trips in the day/casino in the evening!