"Reef Sleep" -- two days and one night spent on the Great Barrier Reef

We flew into Hamilton Island on February 14 and stayed at a hotel -- The Reef Hotel (very nice and huge -- for one night because the next morning we would be heading out early to the Great Barrier Reef.  And oh -- it was Valentines' Day, so that deserved a special dinner too.

Following is a description of our two-day trip to the Barrier Reef after we returned:

One of the highlights of our trip has now come and gone. We spent two days exploring aspects of the Great Barrier Reef, and even spent a night under the stars in a “swag” on a platform on the Great Barrier Reef.  It was all an experience of a lifetime, topped off with some rain falling in the middle of the night (thankfully, lightly).

First, a few facts about the reef.  It is 1500 miles long and quite wide (as big as Japan, folks), large enough to be seen from outer space.  At one point in time, eons ago, when the oceans were lower, it was the border of Australia, and as Australia glided slowly to the north, the waters became more temperate and the coral began to grow.  Currently, the reef is composed of roughly 2900 individual reefs and 940 islands.  The northern end is the section of the reef showing stress and deterioration due to increasing water temperatures (global warming) and water pollution.  Some experts claim that as of 2018, 50% of the reef has been lost.  Wowsers.  The area where we were – about ¼ of the way from the northern tip of the Great Barrier Reef -- is called Hardy’s Reef, and it was hit by massive Cyclone Debbie in 2017, a category 4 cyclone causing 2.67 US billion dollars damage and 14 deaths.   Much of the reef area was damaged, including the platform that was our home for two days.  Don’t worry – they rebuilt the platform.

Post cyclone, the reef has regenerated enough so that the conservancy (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority) has allowed this tourist business to rebuild its platform, build three other platforms for helicopter tours of the area, and allow tourists to come in to snorkel and scuba dive.  Apparently, part of the reason the conservancy is allowing the group to operate is because the workers are also doing scientific research in the area.  They go out for ½ hour stints, all hours of the day, to monitor fish populations in certain areas. However, the effects of all the tourists were definitely visible, and made the four of us even more concerned about the health of the reef.

If you want to see a small portion of the reef from a helicopter, look at the posting about Julie's helicopter ride.

Back to our trip -- to begin our “Reef Sleep” journey, we headed to the Hamilton Island Marina at 8:00 am.  We were given instructions, and at 9:00 a large catamaran filled with 300 tourists headed to the reef. Yes, we were surprised there were so many people, but only 12 of us were “reef sleepers”-- those who would spend the night on the reef.  The others were going to snorkel or scuba dive and then return to the Hamilton Island, leaving at 3:00 pm. We were VERY happy when they all left.

our catamaran route took us from Hamilton Island to the red circle in 

the upper right where the platform is located

The large catamaran that took us on the 2-hour journey to the reef

The catamaran docked with the platform.  The catamaran left at 3:00, 

and we were left in the splendor of the reef with only a few other people.

What was immediately noticeable was the efficiency of the crew that worked on both the platform and the boat.  One section of the platform was reserved for the scuba divers and soon all of the employees had them outfitted, on boats, and away they went.  Another large group of workers handled all the snorkelers, including us.  We all wore jelly fish suits, so we were basically covered from head to toe.  The small jelly fish here are transparent and are poisonous – probably not bad enough to kill you, but painful and requiring medical care.  The jelly fish are really more prevalent closer to the shore, but if the winds are blowing from the shore, they can be in this area too.  So the group wanted all the snorkelers to be safe.

The section for the scuba divers.

The upper deck looking over the lower deck

The section to the left was for the snorkelers

The wet suits and the jellyfish suits

There was a section for birds too.  They were migrating and were so noisy, 

they gave us ear plugs for the night-time sleep

The four of us snorkeled and found the experience to be rather unsatisfactory.  WAY too many people in the water and as a result, the fish were few and the snorkel fins in your face were plentiful.  We got out after about 25 minutes of exploring the wall of the reef, and went to partake in an excellent lunch, along with the other 312 passengers (lunch could be eaten anytime between 11 and 2).  The lunch was on the huge catamaran that took us to the platform.  The platform and the catamaran were tethered together, so people had access to both: the catamaran with the comfortable, soft seats, food, a bar, air conditioning, and bathrooms; and the platform with all of the equipment, places to enter and exit the water easily and tons of places for sun bathing or whatever.

We also took a trip in their partially submersible submarine and cruised around other portions of the reef that didn’t have any snorkelers in it.  Nice little 25-minute journey.  The other aspect of the platform was a glass-enclosure under the water, so one could see the reef and the fish without actually getting wet (sort of like the partially submersible submarine, but the submarine moved; the viewing area was stationary).

The semi-submersible submarine

We saw a lot of Schooling Hardyheads, both while snorkeling and 

from the submarine and underwater viewing area. 

We also saw a lot of Giant Trevally

and a few other odds and ends of fish types -- all pretty

We staked out a spot in the shade and waited – not too patiently -- for the masses to leave.  Finally, it was 3:00pm and they were gone.  There were 12 hearty souls who spent the night on the platform: two sisters (one from England, one from Australia), a couple from Switzerland, a couple from Germany, two young women from the Netherlands, and the four of us.

