| Product: |
The Great Barrier Reef |
| Date: |
08/05/08 (309 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Natural Outstanding Beauty
Disadvantages: remote, expensive
For my 50th review on Dooyoo, I wanted to write about something very special. Whilst I dabble in other reviews, travel reviews are what I like the best and whilst I have a number of reviews in the pipeline, it seems very appropriate that this review is about The Great Barrier Reef. I hope you enjoy the review as much as I enjoyed the experience......
They say it is the only living thing that can be seen from space.
They say it is the largest living thing on Earth.
They say it is an area of outstanding Natural Beauty.
I am not too sure about the first two claims, but whoever they are, they are absolutely spot on about the last.
***Background***
There is some dispute as to how big The Great Barrier Reef ("GBR") is but it is somewhere between 2300-2600 km long and consists of between 2700-2900 individual reefs and 900 islands. Each individual reef is made up of billions of individual coral polyps between 3-50mm in size and colony sizes between 75mm-1500mm. As each polyp dies, new growth starts on top of it building the size of the colony and the GBR is around 600,000 years old although the modern reef started growing on the older reef platform around 20,000 years ago. This is relatively young compared to other reefs around the world.
There is a wide diversity of life living within the reef, some of which are rare or endangered. You are likely to encounter some of the 1500 species of fish, 5000 species of mollusc, 400 species of coral, 30 species of whales, 6 species of sea turtle as well as sea snakes, birds, seagrass, dolphins, sharks, porpoises as well as a whole range of other living things.
It is situated just off the Queensland coast in North East Australia from around 250 miles north of Brisbane to the tip of Cape York Peninsular (the pointy thing on a map in the top right hand corner of Australia). A huge area covering nearly 350,000 square kms.
It is one of the seven natural wonders of the world, became a World Heritage site in 1981 and has been part of The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park since 1975 and attracts over 2 million visitors pa.
***Getting There**
Given the sheer length of the reef then there are literally dozens of places on the mainland you can travel to and use as a base for your trip. The likelihood is that a trip to the GBR will be done as part of a trip to somewhere else (or vice versa) for example a trip to Cairns to visit Cape Tribulation/Daintree (another World Heritage site) and Atherton Tableland can be used to also have a trip out to the GBR.
If traveling from outside Australia you can fly direct to Cairns/Brisbane and take in the GBR from there. I am not going to cost out flights to Australia as they change daily but there are a large number of carriers and flights can be got for as little as £700 return. One point to note if booking from outside Australia is to ask your travel agent for free internal flights as these are often thrown into the equation or sold cheaply. Internal flights within Australia when booking in Australia are very expensive so any travel arrangements should be done before arrival.
The reef itself is between 40-80 miles offshore (there are actually two reefs in places named the Inner & Outer reefs. The Inner reef is nearer the coast and the Outer reef out to sea). Unless you are staying on an island and can toddle down to the beach to see the Inner reef you will also have a 90 minute boat ride or seaplane journey to get to the Outer reef.
***Things to Do***
I have actually done three trips to the Great Barrier Reef in three different ways from two different starting points and this review is to cover my experience of these trips but note there are dozens of other options available.
Trip one - from Airlie Beach by sailboat
Airlie Beach is said to be the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef given its proximity approximately halfway down (or up) the reef. It exists purely as a tourist centre and is serviced by Proserpine Airport (circa 60 minutes away) as well as road. It is an area that looks totally misplaced given it was only set up to give tourists access to the reef as well as access to the Whitsunday Islands and is just a mass of bars, restaurants, tourist shops, gift shops, scuba outlets and places to book trips out to the reef for an immeasurable number of operators.
We had booked on-line a one night stop over at Sunlit Waters apartments which cost around £40 for a double room and was clean, great location and excellent value for money www.sunlitwaters.com. The plan (this was in November) was a one night stop over then three days/two nights sailing around the Whitsundays and out to the reef on the Avatar (www.airliebeach.com/sailing-adventures/sports) a trimaran that generates tremendous speeds and which was a different way of seeing the reef and one which we fancied. It was a bit of a luxury though as this cost around £200 per person and was booked in advance on-line. The experience of doing it this way was worth every penny though as you get to meet other like minded people (21 in all plus crew).
When we set off the weather was gorgeous although within an hour it had turned terrible with high winds and lashing rain. As a result the itinerary had to be changed as the weather was not fit enough and we had to detour to Hamilton Island on the first night to dock in the marina. Despite the weather two friends of ours who had not put sun cream on due to the clouds got serious sunburn and had to get off the boat on Hamilton Island for treatment. As a result of this detour the trip to the Outer Reef would no longer go ahead as there was simply not enough time to sail there and back in the remaining time. This would later turn into a blessing in disguise.
The next two days were generally clear but the first days weather had stirred up the sand so the waters were not very clear. The beauty of being in a boat was we could largely go where we wanted and the crew were very accommodating in this regard and over these two days we stopped off around 6 times at various points to get out and snorkel with the fish and see the coral.
The trip was fantastic although the experience of actually seeing the reef was somewhat under-whelming and I was left feeling very disappointed in a "is that it" kind of mood. I had been seduced by picture perfect post cards and National Geographic documentaries and was positively drooling at the prospect of diving into turquoise coloured seas, seeing coral of all colours and marine life swimming up to me for a closer look. The reality could not have been further from the truth with murky water, coral of various shades of gray and the odd tiddler swimming in the other direction. The site of a great white devouring one of the crew would have been a welcome bit of excitement at this stage.
One memorable stop off was at Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island. This is 7km long and pure white made from 98% silica (which is great for cleaning jewellery apparently) and is simply a stunning piece of natural beauty. We were surprised here by a 4ft monitor lizard walking down the beach but in the rush to get the camera it scuttled off into the undergrowth.
