Saturday – March 29, 2025
Great Barrier Reef off Port Douglas, Australia
Today’s featured photo was taken from a helicopter as we flew over the Great Barrier Reef. The weather was perfect for flying so Kelsey and I took the plunge and enjoyed every minute in the air. Interesting factoid – the Daintree Rainforest and Great Barrier Reef are both UNESCO Heritage sites. This area is the only one in the world where two such sites are side by side.
After a wonderful buffet breakfast at the Sheraton, we placed ourselves in the capable hands of a company named Quicksilver. They operate services related to the Great Barrier Reef that includes private buses to pick up guests from their lodging, ferry them to the reef and offer options to explore the reef. Our group was the last to be picked up from a hotel and our hotel was located relatively close to the Quicksilver office in Port Douglas.
Exiting the bus we walked to the berth where Quicksilver V was docked. This large catamaran has a capacity to carry over 300 guests. Today the passenger count was less than 200 so we had room to stretch out. Quicksilver has a platform over the reef to which the catamaran docks. The platform contains roped off sections for snorkeling, scuba and bubble diving. It also has a fixed “walk through” underwater viewing area, a fish feeding area, docks for submersibles, a helicopter platform and a boat to ferry passengers to and from the helo platform. The platform also has seating in the center where you can relax, enjoy lunch or change into your Lycra suit. You can see the platform on the Quicksilver home page.
The trip to the platform is about 90 minutes. During that time you have the opportunity to sign up for things like the helicopter ride, diving with a marine biologist and other activities not included in the base price of the cruise to and from the platform. One of the things we watched was a video presentation by the marine biologist which explained the reef and the life surrounding it. As we drew closer we could see that most of the awnings and roofs on the platform were covered with birds. The closer we sailed, birds began to fly off those coverings – hundreds of birds. I guess they were there expecting to get food from the tourists.
Kelsey and I chose to take the helicopter flight and were given a 1:00 pm flight time. We decided we would take the submersible as soon as we got off the catamaran since it was a 20 minute ride and would leave plenty of time before our flight. We headed down to the submersible loading area and discovered there was a problem with the sub – water had leaked into it and they weren’t able to get the pump operating to remove the water. Tick-tock. After half an hour it was decided they would use one of the other subs but it would have to be readied which would mean it wouldn’t sail until 12:45 pm or so.
Change of plans. We knew we wouldn’t have time before our flight for the sub so we decided to take the walk-through and look at what could be seen there. On the way to the viewing area we came across Giulio in his Lycra suit. He was getting ready for some snorkeling and looked like he could have been on the cast of “Sea Hunt”. The windows of the walk through were not the clearest and we did see some fish but not a great variety. We roamed around the platform for a while then returned to the “ready” area for the flight. While the group ahead of us was flying we were given life vests and safety instructions. Our group was all from our tour – Bridgette, Thomas, Monica, Kelsey and I. Helo holds 6 passengers so we wouldn’t be cramped.
Nautilus Aviation provided the helicopter and pilot (Matt) for our flight. The copter was a bright red Bell 407GXI – my Mom would have loved that color! In today’s media there are lots of video and photos from the flight – probably too many. We boarded the boat and headed for the landing platform. Boat doesn’t dock until the helo has landed and reduced rotor speed. Got a selfie of Kelsey and I before we boarded. Bridgette in front (that makes her co-pilot), Thomas and Monica starboard side facing each other with Kelsey and I on port side – Kelsey facing backward and me facing front. Each of us had headsets so we could talk with each other and listen to what Matt would say about the reef. Wish I could have figured a way to include that chatter with the video from the flight. Kelsey had not been in a helicopter before so it was a new experience for her – and I think she liked it.
The copter’s doors had lots of viewing area. Only thing I didn’t count on was reflection from the inside – so you’ll see lots of my wedding ring in the video. We flew for about 10 minutes up and down the reef so we could see the waves of the Pacific as they broke on the reef and could also see the line where the tide was going out. The bright colored coral you may have seen in photographs come out after dark so all the video shows is brown-colored reef. That is a good indicator of the health of the reef. The pilot took us to 2,000 feet for a good view up and down the reef then gradually reduced altitude to 500 feet so we would have a chance to see schools of fish and a closer look at the reef itself.
The flight was over all too soon. We exited the copter, waited on the landing platform, boarded the boat and returned to the Quicksilver platform. Someone told us they were about to feed fish so we headed to the bridge that spanned the feeding area to watch. The majority of the fish that come to the feeding are Red Sea bass. In Australia (and perhaps other areas) this is a protected fish and one you DON’T want to catch and eat. They can ingest and process chemicals harmful to humans. There is a video showing the feeding and explaining what is being offered as food. The dominant fish at the feeding was a female they have named Sally. Her color was a brighter red than the others in attendance.
Watching the fish being fed led us to decide to grab some lunch. There was a buffet lunch available to all on the catamaran. We filled our plates and sat to eat. Across the aisle were a man and his son from Texas – Steven and Tima. They had just snorkeled and were checking out the photos taken using a plastic case to protect their phone. Had a nice conversation with them, finished lunch and headed back for more misadventure.
Kelsey was convinced that she should get in the Great Barrier Reef waters and I said I would join her. Everyone who went in the water was required to wear a Lycra suit as protection from the box jellyfish and Irukandji jellyfish in the area. It is not a pretty sight to see an overweight older man in a Lycra suit but I bit the bullet and asked for help slithering into the suit. Kelsey and I made our way to the launch platform where we could sit in the water and “float” our legs (easily done in salt water). There were still a few red bass hanging around hoping for food so they swam around when we were in the water.
The Lycra suit was fine when in the water but I couldn’t wait to get it off when out of the water – and I couldn’t get it off without help because it stuck to my skin. Our time at the Quicksilver platform was to be up at 2:30 so once we were extricated from our suits it was almost time to leave. We made our way back to Quicksilver V, found seats and settled in for the 90 minute return trip to Port Douglas. We wanted some memento from our trip but didn’t have much time once we docked. Sandra suggested we get in line to leave first from the ship. We did that and sought out the Quicksilver office for some souvenir. We settled on a t-shirt that was new for them. It has a skull with many marine references in light blue set against a black background. We didn’t have a chance to take a selfie until we returned to Magnifica in April. You’ll see us in those shirts in the media for April 8th.
Tonight’s dinner was Italian. There is a single photo of the antipasto to give you an idea of that meal.
Tomorrow we visit the Daintree Rainforest and travel back to Cairns in preparation for our flight to Uluru.
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