24.11.2018 | Australia, Travel

Tips for the Great Barrier Reef and the Lady Musgrave Reef

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Tours at the Great Barrier Reef – Tips

I would like to give you guys a few tips about the Great Barrier Reef, Kevin from the Travel Bug Office told me. Maybe you are as unaware about the Great Barrier Reef as I was, without knowing were the Reefs exactly are and which provider you should choose for a tour. Some of them offer enormous prices despite empty promises. I watched documentaries showing the turquoise coral reefs from above.

The Great Barrier Reef consists of 3000 islands and it´s Reefs. The 2500 kilometer-long Great Barrier Reef is located far away from the mainland, you can´t see it from the mainland.
In the South, the Reef begins with the Lady Elliot and Lady Musgrave Reef. You can only reach Lady Musgrave by boat, the other islands are only accessible by airplane which is more expensive. However there is a high chance to see Manta Rays on Lady Elliot, so maybe it is worth the price.
The Lady Musgrave Reef is a beautiful reef, protected by a coral circle. In the middle, you can snorkel and dive. There is one-day tour provider starting from Agnes Water and a bigger one from Bundaberg. The yacht starting from Bundaberg is absolutely amazing and the best crew I experienced so far!
It is absolutely important that you book a tour to the “Outer Reef”, to the outermost reefs in the ocean. The reefs which are located nearer to the mainland don´t have a clear view than the Outer Reef. Often the providers have access and permits to 4 different reefs. Mostly they will take you to two of these reefs depending on the weather. Make sure that all of the 4 reefs are located in the “Outer Reef”, otherwise you might only see the reefs without a great view.
If you have a lot of time for the Whitsundays you should do a sailing trip for 2 or three days. If you have little time I would recommend a rafting tour or a motorboat tour for one day. Make sure they spend as much time as possible on the highlight, the Whitehaven Beach, snorkeling or diving isn´t the highlight (it is not the Outer Reef and the water isn´t that clear).
If you like to do 4 different day tours to the Great Barrier Reef like us, I highly recommend booking a day tour in the South to the Lady Musgrave Reef from Bundaberg with Lady Musgrave Experience. In Airlie Beach, you can book a tour with Ocean Rafting to the Whitsundays. In the north of the Great Barrier Reef, you can book a day tour with Diversden to the Norman, Saxon or Hastings Reef. From Port Douglas, you can book a day tour with Diversden to the Agincourt Reef. Of course, there are a lot more reefs to explore ;).
You should pay attention if the providers want to charge you additionally for Reef taxes, wetsuits, snorkel masks or fins. I can highly recommend booking at the Travel Bug Office, it is also possible to email (enquiries@adventuretravelbugs.com) and by phone. They will not charge you anything additionally.

Snorkeling in the Lady Musgrave Reef

There weren´t enough people for a day tour in Agnes Water, therefore we booked the day tour with “Lady Musgrave Experience” from Bundaberg. Early in the morning, we drove to the harbor of Bundaberg near Burnett Heads. I highly highly recommend a day tour with Lady Musgrave Experience, the crew is amazing!! In June there were only 20 other people on the boat in contrast to a 100-people boat in Cairns. The catamaran yacht was very luxury and the meals were amazing! It was the best tour we did on the Great Barrier Reef! 218 AUS Dollar per person for one day was worth it. The boat ride to the reef was about 1 hour and 50 minutes.

We could park for free on the Lady Musgrave Experience parking space. We already saw the yacht in the harbor and the captain came to us and asked us to go on the boat. We had to take our shoes off and we were cordially received by the crew. On the first deck, we found seats and tables inside, on the second deck an outdoor area and the captain’s office and on the third deck a big viewing platform. They have extendible steps at the back of the boat for going into the water. At first, we got the instructions while serving up scones with marmalade and cottage cream, fruits and muffins with tea and coffee. Most of the time we enjoyed the view outside. At first, the ocean looked unspectacular, but arriving at the reefs it is amazingly turquoise! The corals build a circle around the Lady Musgrave Reef, inside it is pretty protected and offers the clearest water. The Boat drove through a small passage of this circle into the middle.

We could decide if we like to snorkel all the time or to do an island walk with a glass bottom boat. The island isn´t that spectacular, therefore I recommend to spend all the time snorkeling, for those who came primarily for snorkeling. All the other people went for the island walk – therefore we had the whole reef to ourselves, it was amazing! It felt like a private snorkel tour, we even had dinner for ourselves :). We got all the instructions where we can snorkel and we were observed from the crew all the time. We snorkeled along the reef, not above the reef. It was only covered with one-meter high water. For 10 Dollars we got thicker full-body wetsuits from Mares because the water was really fresh in the morning. You can also get a prescription mask. The nice captain personally gave us some liquid for a better view through the masks.

The first snorkel session

At the entry passage, we already saw a few fishes and corals. When we snorkeled along the coral circle we saw loads of absolutely beautiful, intact and colorful corals. We immediately saw 5 turtles in the water. It felt like a dream – the sun was warm and we saw this beautiful creature again! Suddenly there was a really really big old turtle behind me, I had great respect. They looked at us with their big eyes and they seemed to like swimming beside us. We always kept a respectful distance to the turtles. One turtle swam circles around me and seemed playful – a fantastic experience. We then saw a thin reef shark, we could recognize the back fin. Don´t be afraid! They are more afraid of you than you are! We discovered a beautiful coral passage we could dive through. There were beautiful fish shoals, fantastic colorful and extremely big fish. My favorite fish is the yellow-black very thin “Moorish idol”. You can easily free dive a few meters down to the turtles. We had the launch all for ourselves, pasta salads, green salads, bread, coleslaw…the other people didn´t return yet. It felt like a private yacht :).

The second snorkel session and seeing Humpback Whales

The temperature increased in the midday sun and the water was comfortably warm. We saw at least 20 other turtles swimming near the corals in the sun. Sometimes 6 turtles swam around me. They swam pretty slow and liked to join us. Then we saw 2 really big reef sharks – I had great respect! At some point, we had to return to the mainland. We took a shower under the outdoor shower on the boat. Afterward, we got afternoon tea and cake. The crew was very friendly and helpful all the time and it felt pretty familiar. On our way back we enjoyed the view on the outdoor platform. Suddenly we saw whales in the distance. The captain drove slowly to them with a lot of distance and turned off the motor. The whale came closer and closer, according to the captain they sometimes like to play. Then the whale jumped out of the water around 10 meters next to our boat, even the tail fin came out of the water. Suddenly the whale dived under our boat and jumped out of the water at the other side of the boat. Everyone was so happy about this unexpected experience and we all walked from one side to the other side of the boat depending on the direction the whale chose. It was a great moment of luck and happiness in nature together with all the people! I will never forget this. From May to July the whales are swimming from the south of Australia to the Great Barrier Reef and you have a great chance to see some. And to top all this, dolphins jumped out of the water in front of us. The day on the Lady Musgrave was incredible and special and I would repeat it at any time! The crew was incredible!