Trip two - from Airlie Beach by seaplane
When we got back to Airlie Beach and met up with our friends (who had of course missed out on seeing any coral) they didn't believe that we hardly saw anything and certainly nothing with any colour in it and as a result had been making some enquiries to fly to the Outer Reef the day after and did we fancy it. Well we had come all this way so why not and this was the second trip out to the reef and a totally different experience to the first one.
We managed to book four seats with Air Whitsunday Seaplanes, Reef Adventure (circa £100 per person) and departing from Whitsunday Airport near Airlie Beach. This was booked direct with them on the phone at the time but can be booked on-line here www.airwhitsunday.com.au. Out of interest there is a video clip on the front page of this web site which gives you a feel for the trip. There were only six people plus pilot on the flight and from taking off you immediately saw so much more than we saw three days on a boat. It was actually fantastic to see many of the places we had sailed to including flying straight down Whitehaven beach which we had been stood on the day before. The true beauty of this flight though and the sight that justified every single penny of the cost was the first view of the Outer reef and specifically Bait Reef, Hardy Reef, Heart Reef & Hook Reef which we flew over and which nestles off the East Coast of Whitsunday Island, about 40 miles away. From a distance you could see the different blue/greens of the shimmering water and the reef below it and at low tides some of the reef is exposed above the water. It was a truly mesmerizing sight and even the pilot said he was transfixed every time he saw it. The first view of Heart Reef was truly awe inspiring, a near heart shaped reef in the middle of all this beauty. Despite it's beauty and the crystal clear water it is also clear that the vibrant colours I was expecting to see were not apparent with no evidence of any brilliant reds or yellows although the pure beauty of what I was seeing made this a minor inconvenience.
We then landed near the reef on a special pontoon that is moored there and spent 90 minutes looking through the glass bottom and snorkeling. It really was an eerie place as there was absolutely no noise other than the soft lapping of waves against the pontoon. The water was millpond still with no wind. Here the water was much clearer than the experience on the boat although sadly there was indeed a lack of brilliant colours and it would appear that good camera work in the brochures enhances the reality. There were a lot more fish here that simply enveloped you when you went in, especially the Sargeant Major fish that came up to kiss your mask.
Finally, the trip back gave us a last glimpse of the reef from the air and we strained our necks looking at it until it was too far in the distance. Without the seaplane trip I think I would have left feeling cheated. The view from the air gave a different perspective on it and whilst there is nothing better than actually being in the water, the snorkeling, once seen from above, seemed so much better.
When we finished we realised that if part of the boat trip had not been cancelled then we probably would not have done the seaplane trip and this was a journey we were mightily relieved not to miss out on.
Trip three - from Hamilton Island by boat
This trip was in December when we stayed on Hamilton Island for three days. On this trip there was around 15 in our party and the vast majority wanted to go out to the reef so we booked through the hotel a trip out to Reefworld via Fantasea (http://www.fantasea.com.au/Reefworld/). You can pre book on-line and the cost is around £100 adults/£45 children. You go out to the reef on a large boat which takes 90 minutes and once at Reefworld (where you are at for around 3 hours) you are free to do whatever you like. Reefworld is a huge pontoon permanently anchored at Hardy Reef (or just on he edge of it) and offers snorkeling, scuba diving, submarine trip with glass walls, viewing platforms - it is set up to give you the maximum experience in a short space of time and whilst enjoyable, it was a bit of an anti climax as it offered nothing I had not seen before and I think the previous seaplane trip we did spoilt us. It was totally commercial with probably 100 people on it so it's just a hustle and bustle to do things whereby our previous trips had been relatively serene. One thing it did offer differently was that there was a 4 foot Mauri Wrasse fish that lived under it and was used to people so whilst snorkeling it would simply swim between everyone.
After our final visit there I read that during November & December the coral spawns and this can cause the water to go murky. This explains why the water wasn't crystal clear in places.
***Environmental Issues***
Of course being a Natural Heritage sit as well as part of The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park demands a certain amount of environmentally friendly actions as well as steps to preserve the reef. It was clear that the staff are very protective of the reef with regular notices/warnings not to step on the coral and only a few places you can actually snorkel or dive.
Conservation is high on the average Australian's psyche given they grow up with the message and wherever I have been in Australia this message is hammered home and the Great Barrier Reef is no different. Whilst catering for over 2 million tourists per annum this is not the main threat to the reef and every effort is taken to minimize this impact. It would appear the main threats to the reef are items such as climate change whereby any drastic water temperature increases can kill the coral and also effect marine life that has to move away to source food thereby affecting the food chain on the reef. When it comes to global warming I have no idea who to believe because from a layman's point of view who cannot say that the reef has experienced significant climate change already in it's history and replenished itself. One of our guides also said that the reef already has temperature swings of 4 degrees pa anyway and so a 1 degree increase in global temperatures should not affect it but who knows for sure?
The crown-of-thorns starfish is also a major predator as it feeds on coral polyps and can wipe out vast areas of reef. This is apparently a cyclical event and we can only surmise has been going on for thousands of years and again the reef has recovered.
The various pontoons moored throughout the reef are actually anchored outside the reef and not directly over it so do not appear to be causing any damage to the reef at all.
***Conclusion***
This is a must see attraction if you are in North Eastern Australia and there is a huge choice of where to go from on the mainland and companies to go with/places to book so shop around.
I am sure there are other reef systems around the world that offer anything the GBR has got but the sheer size, options available and world famous notoriety the Barrier Reef has will undoubtedly continue to draw tourists in their droves for many years to come.
If you are thinking of going to the Great Barrier Reef then stop thinking and go. It is an experience you will never forget.
Also posted on Ciao with pictures.
Summary: A review of The Great Barrier Reef, Australia
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