Talllarook

When we arrived at the ParrotFish Lodge in Port Douglas on Wednesday night we were planning to go snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef the next morning. We did a quick email check and saw that our trip had been cancelled. Umm.. it was now about 9pm and we wanted to get our snorkel on. Jason, the ever so helpful hostel owner said he would pull some favors for us and did his magic. He got us booked on the Tallarook, a 90ft sailing yacht. We weren't sure if this was a good or bad idea as there seem to be two choices of snorkeling boats - small or cruise ship huge.

We went to the Marina the next morning and here is the scene - a beautiful yacht with a crew of 5, jack Johnson music playing on board and the crew telling us that there will only be about 20 people for the trip. Fantastic. Small boat definitely the way to go.

It took about two hours to get out to Tongue Reef. The water was a collection of brilliant blue and green hues and we motored/sailed past the highest peak in Queensland.

We all lounged on the boat and got our snorkel briefing. The snorkeling was amazing. Fantastic bright colors, tons of fish. We found Nemo, Dory and the whole gang. At points we were only about 1 meter from the reef and I had a bit of panic that a flipper would hit part of the reef and destroy countless years of growth.

This was an amazing experience. We went out for about 2 hours of snorkeling. On the first round, the crew worked on lunch and we were treated to a major food spread.
The second round of snorkeling was completely different. The current was strong, the colors seemed less vibrant but still amazing. What I did notice on the second time was the sun breaking through the water and seeing the individual rays cutting through the water and hitting the ocean floor. So cool.

For our first snorkeling trip I went off the area at the back of the boat pretty much even with the water and kind of eased my way in. On the second trip. I jumped off the deck of the boat. About 15 feet to the water with my flippers on and mask in hand.

I gotta confess, when I was a little kid I used to play "Jacques Costeu" in our backyard pool by flipping off an inner tube and pretending to explore the ocean. No more pretending, this was the real thing!