Great Barrier Reef Queensland Australia

Great Barrier Reef

"...so badly damaged that it really is not worth to come to Green Island anymore..."

The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef and home to an amazing diversity of animal life and I highly recommend it. I have had the unique opportunity to stay out on a floating pontoon for two days and a night on the outer barrier reef off the Whitsunday Islands in North Queensland . There really is not a lot I can say bad about this place it is that good.

A few pointers would be to ask if the area has had coral bleaching, which is a growing problem and means that the coral is dead and no fish are around. In this case do not waste your money and go elsewhere, there really is no point to holiday there.

Most Islands do not have coral attached to them; you have to take a boat or helicopter to fly to an area in the middle of the ocean to see the Great Barrier Reef in all of its splendour. An Island that does have coral reef right outside of your room and is inexpensive is Hook Island in the Whitsunday Islands North Queensland Australia. It is not as spectacular as the Outer Reef, but still amazing.

The myth that the reef gets better the higher your travel up the Queensland Coast is not true and proven with Green Island of the coast from Cairns in Far North Queensland. So many visitors have been here, that all the coral has been stomped into the sand or removed. It is so badly damaged that it really is not worth to come to Green Island anymore.

Driving up the Queensland Coast, you can already get a taste for the Coral Reef of the Bundaberg Coast on Lady Musgrave Island . It is cheaper than North Queensland , not as spectacular as the Outer Reef but defiantly compares to the coral ruins of Green Island by Cairns.

North Queensland is hot and humid. It is like being in a sauna. All that you want to do is go for a swim to cool off, but that is where the trouble lies. The mainland coast along the Great Barrier Reef in Far North Queensland is made up of muddy water. You can only swim in small areas that have been netted off so that the box jelly fish can not get in contact with you. One touch of the box jelly fish long tentacles and your heart will stop. You can't go swimming in the rivers either, they are infested with crocodiles and tourists are sometimes eaten when they go too close to the rivers edge.