THE GREAT BARRIER REEF

June 25, 2025 Steve Carr Australia 499 comments

**Big Lines to Checkin At Down Under Dives**

We booked a Full Day Reef Cruise and a ten-minute Helicopter Scenic Flight with a highly-rated, family-run operation called Down Under Cruise and Dive. Captain Day and the can-do crew of the Fast Cat EVOLUTION were total bangers and gave us the trip of a lifetime. The Great Barrier Reef does the heavy lifting, of course, but having great guides was a wonderful bonus.

**Captain Day at the Helm on the Way Out**

It took 1.5 hours to get out to the Outer Great Barrier Reef from the Reef Terminal at the Cairns Marina complex. We had ideal conditions with a flat sea. As we slowly motored out of the narrow channel leading to the Coral Sea, spotty, isolated rain curtains were drifting across the silver water like grey cloud screens. Several of the larger ones resembled thermonuclear mushroom clouds. Once outside the mile-long shipping channel, we caught a rainbow and turned north toward the reef.

Our ship could hold 200 tourons, but they limited it to 160, which was still a lot of people. But there were three decks, with air conditioning on the first two, and a bar, so it was easy to spread out. The time went quickly because they were constantly filling our heads with helpful tips about seasickness pills and where we could vape or smoke on the boat (outside and only when the boat was moving). I never saw anyone smoking.

They had the whole excursion down to a science. First, we filled out safety forms and were given our all-important “Safety Number”, which was how they kept track of us. Then we got our fins and mask, which we put in our cage lockers on the fantail. After that, they fed us some baby muffins with coffee and tea. When the safety briefing ended, about thirty minutes into the voyage, we were free to roam the ship.

There are several thousand reefs within the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem, covering 2,500 kilometers. Just to the north of where we were is a place called Cape Tribulation, and it is the only place on earth where two World Heritage sites meet—the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest.

Each coral reef rises toward the surface like a rocky, psychedelic ledge and is about the size of a golf course (.8 square miles). They are only a few feet deep and are surrounded by deep blue water and sheer drop-offs. Every reef has been named. One was named Ribbon Reef by the crew of the International Space Station because that’s what it looked like from deep space. But here’s the wildest thing: all of the individual reefs are collectively part of the largest living, breathing, and constantly evolving marine organism on earth.

**Flying Above Hastings Reef With Our Boat in the Background**

Corals go through periods of decline and growth, and have been around for millions of years. And while the warming of the oceans and the occasional cyclone have caused extensive damage over time, coral reefs are very resilient. Climate change may bleach them, and stormy seas can smash them apart, but they are extremely hard to kill. When we humans are gone, the coral reefs will probably still be here.

We arrived at Saxon Reef a little after 10, and we snorkeled around the back of the boat with the scuba divers for about two hours. It was like nothing else I had ever seen.

I especially liked the amazing variety of little fishes and their often weird behavior. At times, there were so many darting about that it looked like confetti. And there was one large turquoise and purple fish with a flat mouth that just kept slamming into the coral columns, mouth first, for no apparent reason. And there were these silver and blue fish that jumped around each other so fast they were a blur until they came together slowly and kissed. And many little fish were constantly harassing the bigger fish whenever they tried to snag some algae or plankton off the coral. I could have watched the reef fish show forever.

Down Under pays the Australian government to lease anchor buoys on Saxon and Hastings Reefs. This eliminates competition between the tour companies for the best parking places. They pay for private parking, and in return, they help caretake the two reefs in partnership with the Coral Reef Nature Program.

They send their divers down to remove Drupella, a snail that eats the coral. They also maintain eight nurseries on Hastings Reef. And they outplant the baby corals onto sections of the reef that have been damaged.

The Great Barrier Reef is divided into multiple zones. Some are off-limits. Others are for fishing. Some are just for scientific research. Both of the Down Under reefs are designated as Green Zones, which means you can’t touch, take, or deposit anything on the reef. Our guides were regularly reminding us of these three cardinal rules.

At noon, we left Saxon Reef and headed over to nearby Hastings Reef, where we went snorkeling for another hour.

We also booked a ten-minute Nautilus helicopter ride over Hastings Reef, where we got an amazing perspective on the extent of the reef and marveled at how there were chains of reefs extending north to south as far as the eye could see. We also saw Loggerhead and Hawksbill turtles and a few solitary sharks.

Words fail when trying to describe the Great Barrier Reef. You can give all the corals cool names, like staghorn or organ pipe. And you can refer to them as colonies, gardens, and soft or hard corals. But that’s like learning the names of stars. What touched my heart and soul was how something that looks like a rock from afar is actually this wavy, velvet-like critter that endlessly flutters and fans the water like it’s dancing. It was absolutely mesmerizing.

For almost all my adult life, I have listened to people go on and on about the Great Barrier Reef with almost religious zeal. I had no doubt it was a very special place, but I couldn’t wrap my head around exactly what it was. I mean, if someone tells you that you should visit the Grand Canyon, you immediately understand that it’s a really big canyon. But what, pray tell, is the Great Barrier Reef? Sure, it’s a great reef. But why is it a barrier? What the hell is it blocking? And is there a great reef somewhere that isn’t a barrier? These questions sort of dulled my interest. I had snorkeled around some pretty nice coral reefs in the Caribbean and Mexico. I figured the one in Australia was just bigger than most.

It took me 71 years to finally float above just two out of the thousands of reefs that make up the Great Barrier Reef to finally get it. It’s the very essence of Australia. It is the guardian and the barrier that keeps a whole continent safe and happy. Without it, Australia would wither away. And unlike all those other freaks of nature, like Niagara Falls or Mount Everest, the Great Barrier Reef is an animal. It’s not a thing or a place. I knew instinctively the second I swam over and through it that I was in the presence of the supernatural. And I will never be the same again.