What a pleasure it was to recently treat myself to three days and two nights on the beautiful Great Barrier Reef. It’s not often that I myself get to frolic with the fishies, as I am usually stuck in the shop. But having made the New Years resolution to spend more time at the reef, I promptly boarded Scubapro with 34 other brave and adventurous souls last weekend and eagerly anticipated diving the Ribbon Reefs. We were lucky enought to have very light winds and more than 20 metres visibility. The marine life was plentiful and we observed flatworms, nudibranchs, and a ferocious puffer fish (also known as a star gazer), which gave me shock when it came quickly at me to defend its coral hole. Needless to say it gave the others who witnessed my reaction to the fish a good chuckle.
Divers aboard other dive vessels were also treated to the incredible reef life. On a recent night dive on ScubaPro, certified divers spied a sleeping reef octopus. The chameleon showed its best trick as it blended beautifully with the corals it was hiding in. At the Whale Bommie, just qualified divers came across a young sleeping leopard shark, slipper lobster, and a spectacular lionfish. At Upolo Reef, Passions of Paradise also saw a reef shark and three large black tipped reef sharks.
Steve Williams, resident marine biologist on Cairns Spirit, commented on the many new fluffy birds nesting with their mothers on Vlasoff Cay. The cay was crowded with hundreds of birds coming and going, looking for food for their newly hatched offspring. Perry also made mention of the odd spotted ray hanging around the shallow sandy waters of the cay. He estimates approximately 25 metres visibility, and improving.
Dive Instructor Steve onboard OceanQuest claimed 10-15 metres visibility at Norman Reef, with conditions vastly improving as the winds died down. The conditions should remain fine with loads of sunny days and very light north to southeasterly breezes. It is anticipated that the breezes should remain at a steady 10 knots until the end of the holidays.
Skipper Dave onboard Seadancer raved about conditions lately. Another calm sea and loads of blue sky was experienced by all towards the end of the dive trip. The weather people say we’ll have gentle 10-15 knot sea breezes and a slight chance of showers over the weekend. If you’re planning to blow bubbles this weekend keep your eyes open for the busy reef sharks and enjoy the treat!
I’m Big Irfan and I love my diving. To learn more about the incredible world of scuba diving simply check out my site diving in australia
Comments on this entry are closed.