The two young women went out scuba diving, and the rest of us had the reef to ourselves for snorkeling.  It was quite wonderful looking at all the various corals – hard corals, soft corals, beached corals :-(, purple corals, blue corals, fan corals, twig corals, . . .   The coral wall was also impressive in some locations.  You would be swimming along, and the wall would appear in front of you and jog straight down many feet (not sure how deep it was in this area).   We didn’t see as many fish as Julie/Harold had seen in other locations (Belize, Mexico, Caribbean), but there were parrot fish, six-banded angel fish, Giant Trevally, little silver Schooling Hardyheads, and various other fish here and there.  We aren’t sure if there were fewer fish because of reef damage or because this was a tourist snorkeling spot – or both.  It was getting windy, and the waves were higher (unlike the smooth snorkeling earlier in the day), so we got out with the intent of going in again later in the evening when they said there would be more fish.

In the meantime, they opened up “real” showers for us, complete with hot water, and it felt good to be salt waterless from head to toe.  We went up to the top platform where our “swags” were being set up: small double-wide tents with sides that could be opened or closed, with netting or without, with canvas or without, and a double air mattress, complete with purple sheets, pillows, and pillow cases.  We really were being treated royally.  The bathrooms were down one flight on the circular stairs, so we were even given two little “torches” (flashlights to you Americans) to allow us to see when we had to get up in the night.

our abode for the night

We sat in the lounge chairs, eating appetizers, having a glass of wine or two (or in the case of the two sisters, two bottles each!), and enjoying the magnificent scene in front of us.  

We also enjoyed the glassed-in viewing room under the platform, and one of our attendants told us about the fish and the corals we could see, along with sharing information about various named fish they had grown fond of -- Maggie, in particular, who was a Maori Wrasse. Maggie was about age 7 and was in the process of changing genders from female to male.  Bathrooms are unisex for the Maori Wrasse fish, I guess.

We also got to enjoy the sun setting over the Great Barrier Reef.

At 7:00, we went downstairs for our dinner – and gourmet it was, all served at tables complete with multiple candles and tableclothes.  Kate, the leader of the group, was the head chef, and she performed wonders with the meal.

After the meal, we decided to forego the snorkeling because the waves were quite high. Happily, the huge platform didn’t have any movement.  We went back up to our tent area and viewed the beautiful skies, made even more brilliant when the crew shut off all the lights around 9:30 pm and even more brilliant when the light of the moon was no longer evident.  We could do this viewing from our comfy beds, and lying there looking up at the skies was definitely a time to savor the experience and to feel fortunate we were able to partake in it.

Then the winds started picking up.  Oh dear -- and when Julie got up to go to the bathroom during the night, a quick look at the sky confirmed that dark clouds were moving in.  She and Harold whipped into action and zipped up the canvas portion of their tents, hopefully waterproof, and listened to the wind and soon – the rain.  Yes, we stayed dry, and the gentle rain only lasted a few minutes.  We could hear other surprised guests trying to get their tents zipped up AFTER the rain started, including Gil and Deborah.  We also heard quite a bit of laughter from the two sisters in the tent next to us.  All took it in good spirits.

Morning came.  The clouds were still there at sunrise, but about ½ hour later, they cleared and we were still able to get some good pictures post-sunrise.

Kate again performed her magic in their kitchen, and we were back at our dining table with eggs made to order, bacon, fruit, juice, coffee, rolls, and everything else one needs for a hearty breakfast.  There were at least 8 workers on the platform, and they all worked very hard cleaning up after the hoards were gone and getting ready for the hoards again the next day.  They also cleaned the showers, the bathrooms, washed the floors and all their equipment, the wetsuits and the jellyfish suits.  Wow – they were hustling, and each one took a half-hour stint going into the water for the fish counting.

We had more quiet time, the two young women scuba dived again, and several of us snorkeled.  The waves were still high, however, so Julie, who is prone to sea sickness, watched.  Gil and Deborah snorkeled and indicated that Julie and Harold didn’t miss anything new.

Around 10:00 a catamaran showed up with about 100 people from a cruise ship (they were on an around-the-world cruise).  They were on "our" platform and on their boat until around 1:00 when they left.  Around 11:00, another catamaran from Hamilton Island also tethered to our boat, this one with about 100 more people. Since there was the platform and two huge catamarans, it didn’t seem that crowded, but it was crowded in the snorkeling area.  We were happy to watch them from above.

By this time, our experience was coming to an end and we were anxious to get on the catamaran at 3:00 to get back to Hamilton Island.  The waves were awful during the two-hour journey back to the island.  Harold was visibly pale and miserable, and Julie, despite Dramamine, became quite ill and one of the workers struggled to get her to the bathroom on a very choppy ocean.  Deborah and Gil were doing fine with only slight feelings of uneasiness.

Then the waters calmed, and the rest of the trip was okay.

Sea sickness aside, it was a fabulous experience, and all of us would recommend it to anyone who visits Australia.