The Spectacular Great Barrier ReefPosted by nshirodkar on August 12th, 2010 One of the most exciting holiday destinations would be the Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral reef, made up of nearly 3000 individual reefs and 900 islands in an area of nearly 350,000 square kilometers. This reef is situated in the Coral Sea, near the coast of Queensland, north-east Australia.The Great Barrier Reef is a very popular travel destination, particularly for scuba diving, due to its warm and clear waters, biodiversity and accessibility for the tourists, which is called 'live aboards'. Especially the Whitsundays and Cairns are famous for their accessibility. Many cities of Queensland offer daily boat service to the Reef and many islands of the Reef have resorts. The best season to visit the Great Barrier Reef is Australian winter. Ranging from a one-day trip to a long voyage, there is a variety of boat trips and cruises. Boats too are of various sizes such as, dinghies, superyachts, glass-bottomed boats and underwater view-boats. Obviously the tourists come here for diving and snorkeling. These activities are done on the outer portions of the Reef where they can be favored. There are hundreds of varieties of corals on the Great Barrier Reef, which make it so colorful. Corals are the sedentary marine animals that form clusters showing vibrant colors. The corals near the sea surface are more colorful and as you go down deep in the sea, you will see the colors fading a bit. The Great Barrier Reef gives you the opportunity to view some of the most wonderful marine creatures like sea turtle, porpoises, dolphins, salt water crocodiles and dugongs. What's more, you can also view the animals which are exclusive to this part of the world, namely, the loggerhead sea turtle and the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin. Your holiday on the Great Barrier Reef can be most enjoyable if you plan according to the time you are going to spend there. You can go for a half an hour helicopter ride too, which will give you an unforgettable view of the tremendous variety of colors and sizes of the corals on the Reef. Alternatively if you have one whole day to spend, you can visit the Fitzroy Island in a kayak. The lighthouse on Little Fitzroy, a small island close to Fitzroy, will give you an experience of great scenery. Here you can do snorkeling too or otherwise just hang on the beach taking beautiful photos. If you have two to three days in hand, you can choose any particular island of the Reef and take the opportunity to enjoy the various activities run by the resorts there. On the Lizard Island or Hayman Island, you can go either for a hiking trail or otherwise enjoy the beauty of the beaches, if you are not fond particularly of diving. Like it? Share it! More by this author |