Corals and tropical fish have a wonderful appeal. Monkey Bay on Great Keppel Island gives a small glimpse of what awaits on the Great Barrier Reef.
And this is why we have patiently waited for the right weather conditions. We could have left on a beam run on Monday headed south, but this would have meant missing out on a very special part of cruising in the tropics. We wanted to head East, to the Barrier Reef.
Today we have the weather window we need: a light ENE that will take us some 40 nautical miles offshore to North West Island. This is the first in a series of coral cays and lagoons running southeast which form the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef. Our intention is to spend a few days there, stopping at North West Island, Fitzroy Reef and Lady Musgrave. But time and weather will tell.
For now, here is a gallery of images taken at Monkey Bay. Even in this small scale, the snorkeling is good and the turtles, the clams with their iridescent lips and the many types of tropical fishes are a feast for the eyes.
Sv-Anui 
Stunning!! So jealous 🙂
More amazing sights to come😊
Fantastic environment, can we preserve the reef or will it be lost forever because we can’t control the earth’s warming and stop the run off of chemicals & mining
Not so sure. We have seen changes at Monkey Bay just in the last few months!
Wow! Jaw dropping images, keep them coming guys ….
We will – a couple of posts from the reef coming up!
We will- a couple of posts from the reef coming up!
These are superb, what an amazing place to visit
It is James, but wait till you see what is next! 😊
Green with envy!! We both just adore snorkeling and scuba, especially on coral reefs. It’s one big downside of high latitude sailing…
We don’t do that enough ourselves, but the next two posts will make you even greener😊
a beautiful world!! wonderful images!
Thanks Cybele, it is indeed.