Once you get up close and personal with this great reef along with Coral Gardens which sparkles with jewel bright tropical fish, clown fishes jumping out of anemones for a peak, tucked into the coral as well as huge parrot fishes swimming by below, you know that you are in between an experience of a lifetime. You can spot rock cod that would drift lazily into the current, a double-headed wrasse slowly passing in front of them. In this blog we will discuss everything that you want to do when you are going snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef, the best time to visit this place and where to stay and what to do.
Located entirely in the state of Queensland which falls on the east coast of Australia, the Great Barrier Reef is a sight to behold. Approximately 20000 km long and 80 km wide, this Barrier Reef at many points extends from the tip of Cape York in Far North Queensland down uptil the north of the town of Bundaberg.
You can visit the Great Barrier Reef all year around. However the best time to visit this place according to the weather should be from May to November because in this time you can avoid cyclones, stinger season and also the hottest weather of Queensland.
It is also best that you avoid the time of the school holidays because many of the popular tourist towns which allow easy access to the Great Barrier Reef such as Cairns and Airlie Beach could be extremely busy at that time because the families mostly visit there enjoying a holiday. During this season, the accommodation is usually very expensive because these are one of the busiest times of the year.
Airlie Beach, Port Douglas, Townsville, Cairns and Whitsunday are some of the most popular jumping off points when you are visiting the Great Barrier Reef. You can also join a Whitsunday Islands explorer tour where you can spend many days on a live-aboard yacht which will enable you to explore the Great Barrier Reef, up and close.
If you go for the north, the water at the Great Barrier Reef becomes warmer and that will make you more comfortable if you are worried about it getting more chilly.
Make sure of one thing that whenever you are deciding to visit the Great Barrier Reef, give it at least more than a day. If you are planning to visit the reef for a day trip then at least allow yourself to stay there for 2 days to completely enjoy and experience the beauty of the place. This will give you some sort of flexibility if the weather is not that good on that particular day when you have decided to visit the reef.