Yesterday was one of the best days of my life.  I could relive that day over and over, many times and then some.

It began peacefully.  I was up first and slipped out for a stroll along the beach. This is the beach looking towards Port Douglas.  Behind the palm trees are sprawling resorts which you can’t see from the beach so on the beach you have a great view, unspoilt by developments.  Plus a few people to keep you company.  This is the beach at about 7:30 am. I strolled back from the beach, past the little playground the children enjoy and back to our beach house and its pool which is shared with several of our neighbours. Fruit, yogurt and coffee. Then back to the docks for another day on the Great Barrier Reef. This is Wavedancer, the 30 metre luxury sailing catamaran we went on to the Low Isles. Coffee and biscuits on board. Farewell beautiful Port Douglas. This is the view inside the catamaran. This is sitting on the front deck where we listened to the safety talk given by the lifeguards. That perfect little desert island is our destination for the day. The views from the island were spectacular.  The green mountains appeared blue.  It was so beautiful and enchanting I could have cried with happiness. The catamaran moors offshore and little shuttle boats delivered us to the island where we snorkelled from the beach.

This is one of 2 shuttle boats.

Back to the catamaran for lunch,

which was eaten on the back deck of the boat. We then hopped on to the glass bottomed boat for a short tour and saw fish and turtles.  The coral was better here than on the outer reef; more varieties including soft corals which wave around in the water.  This photo was taken from the side of the boat looking down, not through the glass bottom.  Such clear water 🙂 We could see Helen, Henrietta and Lara relaxing on the beach. A huge shoal of fish has been in the Low Isles for a week or so. These attract Lemon Sharks which we were assured are perfectly safe to swim with as they have small teeth and feed on small fish. Back on the island I decided to walk across it which took about 10 minutes.  There is a light house in the centre. I then walked all the way round which took about 25 minutes.  I watched the Pelicans for ages – they are one of my favourite birds. The island is mainly sandy with some wonderfully weathered iron and bleached driftwood. They are watching the sharks swim in the large shoal of fish.   Harvey was straight in to the sea to snorkle amongst the sharks which he remains completely excited about.This is the large shoal.

Happy smiling faces – testament to such an amazing day. Back on the catamaran a small shoal of Bat Fish entertained us until departure.More sharks 🙂
We were so sad to leave the low Isles.  It was the most perfect day for snorkelling; sunny and bright and with calm seas so visibility was excellent.  The large shoal of fish attracted bigger fish so there was plenty to see.  We could all have happily stayed here overnight but you get counted on and off the boat so no chance of a Robinson Crusoe evening. Cheese and biscuits with fresh fruit and tea before we sailed back to Port Douglas. Farewell Low Isles. We settled on to the Catamaran to enjoy the sail back to shore but then came the cry from the top deck. Dolphins.  A large pod of playful dolphins escorted us for a while, adding the cherry to the icing of the most perfect day. I am so lucky to have spent such an amazing day in the Coral Sea and with such delightful company.  I certainly felt very blessed.