We stayed and played with Ocean Safari in Cape Tribulation to Snorkel a stunning unspoilt section of the barrier reef.

We arrived the day before our trip to the safari lodge campsite in the late afternoon and after setting up, headed straight down to the beach at low tide and got to see a cassowary walking along the length of the beach. We were so excited to eventually see one in the wild.  Ocean safari offer packages on camping if you book a tour and they also have safari tents/small cabins too.

Even if you’re not doing a tour it’s a great little campsite set in the rainforest where there is a cluster of bars and restaurants. The site facilities are good with a pool, laundry and a small camp kitchen. Our only negative would be that the  gravity fed showers don’t provide that much water, especially when lots of people are in them, but you are in the rainforest! The sites are lovely gravel pitches, which are perfect for camper-vans and trailers set in the rainforest just a short walk to the beach.

The tour was brilliant. After checking in and picking up a wetsuit we headed down to the beach, where the speedboat picked us up. It’s was then an exhilarating 25 minute ride out to the reef. Our skipper Sarah (great name) was brilliant, she cranked up the tunes and we bounced effortlessly across the waves. The weather was hot, humid and cloudy on the mainland, but out on the reef it was blue skies which always makes the coral look amazing. We went to two different very sheltered sites for an hour each. The first is renowned for spotting turtles and it didn’t disappoint, we got to swim right next to one, which was incredible and at the second site we saw a turtle again.

Our Eco guide Braden at both sites was brilliant pointing out all the things I would have normally missed, so we got to see a stingray and found nemo too. I loved duck diving down to the little pale blue fish that hung around coral the same colour as them, the huge bright blue star fish were amazing too. There is such a wide variety of coral and fish, huge clams, turtles and if you’re lucky reef sharks. Two hours snorkelling is a perfect amount of time and then it’s just a quick blast back to the mainland. Once back on dry land we popped into the turtle cafe where the coffee and food were excellent.

Thanks for an awesome day out, if you want to easily access the reef this is the tour to do. A Go-Pro is definitely on the list as I would have loved to have pictures of everything.

Sarah