Scuba Diving the Great Barrier Reef

This should be at the top of your bucket list

I have no idea how I will ever top this experience. It was the most exciting opportunity I have had and I can’t wait to go back one day. The reef is full of color and life, the photos will never do it justice. Exploring the largest living organism on earth is absolutely surreal.

We booked our scuba diving trip through the company Adventure Free and I cannot recommend them enough. We stayed on their live-aboard ship for two days and one night. All meals, snacks, diving equipment, special diving sunscreen, and educational information are included in the price. They have staff on board who are available to help get gear situated and safety checks completed before each dive.

We did nine dives in total including a night dive and an early morning dive. We dove three different areas of the reef, so we were able to see a wide variety of reef life. The staff are extremely knowledgeable on the reef and are available as dive guides if requested.

We were introduced to a Māori Wrasse fish named Frank. He remembers faces for up to 5 years and rarely leaves his reef. He has a girlfriend too, but she doesn’t like people as much as he does. Normally divers are told to not touch the marine life under any circumstances, but Frank refuses to take no for an answer. He will run into divers and cuddle against them until they pet him. I personally will remember Frank for much longer than 5 years.

The picture I included is beautiful - clearly a healthy reef with plenty of marine residents. What I did not include was the parts of the reef that were already bleached. It was upsetting to see one part of the reef so full of life and the other, not even 100 meters away, actively dying. In 2017, the Great Barrier Reef experienced elevated temperatures that resulted in the death of almost a 1/3 of all the reef’s corals. See the National Geographic website for more detailed information on this dying world wonder.

Everyone can do their part to help save the Reef,. Even something as small as reducing water usage, not using styrofoam or plastic straws to prevent additional trash in our oceans, and recycling can help save the beautiful Great Barrier Reef.

So get out there and scuba dive one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the world. It will be one of the most amazing things you’ve ever done.