“I dove in The Great Barrier Reef,” is a prestigious statement that only a select few lucky people in the world can say is true. Well, all 3 of our divers passed their open water certification and are now part of the population that can say this statement. While I, unfortunately, was not one of the divers, I still had an amazing 2 days out on the reef snorkeling with everything under the sea. On our arrival to Fitzroy Island, where we would dive or snorkel for 2 days and spend the night at the beach resort on the island, we immediately got suited up to hit the water right off the shore of Fitzroy. The reef is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. The intense and vibrant colors of the coral and even the fish were unbelievable. And the clarity of the water only added to the experience. Among the long list of sea creatures we saw were Nemo fish in anemone and a spotted eagle ray. The snorkelers were even able to visit the turtle rehabilitation center on the island and got a behind the scenes tour to pet one of the turtles too. That night, we were able to treat ourselves to a lovely dinner at the resort’s restaurant and reflect on the last three months. Let’s just say that that night we all slept soundly in the resort’s push accommodations. Our second and final day on the reef was spent on a boat on the outer reef. We got to complete our diving certifications or just have fun snorkeling around. We got to swim with the sea turtles and some of us even spotted a reef shark. I think that I speak for everyone when I saw that The Great Barrier Reef did not disappoint. I had been looking forward to this chapter of the trip and it still exceeded my expectations. Fitzroy Island definitely provided the small escape we needed at this point in the trip. I think we all wanted to spend more time in the reef exploring and finding all the creatures and coral we could find, but Prema Shanti and a full week of yoga and mediation in the Dantree Rain Forest awaits us. We are so excited to enter into our final chapter of our trip. Thank you to everyone back home for giving us the opportunity to truthfully say, “I dove/snorkeled in The Great Barrier Reef!”
-Bridget