A must-do in Cairns is to snorkel or dive the Great Barrier Reef. Every single person I met was doing it, so I thought it worthwhile. I booked this solo through the hostel.
It was an all-day event. A bus picked me up at the hostel and took me to the harbor at 7 am. The tour boat company put me at a table with other solo bookers, which was nice. My new friends were French, English, German, and Maltese. The French girl was super giggly and laughed at everything I said, even though it wasn’t funny, but because she couldn’t understand my English.
I had the option of diving but chose not to. It’s not something I’m interested in because I like having control and freedom, and diving is the opposite of that. I am also a tad bit claustrophobic, so the whole thing sounded unenjoyable. I may try it someday, but not on a whim on holiday. So I snorkeled instead, which was completely fine.
The reef lived up to expectation, and I got to witness a plethora of fish and coral displaying a wide range of colors. Brain coral was pretty cool, but my favorite was this blue-ish coral that I don’t know the name of. Photos were an insane price of $30 AUD per photo, and I didn’t purchase.
On the ride back, we eat and drank cheese and wine, and it was a brilliant finish to a well-spent day out at sea.
🐠
