The Great Barrier Reef And Its Travel

Located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland in north-east Australia, stretching over 2,500 km and bearing almost 900 islands, the Great Barrier Reef is without a doubt one of the greatest wonders of the world. The Great Barrier Reef is a coral reef formation built by the living organisms known as the corals.

The corals are tiny sea animals that secrete hard exoskeletons which have been accumulating for millenniums to form the large structures that we see today. It is the largest of all the coral reefs in the world and also happens to be the largest structure built by any organism. This reef is not only a home to millions of sea organisms but is also a great tourist site.

As said it is stretched around 900 islands, many of the islands out of these have resorts while some of them a re remote islands. One of the islands surrounded by the Great Reef has the famous Daintree tropical forest.

In 1996 it was estimated that around AU$775 Million were contributed to the Great Reef by tourists.

The Great Reef is considered to be the biggest tourism spot in the whole oceanic region.

The fishing industry in the Great reef contributes to about AU$1 Billion per annum.

Climate Of The Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef islands have a temperate atmosphere.

The months between November and April are considered to be extremely humid and hot due to Australia’s extreme southern hemisphere climate.

While months from May and October are dry and cool which is considered to be the best time for tourists and hitch hikers to visit this place.

Cairns Airport is the nearest airport to the Great Barrier Reef. From there taxis or rented boats can be used to visit different islands.

Most mainland resorts are located at the coast of Cairns, Port Douglas and the famous Daintree Tropical forest.

A mini bus can be taken to the CairnsAirport from these mainland resorts.

There are many resorts on these reef islands catering all sorts of day trips and overnight stay inns.

Not every island is on the coast of the great barrier is on a reef.

Such islands run a day trip to other islands (most of them on reefs).

There are also “premium islands” on the great reef such as Pumpkin Island and The Bedarra Island which are extremely popular for their luxury resorts, beautiful beaches and high standard of accommodation.

The most common form of reef tour is snorkeling, liveabroads, sea diving trips, scuba diving, glass boat ride to the ocean bed or simply sailing.

The Great Barrier Reef is probably the most ideal site for scuba divers due to the warm waters and the delicious temperature that lasts during a lager part of the year.

The perfect places for diving are around Townsville, Cairns or Port Douglas. People who intend to dive prefer six to seven days of liveabroads and to visit the Coral Sea towards the North.

Diving including liveabroads costs about AU$ 700 per person while glass boat ride can cost up to AU$ 140 per person.

Day trips to the reefs are provided by the Cairns and Port Douglas diving operators. If you intend to go for a small boat trip around the reef like for only two hours, these operators will provide you a comfortable trip around the reef and it will cost you $170-$200.

However if you want to take a long trip of the reef many operators provide a two to three day liveabroads to the reefs on the east of Cairns. They charge you $500 for two days with meals included.

Diving may cost extra charges. If you intend to snorkel, you may get the trip on a reduced price, but make sure that the sites you intend to snorkel are stable enough or not.

If you intend to spend a peaceful and a quite time holidaying around the reef its better that you stay in the resorts of more remote islands such as Orpheus or Lizard.

On the southern part of the reef is the YongalaIsland which is now just a wreck. It sank in 1911 below 100 feet of water.

This place is ideal for fishing and many resorts give a special trip to the area. But since the area is not well protected it is not highly preferable to visit this place.

Form the food to the weather and from the water to the beauty, everything about this wonder of the world is perfect. It is without a doubt the most ideal spot for tourists in the world.