Helen and Randall on the road

We booked this day trip on arriving into Airlie Beach (forgettable resort tat) and had an early morning pickup from our campsite at 7.15am to get to the ‘Illusions’ for an 8am sailing:

She is a catamaran skippered by Joseph, and with Naomi as a diving instructor and hostess. We we 14 punters, and although there were a few doing ‘introductory dives’ (which is basically how you get to go out with a guide/instructor without having the Open Water cert) Randall and I were the only certified divers.

At the first site we just snorkelled along the coral that came within just a few metres of the beach and was only a metre or so below the surface, so loads of coral and fish to see, and a fantastic drift so not much finning to do either…

Next stop was Hayman Island, one of the ‘posh’ Whitsundays, where charter boats are only allowed a 2 hour mooring on the ‘wrong’ side (ie the opposite side from the expensive resort!) on the coral beach (hard on the feet!). We did a boat dive off the tender (somersault entry) and dived ‘The Maze’ – a series of coral tunnels and canyons full of fish – lots to see, and the dive conveniently ended with a swim in to the beach:

Then back on board for lunch and the journey back: