QLD - Airlie Beach: Pontoon Snorkel

Our first tour that we booked saw us getting up really early for our 7.20am bus to Shute Harbour. This proved very difficult as it was luxury sleeping in a bed :)

We got on our Fantasea boat which then took us out to Hardy Reef. Evelyn was very sure to take sea-sick tablets before boarding so as to not ruin this experience, and Marc did as well, just in case ;) The boat was once again a fairly big affair and there were between 100-150 people on tour today - it was probably 50/50 split between divers and snorkelers, and with the pontoon being so big, you didn't really notice the crowds. We finally arrived at the pontoon after a few hours at sea, which was perched right on the edge of the reef cliff, where it dropped down to about 30mtrs.

Our first experience on the pontoon was looking down into the viewing hole, where there was a massive 2mtr long groper - this baby was big, and thankfully harmless ;)

We booked ourselves on a few adventures on the way to the pontoon. It wasn't too long before our first when we went on a snorkel tour. We had to wear some very fetching lyrca stinger suits, which Marc says shows off all the wrong bulges;) In a group of 7 , we held onto a rubber ring and whilst we looked down into the underworld, our guide pulled us along and talked to us about the millions of different fish we could see. The little sergeant majors were the first on the scene and they followed us everywhere. We soon realised why, when the wrasse appeared. Peggy is about 1 mtr long, and gives a bit of a fright when you first see her. She is aptly named as she knows exactly where our guide keeps the fish food, and headbutts the rubber ring to get some nibbles. Whilst she's doing this you get to stroke her chin - how cute ;)

When we arrived at the reef shelf we got to see a really large clam, they come in so many different colours and when frightened they close up really tightly - which we got to see. We also got to see a few anemones and nemo, and the guide also gave us a bit of coral to touch

After our guided snorkel, we went freestyle, picking up the spaghetti buoyancy aid so we didn't have to work as hard to stay afloat. There was a rope running along the side of the reef, so we could follow this safely and avoid damaging the reef. We saw loads more colourful fish, reef, clams, etc.

The best sighting was when Marc spotted a reef shark in the depths below so called Evelyn over - this gave Evelyn quiet a fright once she spotted it, but as it was about 20-30 mtrs below she caught her breath back. Unfortunately as Marc was telling Evelyn about the shark, some girls overheard and started to panic a bit - it was quiet funny actually as we couldn't make out if they were crying or having fits of giggles ;)

Once we were done watching the shark we decided to head back to the pontoon for the main event, picking up a bit of speed along the way, naturally...

After a bit of lunch, we took our helicopter ride. This was a 5 seater and like something you see in the 80s cops shows, flying over LA looking for the bad guys. It was a surprisingly smooth flight and we got a great view of the reef. It was coming to low tide as well, which made it even better for us to see the wonderful colours. Even from up here we caught sight of manta rays and turtles, and the romantic heart shaped reef.

Thankfully, we still had time to go down to the underwater viewing chamber. The viewing chamber didn't really offer too much after snorkeling, and as the visibility wasn't great you couldn't see very deep. So we headed for the sub, which took us really close to the reef. In fact, it took us too close as the driver hit the reef on a couple of occasions which we were a bit annoyed about. We pay the money to see the reef in its glory, not to see it destroyed by a careless driver. It's this kind of thing which is damaging the reef and the habit of all this marine life. Still, the commentator was equally distressed and radioed the driver immediately to warm him, and hopefully he got a bit of a bollocking after!! The ride itself was pretty good, and gave us a chance to see the reef and fish without getting our feet wet. Snorkeling is better though.

We'd definitely recommend this tour to everyone as it is so much better than Cairns, with so much more colour on the reef, and the 'copter was very cool.