Diving on the Great Barrier Reef – Take Two on Taka!

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A cute spotted sweetlips at Clam Gardens on the Great Barrier Reef

A cute spotted sweetlips at Clam Gardens on the Great Barrier Reef

I loved my Great Barrier Reef diving trip on Taka a couple of months ago so much I wanted to do it all over again, but alas, it’s obviously not cheap! In Cairns it’s relatively common for dive companies to offer “hostie” gigs – room, board, and a handful of dives in exchange for washing dishes and doing other odd jobs on the boat. I jumped at the chance to do it with Taka this past weekend so I could go back to the Ribbon Reefs.

It was much, much harder work than I’d expected and honestly I’m not quite sure it was worth it. If I’d taught English for the 25 hours I spent working on the boat, I would have made enough to pay for the trip outright and then enjoyed it a lot more  (and spared my hands a couple of burns and cuts – those industrial dishwashing machines aren’t messing around!). However, it was definitely a different experience than anything I’ve done before and I’m glad I did it, if only so that I’ve gained a new appreciation for people who do that kind of work full time.

Now, on to the diving. I did 8 wonderful dives this time around but only brought my camera on half of them as I wanted to really focus on breathing and maximizing air efficiency. Of course, the dives where I saw sharks, a Maori wrasse, awesome eels, and stingrays I didn’t have the camera. Murphy’s law, I suppose. This batch of pictures comes from Steve’s Bommie and Clam Gardens.

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Diving on the Great Barrier Reef: Taka Range

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Blue and green soft coral at Taka Range

Blue and green soft coral at Taka Range

I’ve had these photos ready to post for weeks and have been so busy working I haven’t had a chance! These were taken at the Taka Range dive site on the northern end of the Great Barrier Reef. It had only been scouted a few weeks before my trip and visited by a handful of dive groups. The corals – both hard and soft – at this site are abundant and pristine. The colors are mostly soft pastels unlike what I’ve seen at other sites. There are also loads of nudibranchs and other small critters.

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Diving on the Great Barrier Reef: Pixie’s Pinnacle

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A giant clam and some vibrant yellow coral at Pixie's Pinnacle

A giant clam and some vibrant yellow coral at Pixie’s Pinnacle

Pixie’s Pinnacle is a massive cone-shaped dive site covered with hard and soft corals. There are loads of giant clams that express a variety of colors and patterns. There are also tons of hawkfish and cod!

I got the settings on my camera more or less working for me at this dive site, so the colors of the fish and the corals really came through. The photo of the freckled hawkfish in particular is a pretty nice one, as well as the coral cod.

 

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Diving on the Great Barrier Reef: Steve’s Bommie

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Schools of yellow lined snapper and fusilier at Steve's Bommie in the Great Barrier Reef

Schools of yellow lined snapper and fusilier at Steve’s Bommie in the Great Barrier Reef

Steve’s Bommie is one of the most popular dive sites on the Ribbon Reefs and it was highly anticipated on the Taka trip. Before this dive a helpful staff member aboard Taka helped me play around with the color settings on my camera, which resulted in some really good, rich shots. The yellow of the snapper is superb and some of the coral colors came out marvelously. As I’m still a novice photographer, some of the photos were a bit TOO color rich, but with more experimentation I’m sure I’ll get it right soon enough.

I had some trouble identifying some of these fish, so if any marine biologists happen to stumble upon this page and have corrections, please feel free to leave them in the comments.

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