Green Island is one of the jewels of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. There are two things that will surprise divers, no matter where in the world they’re from. The first shock is the sheer number of people that go out onto the reef every day (Green Island included) and the second is that despite crowds of tourist boats, the diversity of marine life is incredible. About 2 million people visit the reef very year, but it’s still absolutely stunning. Underneath the pier where the tour boats tie up there is an incredible wealth of marine life- sea turtles, coral, anemones, giant clams, rays, and fish in every conceivable color, shape, and size. 
At first, I headed over to the main beach as directed by the tour guides, but it soon became apparent that the beach is a play area for kids and nervous swimmers. Although I ran into the occasional turtle in the seaweed beds offshore, there wasn’t much sign of reef fish- not surprising, because the beach is a sandy beach, not a reef. To get to the good stuff you’ve got to go where the fish are, and that means the rocky sections and the pier. And there really is good stuff- this has to be one of the great shallow-water dive/snorkel sites in the world.
As soon as I approached the pylons, the reef residents appeared- scorpion fish, clown fish, anemones, parrot fish, angel fish blue tang and yellow tang. There are more than 1000 different fish species on the reef. I don’t know how many frequent the waters around Green Island, but I lost count after a few dozen. I was enthralled by the number of diversity of fish down there, each one spectacular in a different way.
The tour boats that stop at Green Island will also take you a little further out. The bigger operators have purpose-built pontoons, complete with lockers, snack kiosks, and everything else you could possibly want- or hate to see, if you prefer a pristine wilderness dive site over something so heavily commercialized. The reef fish don’t seem to be too bothered by it, and any development in the Great Barrier Reef area is closely monitored so it’s not the concrete nightmare it could be. The tourism here is very firmly eco-tourism, although there are inevitable problems when so many visitors come to a sensitive area like a coral reef.
In the deeper water just 20 yards from the beginner snorkelers and introductory dive classes, we found black-tipped reef sharks cruising in the darker, deeper coral holes. They seemed unperturbed by our presence, so we snapped a few photos (later lost when the film was accidentally exposed- I was devastated) and moved on. For photographers the Great Barrier Reef is a paradise. Bright, spectacular marine life is everywhere. At most of the popular dive sites, including Green Island, there is very little tidal pull, current, or heavy wave action, so getting into position is a simple and relaxed affair.
Diving at a more local site in South-East Australia the week after my Green Island experience, I was struck by the difference between the two. In Guerilla Bay my buddy and I were the only divers in the colder water. The crowds of people were gone, but so were the crowds of neon fish. Instead, Guerilla Island has kelp beds moved by strong swell, squid, big stingrays in the rocky patches, grey spotted rock cod, just the occasional tropical visitor. It wasn’t a better or worse dive- with the stunning sights of Australia’s tropical reef comes commercial tourism, so there are pros and cons of diving there. 
My temperate dive at Guerilla Bay cost no more than the price of an air-fill and a couple of dollars to park the car, while the reef dive put a substantial dent in my wallet. The tour boats aren’t cheap, even if you don’t add instruction or gear hire. It’s also possible to stay on Green Island- for a price. Some of the cash made from tourists goes back to reef conservation, but a lot doesn’t. Diving on the Great Barrier Reef is big business and it is pretty expensive.
I would recommend Green Island and the nearby sites to any diver, as something to do at least once. It’s worth braving the crowds to experience the kind of richly populated, visually stunning dive you can only get at a place like the Great Barrier Reef, but it’s a little like a huge sundae with chocolate, nuts, caramel sauce, cherries, sprinkles, marshmallow and a wafer- a treat for a special occasion, not something you’d want to do every day.
Jess Spate grew up snorkeling diving in South East Australia, but now lives in the (much colder) UK. She works as a sustainable business consultant for Appalachian Outdoors and is planning another visit to the reef later this year.
