When traveling to Australia with two young boys, finding Nemo is of course a must do, the only question is where to do it. Hamilton Island Australia is the perfect spot. The Great Barrier Reef stretches from Mackay to Cairns and even further north. It encompasses 2300km of length and 345,000 square kilometers altogether. That’s equivalent to driving from Providence, RI to Fort Lauderdale, FL. In comparison, our main target, the clown fish, is about 4 inches long. The nature of finding one is pretty humorous and maybe that is what gives the tiny fish its namesake.
We decided to take on this endeavor from the beautiful Whitsunday Island Chain, specifically Hamilton Island. Hamilton Island is definitely a tourist destination where exploring the barrier reef is the main attraction, but you can also relax on a beach or by the pool, hike to secluded beaches and snorkel in their lagoons, play golf or just take in a movie on an outdoor screen in the town center. Like many resort towns in the Caribbean or Hawaii, there are art galleries and over-priced restaurants. However, no cars are allowed and everyone must travel around the hilly island by golf cart. The boys loved this aspect because it was quiet and you could take in the local wildlife. The island was filled with wallabies (small kangaroos) and cockatoos (vicious parrot like birds that attack at happy hour when you’re enjoying wine and cheese on the balcony). Back to the reason we came here: the barrier reef and finding Nemo.
Assuming conditions are amenable, a high-speed catamaran ferries you out to Hardy Reef where you tie up to an anchored pontoon called Reefworld. Since we went in July (wintertime) the water was cooler – in the low 60’s. The benefit of visiting in winter is that humpback and grey whales are migrating through the various straights and you can see them breaching the entire 2 hour run out and back and occasionally while diving on the reef.
As mentioned before, the water was cold this time of year, but when you’re on the reef you swim like a fish. I spent 3 hours in the water exploring the majestic and colorful world of the world’s largest coral reef. I only stopped to swim one of the boys back to the boat. This is something that everyone should experience in their lifetime. There are endless vividly colored species, corals of all shapes and sizes, large fish such as the giant wrasse and of course, if you spend enough time, Nemo and his buddies living in anemones. We hit the jackpot 4 times on the clown fish and actually were the only people on the trip to find the funny little fish.
I explored the drop off several times and free dove down to the depth of the scuba divers – I don’t recommend going scuba diving here unless it’s on a private boat on your own time. With the group tour you lose about 1.5 hours of water time going through all the safety briefings versus just snorkeling straight away after tying up to the mooring buoy. Talking with people who did scuba it was clear that snorkelers saw way more fish and got to explore many more nooks and crannies of the reef. Save your money for the professional pictures of you with the fish or the 10 minute helicopter ride (there are 2 helicopters that land on pontoons and give patrons an aerial display of the reef that you can’t see from the water).
Eventually, the tour guides pulled me out of the water and probably in the nick of time because the tide was going out exposing some of the reef above the surface of the ocean and hypothermia was starting to set in. In fact, I couldn’t move my jaw I was so frozen after 3 hours snorkeling the reef! Click on this link to learn more about exploring Hardy Reef from Hamilton Island: Great Barrier Reef – Cruise Whitsundays.
Have you visited Hamilton Island Australia?
