Got up early to many birds, frogs and bats talking - a unique awakening for sure. Decided to just head to the tour place early, as they also had a cafe (and eating cold cereal...in the dark...in the jungle, wasn’t really calling to us. The tour company cafe wasn’t quite open yet, but they made us a wrap and coffees a bit early. We signed in, then they got us set with wetsuits. Once we were suited up, we walked across the street to the beach where we waded out in the surf to get on the boat.
Tammy is not a fan of wearing the wetsuit because of how tight they are, making her feel anxious and feeling like she couldn't breathe.
We rode the boat out for around 30min, which was a bumpy but pretty fun (and wet) ride. The fast pontoon boat helped head off any sea-sickness which was appreciated. We got to the first dive site (Mackey Reef) and despite seeing turtles sticking their heads out when we pulled up, never saw a turtle. They briefed us on the gear and about the reef - they were very serious about not touching anything, despite being light hearted otherwise.
After an hour of snorkeling they moved us all to another site nearby where we finally saw turtles swimming and eating, plus saw stingrays on the bottom. Unfortunately, one of the guests was on the reef and when they saw him, they took him out of the water for the rest of the time.
The ride back in was a little faster and a little wetter - even rained a bit, but we all made it back then quickly unloaded the boat. We walked back to the tour office through some of the mangrove forest that acts as a tidal buffer - amazing how entwined it all is. We would highly recommend Ocean Safari for GBR snorkeling since they have half day tours, got to pristine areas of the reef, only take ~20 people and were cheaper than the other tours out of Port Douglas or Cairns.
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