2020-03-23 – Low Island and a Day of Snorkeling

Our last sightseeing tour of our trip to Australia.  We were picked up from the hotel and dropped off at the marina where we boarded Sailaway VI, a large catamaran.  Our catamaran was under sail most of the trip out and back. 

The group is relatively small, only about 14, including a couple of small girls.  They asked us to spread out over the boat and to not congregate in groups if at all possible…more self-isolating.

The day was forecast to be rainy, stormy, and unpleasant. Instead is was blue skies, white fluffy clouds and a glorious day of snorkeling in warm tropical water. 

We had an hour of sailing out to Low Island where we spent most of the day.  It is a pretty and a very small island, a coral cay.  

They dropped us off on the beach that had a number of beach umbrellas.

The first session of snorkeling was right off the beach.  The beach was pretty sandy and easy to walk on (but a bit hot).  The water was a bit murky so the photos weren’t the best.  But the coral was good...

and we did see fish…

and we were visited by a green sea turtle who swam quite close.

After our swim we took the short tour of the island.  There are only two permanent residence, caretakers who sign on for 2 year terms.  There is also a lighthouse…

with an osprey sitting at the top.

We also met Terry the Turtle, a turtle made entirely of debris pulled from the ocean and sculpted to look like a turtle.  And he was filled with other debris found in the ocean around the island.

We had lunch on the boat and then went for another snorkel trip to a nearby coral stack.  The water was marginally better here and the coral was amazing.  Some of the most beautiful we have ever seen. 

And, of course, there were lots of fish. 

We also saw a giant clam in among the coral.  Very interesting. 

After a great day we headed back to Port Douglas.

This evening we headed out for pizza.  It turns out that the government is basically closing all restaurants, bars, and pubs to in-house dining.  So we ordered take-away and took it back to the room.  Not a big deal.