SCUBA Diving at the Great Barrier Reef

Flynn Reef, The Great Barrier Reef
Off the coast of Cairns, Australia

First Dive: 57Ft/45Mins
Dive Sites: The Flats & Boulders
Second Dive: 42Ft/47Mins
Dive Site: Gordon's Mooring & Tennis Courts

Awesome dives with #SILVERSWIFT though getting to the dive site was totally another story. Very rough seas (the roughest I have ever been to!). Diving the GBR post summertime is not for the faint of hearts😩

Great visibility! Saw lots of large pelagic fish, six graceful turtles in all, sting rays, eels, and schools of jacks and sweet lips. Unfortunately, around 90% of the corals are either bleached, discolored or dead. I don't think such a massive destruction is man-made though but still it is both alarming and disappointing.

SILVERSWIFT crew and service far exceeded our expectation. They are very well organized, staff were friendly, polite, extremely helpful and considerate, especially most of the pssengers were sea sick (including me!😩😩). Snacks were plentiful and food choices for the lunch buffet were superb. A bit pricy compared to other GBR operators but definitely recommendable.

The vessel was enormous and today almost half full at 46 slots filled out of its 85 capacity. At times during the travel to the reef, Silverswift hammered and pounded thru the giant waves, I felf and it certainly sounded like it would disassemble itself any moment 🤣. But boy that vessel was tough! We reached Flynn Site at the outer reef and did our two dives at different mooring areas. There were 18 divers grouped according to experience among 3 divemasters. The rest of the joiners snorkeled around the bay-like snorkel sites.

We were back to Cairns at 4:30pm and the crew lined up outside to bid us goodbye.

Finally, I could say that my dive trip to earth's largest reef structure was remarkable. The whole experience itself from preparation of this trip to surviving the jaggiest and bumpiest of sea ride to reach the great barrier reef was worth remembering. It may not be one of the best dives (or dive sites) I had over the last 8 yrs of diving but hey, it's a tick off my bucket list just the same☺️.