Image credit 1: Masao Mutoh (Masao.M) via Flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image credit 2&3: Steve Evans (babasteve) via Flickr under a Creative Commons license
Diving around Green Island, Australia
Green Island is one of the jewels of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. There are two things that will surprise divers, no matter where in the world they’re from. The first shock is the sheer number of people that go out onto the reef every day (Green Island included) and the second is that despite crowds of tourist boats, the diversity of marine life is incredible. About 2 million people visit the reef very year, but it’s still absolutely stunning. Underneath the pier where the tour boats tie up there is an incredible wealth of marine life- sea turtles, coral, anemones, giant clams, rays, and fish in every conceivable color, shape, and size.
At first, I headed over to the main beach as directed by the tour guides, but it soon became apparent that the beach is a play area for kids and nervous swimmers. Although I ran into the occasional turtle in the seaweed beds offshore, there wasn’t much sign of reef fish- not surprising, because the beach is a sandy beach, not a reef. To get to the good stuff you’ve got to go where the fish are, and that means the rocky sections and the pier. And there really is good stuff- this has to be one of the great shallow-water dive/snorkel sites in the world.
As soon as I approached the pylons, the reef residents appeared- scorpion fish, clown fish, anemones, parrot fish, angel fish blue tang and yellow tang. There are more than 1000 different fish species on the reef. I don’t know how many frequent the waters around Green Island, but I lost count after a few dozen. I was enthralled by the number of diversity of fish down there, each one spectacular in a different 
way.
The tour boats that stop at Green Island will also take you a little further out. The bigger operators have purpose-built pontoons, complete with lockers, snack kiosks, and everything else you could possibly want- or hate to see, if you prefer a pristine wilderness dive site over something so heavily commercialized. The reef fish don’t seem to be too bothered by it, and any development in the Great Barrier Reef area is closely monitored so it’s not the concrete nightmare it could be. The tourism here is very firmly eco-tourism, although there are inevitable problems when so many visitors come to a sensitive area like a coral reef.
In the deeper water just 20 yards from the beginner snorkelers and introductory dive classes, we found black-tipped reef sharks cruising in the darker, deeper coral holes. They seemed unperturbed by our presence, so we snapped a few photos (later lost when the film was accidentally exposed- I was devastated) and moved on. For photographers the Great Barrier Reef is a paradise. Bright, spectacular marine life is everywhere. At most of the popular dive sites, including Green Island, there is very little tidal pull, current, or heavy wave action, so getting into position is a simple and relaxed affair.
Diving at a more local site in South-East Australia the week after my Green Island experience, I was struck by the difference between the two. In Guerilla Bay my buddy and I were the only divers in the colder water. The crowds of people were gone, but so were the crowds of neon fish. Instead, Guerilla Island has kelp beds moved by strong swell, squid, big stingrays in the rocky patches, grey spotted rock cod, just the occasional tropical visitor. It wasn’t a better or worse dive- with the stunning sights of Australia’s tropical reef comes commercial tourism, so there are pros and cons of diving there.
My temperate dive at Guerilla Bay cost no more than the price of an air-fill and a couple of dollars to park the car, while the reef dive put a substantial dent in my wallet. The tour boats aren’t cheap, even if you don’t add instruction or gear hire. It’s also possible to stay on Green Island- for a price. Some of the cash made from tourists goes back to reef conservation, but a lot doesn’t. Diving on the Great Barrier Reef is big business and it is pretty expensive.
I would recommend Green Island and the nearby sites to any diver, as something to do at least once. It’s worth braving the crowds to experience the kind of richly populated, visually stunning dive you can only get at a place like the Great Barrier Reef, but it’s a little like a huge sundae with chocolate, nuts, caramel sauce, cherries, sprinkles, marshmallow and a wafer- a treat for a special occasion, not something you’d want to do every day.
Jess Spate grew up snorkelling diving in South East Australia, but now lives in the (much colder) UK. She works as a sustainable business consultant for <a href=” http://www.appoutdoors.com/”>Appalachian Outdoors</a> and is planning another visit to the reef later this year.
Image credit 1: Masao Mutoh (Masao.M) via Flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image credit 2&3: Steve Evans (babasteve) via Flickr under a Creative Commons license
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