Snorkeling Hastings Reef (a section of the Great Barrier Reef)

Today I snorkeled two locations on Hastings Reef, the Fishbowl and another location near by.  Hastings Reef is just one section of the Great Barrier Reef along Australia’s east coast.

It took about 1 1/2 hours to reach the reef, but once there we snorkeled about 1 1/2 hours at each location.  There were many different varieties of fish and coral along with a few turtles, sharks, and rays (I didn’t see the last two, but others did).  I was entranced by the colors and textures of both the fish and coral.  I’ve always thought the sea looked other-worldly and the Great Barrier Reef did not let me down.

Something I learned and wanted to share…coral doesn’t have any color.  The color seen on coral is actually caused by algae.

Coral

P1440348 - Low Res P1440315 - Low P1440297 - Low Res P1440235 - Low Res P1440232 - Low Res Coral

Coral with Fish
Can you see the yellow fish in the middle of this photo?

Colorful Coral CoralFish

P1440345 - Low Res P1440340 - Low Res P1440339 - Low Res P1440327 - Low Res P1440323 - Low Res P1440321 - Low Res P1440242 - Low Res P1440238 - Low Res Yellow Fish

Jellyfish
Considering it’s “stinger season” (jellyfish season) and we had to wear full body stinger suits to be in the water, I was a bit freaked out when I got surrounded by jellyfish. Fortunately, I think this was one of the mild ones (I hope so anyway).

Fish

Blue Fish
The colors of the fish were amazing.
Huge Fish
This guy was huge…normally I would prefer not to get other snorkelers/divers in my photos, but just for size comparison this worked out nicely.

Colorful Blue Fish and CoralTurtle

P1440333 - Low Res P1440330 - Low Res

 

 

4 Replies to “Snorkeling Hastings Reef (a section of the Great Barrier Reef)”

    • Thanks Jaspa…I’ll have to give most the credit to the Great Barrier Reef. The colors are just amazing there and the fish don’t seem to bothered by having their photos taken. One little tip…I always use my flash. It’s not always needed, but if it’s cloudy at all it usually helps.

  1. Great pictures, I think the coral colors are much brighter there than in Belize. Love seeing them all. And the fish are amazing.