March 11 – Great Barrier Reef

March 11, 2016 – Great Barrier Reef
We found out yesterday that the catamaran that we will be sailing on will have about 250 other people on it. The ride to the pontoon island took 1 1/2 hours. At one point, we passed through a rain storm. Those of us snorkeling opted to rent lycra suits (think thin wetsuit) to protect us from jellyfish stings. The island had an included buffet lunch and bar. When we got there we all suited up, got masks, and went right in the water. Big mistake. Everyone decided to this. The water was a little murky but also very crowded.
The current was very strong and I fought against it for 25 minutes before going back in. During that time I saw only coral. As I was resting 2 others from my group came in and said they’d seen fish right at the starting ledge. So back in and I saw 2 Nemo fish. Back out of the water, I had my lunch. Troy told me where he saw an anemone on some coral. So I went in for a third time. This time I saw many more fish and coral and the area was less crowded. As I got out of the water they announced they were going to start feeding fish. All of a sudden there were many fish right where I’d been swimming.
I took a 20 minute trip on the semi-submersible viewing boat. We saw many fish and types of coral. At 3pm, they did a head count and we headed back.
Only one picture since my camera is not waterproof.
Tomorrow we go to Daintree Rainforest for a hike.