From the office
Well... the weather this week has been typical of wet season in that we have had some dramatically foul weather followed by some fantastic weather 2 days later!
Monday was particularly bad- 30-40 knots- even the biggest boats in Port Douglas turned back after starting the journey to the reef! Wavelength cancelled the run, because in our opinion it was way too rough for snorkelling- what with the gale force winds, the high tide in the middle of the day and torrential rain squalls!
Yesterday however the wind dropped right out and it was a mild 10 knots with sunny skies out on the reef. The forecast for the next three days is superb.
It is really hard to pick the weather during wet season, so we advise all our guests to call us a day before they arrive in Port Douglas so that we can book the very best weather day for their Great Barrier Reef tour.
From the Crew
Our resident super photographer Chris Jones (AKA Fluffy) has been taking some great snaps for our CD of the Day. The photos on this blog today were taken last week. (In case anyone was wondering what the reef is like to snorkel in wet season) As you can see our sites are free from Diver damage to the coral and very healthy.
The turtle pic at the top of the page was taken at our exclusive use mooring "Turtle Bay" The turtles at this reef site are pretty calm as they see us Wavelength folk quite regularly. That's why we get so many good photos of Turtles!
From the Fan Club
Recently published to Trip Advisor were these two fantastic reviews from some happy snorkellers. Great information on the day we offer and the sites we visit from some Wavelength guests:
From Allentown in PA
"This trip was the highlight of our time in Australia. When we planned our holiday, seeing the Great Barrier Reef was paramount to us. But both myself and my wife had both done diving (scuba) outings before, and since we are not certified divers, we agreed that the added expense and hassle of a dive trip were not what we wanted. Add to this the fact that after researching the topography of the reef before our trip, we realized that almost everything you could hope to see is in 30 feet of water or less, we both felt snorkelling was the way to go. Further research showed that the big boats going out to the reef took up to 300 people at a time, and carried both snorkellers and divers. We certainly didn't want our once-in-a-lifetime chance to see this natural wonder to be ruined by going out on a boat that had to please divers by stopping at sites that were too deep for snorkellers to enjoy, or by being crowded or using equipment that might not be in good shape. This eventually led us to Wavelength.Let me describe our day on Wavelength to help show why bigger isn't always better. First, the captain of the boat picked us up at our hotel in the morning. We thought that was nice. He's a great fellow named Aaron who we got along with right off the bat. We arrived at the marina where we met Kenny, the marine biologist on the boat. Another cool guy. We got on board, and took off for the reef. It took about 90 minutes to get to our first site on the reef, and during the trip Kenny fitted everyone with nice, new equipment, and explained how to use it to get the best experience while out there. We had tea and cookies on the way out. Kenny gave out seasickness meds to anyone who was interested. We were taught about what we would be seeing, where to look to see the absolute most we could and given real attention if we had questions regarding anything at all. I forgot to mention there were 13 people on our trip. We spent about an hour and a half at the first site, which got everyone used to the gear. I cannot begin to describe how stunningly beautiful it was.Kenny swam with everybody for awhile to make sure they were comfortable. When it was time to leave for the next site, Kenny gave us a little marine biology lesson on the way. More tea and cookies and we were at our second site. Kenny told us there would be totally different stuff to see here, and he led those interested on a guided tour of the location, stopping every couple of minutes to check on everyone or point out some fascinating marine creature. When it was time to leave this site, we got on the boat and Aaron had prepared a wonderful lunch for us, with unique Aussie specialities and lots of nice big prawns. On to our last site called turtle bay. Lots of beautiful green turtles here and we swam with schools of giant humphead wrasses that were 5-6 feet long. It was just the most awesome experience.On our ride back to port they even provided us with wonderfully fragrant wet towels to wipe the salt off ourselves.When we got back to the marina, we all went into Wavlength's gift shop to look for souvenirs. The nice ladies working there even gave the people who didn't buy anything free postcards to send home! Everyone told stories of the wonders they had seen, and you could tell as you watched the faces of the staff and crew, that they were genuinely interested in what we all had to say. I think it was such interaction that just put the Wavelength experience in a class by itself. If you are looking for a very personalized experience on the Great Barrier Reef, I cannot recommend Wavelength highly enough. It is an experience of a lifetime, and the people at Wavelength make it even more enjoyable.If you book a trip with these guys, which I hope you do, make sure to purchase their photo CD. Not only does it have awesome photos of spectacular marine creatures, but the guys will be happy to take lots of pictures of you and your friends while you're in paradise. Happy reef day!!"
From Blumpkin in New York
"I had only gone snorkeling once before, and had a terrible experience, so was very nervous about trying it again. However, on the recommendation of a friend, I went snorkeling in Port Douglas with Wavelength, and had an amazing time. First off, being that it was a smaller boat, we received a lot more personal attention. We snorkeled at 3 separate sites, and on all 3, a marine biologist was diving with us so that he could answer questions about anything we saw on the reef. On the second site, he led us on a 45 minute tour of his favorite parts of one particular reef which was great. Not only did I learn a lot, but he pointed out many things I otherwise would have overlooked. Then on the third site, we went to a place called turtle bay, and he took the whole group out together to ensure that we would all be able to see turtles while snorkeling. Not only did the smaller boat allow for us to have more personal attention, but a smaller boat allowed for us to go to parts of the reef that bigger boats could not reach. I think for anyone, getting personal attention is important, but especially for beginner snorkelers. I loved my first time so much I went out again two days later. Again, I relished the fact that I could be on a small boat and have close contact with a marine biologist. On the first site we dove at, most of the people were getting acquainted with snorkeling, so the dive leader took me out for 10 minutes to a distant part of the reef where we were snorkeling in search of schools of fish and sharks, as he knew from when we spoke on my first trip that I really wanted to see a shark on the trip. Lastly, the fact that it was a snorkle only boat was great, as everyone on the boat was able to snorkel together and get the same attention from the trip leaders. All and all it was an amazing experience, and would tell anyone going to Port Douglas to do snorkeling on this boat, and avoid the massive tour boats"
