Glenn and I have been in Australia now for almost 2 and a half months. This is one of the longest stretches we have stayed in another country and we will be here until October! I thought we would stay put for a month or so in a couple of places. Yet we have been moving around more than I thought we would. It is a HUGE country and there is so much to see! After Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne, we flew up to Cairns (pronounced Cans) and the Great Barrier Reef.
We have been talking about diving on this reef for a couple of years. I was here 14 years ago and did a liveaboard dive boat then. It was an extraordinary experience. I was doing Armageddon in Sydney and Adelaide and in between I booked this dive boat. I didn’t have a companion, I just went by myself to join the other folks who booked this experience. Looking back, I am proud of myself for being brave enough to do it.
The GBR is unusual. There’s an inner and outer reef which creates a very special habitat for ocean life. Much of the coastline in Australia is problematic for swimming. There are little creatures called Stingers, which are seasonal, and cause a lot of pain. And there are crocodiles, yes saltwater crocs, which are aggressive death machines. Most of the populated beaches have lifeguards or at least some safeguards like signs saying stingers or crocs are present so No Swimming.
We are here in winter which means no stingers (probably) and the crocs are hibernating (hopefully) but it’s too cold for me to want to pop into the ocean. Plus because of rivers that run into the sea, of which there are MANY, it makes the shore line murky.
The best visibility is out to the inner reef or all the way out to the outer reef which is too far for most day trips.
This is why liveaboards are so great. We can get out to the places most do not go. Crocs don’t get out that far. And it’s not Stinger season.
We actually had incredible luck with a break in the weather. It has been stormy for months. Lots of rain and high winds and waves at sea. But for our week onboard, it was sunny and very calm! So we got out to the outer reefs and to areas they usually don’t get out to but 2 x a year!
We were over 180 kilometers away from any land.
It took many hours overnight to get out to these remote dive spots. We never saw another boat on the reef at the same time.
The visibility was epic. Like glass. We could see over 50 meters. This is unreal at sea especially at depths of 20-30 meters because of lack of a lot of sunlight.
The reefs are pristine. Most of the spots we stopped at are pinnacle reefs meaning they are the tops of an underwater mountain rising thousands of meters from the bottom of the sea. While the tops could be 10-20 meters from the surface, the drop offs are epic.
We had to be REALLY aware of how deep we were drifting. The deeper you go, after about 10 meters, you sink fast. Managing buoyancy is a peak skill in diving! It’s easy to become distracted when excited about following a sea creature you dearly want to watch or film. I kept my eye on Glenn because he is getting really good at underwater video but can lose sight of us if he’s really keen on getting a shot.
The big animals are out here. Because there are very few boats, they are willing to make these areas part of their home routes.
I have never been in the water with so many sharks. I am not keen on hanging out with sharks. But I have to admit it is pretty thrilling. What we saw on this trip were black tip and white tip reef sharks and gray reef sharks. They are not interested in eating humans. They are fish eaters. Even so, one dive we went on a Sharknado experience. Our boat takes part in gray shark research and Minke whale research.
For Sharknado, they feed the sharks and count the grays, also looking for signs of health. We divers were positioned sitting in an amphitheater of rock, while the dive masters set up the feeding cage, and lead the shark counting. What it looked like to us was dozens of big assed sharks swimming around a rock outcropping where there was a cage filled with fish parts lowered from our boats dingy to a position over the top of the outcrop. The sharks were observed for about 15 minutes. It was amazing. After 5 minutes or so, I calmed down enough to just watch all of these sharks and other large fish circle the feeding cage and occasionally assert dominance over smaller sharks. I have no idea how you’d discern the difference in the sharks to count them!
At the right moment after they were done counting , one diver opened the food cage and the insanity began. Then we could see why it was called Sharknado! We have some photos we will post on Instagram @quest.retreats4nerds .
Incredible to see!
After it was over we went about the rest of our dive! Like 47* sharks weren’t cruising around us!
That was just ONE of 22 incredible dives we had on this trip.
We were diving on another pinnacle reef and I heard another dive master making some noise. I got Glenn’s attention and we both looked to where she was pointing. In the deep blue of the deepest ocean was a very large shape coming towards us. We had no idea what it was. But it was huge. As it came into view we could see it was a whale shark.
I have always wanted to see one of these incredible creatures. They are plankton eaters so not at all dangerous. They are very rare on the GBR, preferring the other side of the continent. This one swam up to me and Glenn and after looking at us kept right on going cruising back into the deep blue. It was heart stopping.
There is a video of it on our IG.
She was about 28-30 feet long. Felt bigger. I like to look up the spiritual meaning of the animals I encounter. Whale sharks are believed to bring good fortune.
Out of the 20 or so divers in the water from our boat, only 5 or 6 saw her. The whole encounter lasted maybe 45 seconds. Good fortune indeed!
On other dives we also saw 2 huge oceanic giant mantas, a lot bigger than those we see in Hawaii. And a Minke whale!
Plus, I had my octopus encounter! We were at a shallower reef bed, and I lowered myself into the sand near his garden. We watched each other for about 10 minutes and then I slowly backed away. So cool.
Diving is a very vigorous and specialized activity. I never take any safety for granted. At depth, even a small problem is serious. I am so grateful Glenn and I and our whole company on the Spirit Of Freedom came back safe from every dive.
*That’s how many were estimated to be at this Sharknado.
