Our 6 day cruise to the Great Barrier Reef and the Whitsundays Islands

We rolled into Airlie Beach on Sat. afternoon to blue skies and colorful harbors. We were hoping to book a three day- three night cruise that would take us around the Whitsundays Islands and the Great Barrier Reef. After checking into many last minute cruise packages we settled on a great deal for a 6-day, 6-night cruise that would take us to both these areas plus offer a chef, a large room at no extra charge, snorkeling, kayaking and more. We paid almost half price and left about 14 hours later for our cruise! Upon boarding the Pacific Sunrise we were happy to see that we had received a wonderful price and value.... the room was the largest on board (no extra charge) and every promise that was made was true.... great service, food, etc. The crew was great and helpful throughout our adventures.

In our 6 days aboard we relaxed, snorkeled and visited many islands and the GB Reef. The underwater life was amazing....coral and fish, etc. WE EVEN SWAM WITH TWO TURTLES!!! We saw a dugong (sea-cow or manatee-like animal) which is very rare in the area and hardly ever seen. We saw sea eagles and whales as well in our 6 days aboard. We both chose to get off the boat at every possible chance and were lucky enough to see a ton of wildlife and scenery.

Our cruise package is listed at http://www.whitsailing.com/ under "Pacific Sunrise" or you can see more about the Whitsundays Islands at http://www.tourismwhitsundays.com.au/

A map of the area is here: http://holiday-whitsundays.com/systems/media/images/whitsundays-map.jpg Look at map..... we visited Whitehaven Beach - Tongue Bay (which was amazing!) Blue Pearl Bay, Hook Island, Butterfly bay, Black Island, Maureens Cove, Nara inlet, Whitsundays passage and the Great Barrier Reef!

While in Nara Inlet we viewed Aboriginal Paintings dating back 8,000 years! That was pretty amazing... they depicted baskets that the aboriginals used to catch fish.

We swam with turtles in Maureens cove and Blue Pearl Bay (along with fish and coral.... but turtles are so much better!) We touched the turtles and swam with them for about a half an hour! They swim really slow and let you follow them and touch them, etc. I was stoked! :)

On our third day while sailing out of Butterfly Bay to Whitehaven Beach we even rescued another boat.... it was serious.... a catamaran had lost its port side engine and all steering and was headed with 20 passengers into a pile of rocks while taking on water. We spent about 2 hours in a rescue aboard our boat. Luckily no one was hurt but it could have been real bad, real fast. No good. It is an interesting memory though!

Our cruise was grand, the food was gourmet, we met new friends and had a great time viewing the reef and islands. With all the wildlife we saw, scenery taken in and extra rescue fun we could not have asked for more. The area is beautiful and full of nothing ugly to look at. We viewed sunsets every night and sunrises every morning..... we truly could have asked for nothing else!