How to enjoy Australia’s wondrous Great Barrier Reef as a non-swimmer

That said, the Great Barrier Reef has always been a star attraction in Australia, alluring travellers with its picture postcard images of the seabed, blanketed by colourful coral reefs and schools of curious fish that encircled snorkelers and divers.

Located in the Tropical North Queensland region in northeastern Australia, the UNESCO world heritage site of the Great Barrier Reef is home to the world’s largest coral reef system. So large, in fact, that it is said to be visible from space.

But if you are not a confident swimmer, or indeed, know any swimming at all, there is still a way to enjoy this brilliant living ecosystem. That is on a cruise with a responsible ecotravel company like Quicksilver Cruises, on a boat that takes travellers from the small town of Port Douglas to Agincourt Reef, a pristine outer stretch of the Great Barrier Reef.

Helmeted diving for non-swimmers

On a bright and sunny morning recently, I joined Liz Inglis from the regional tourism board on this cruise, who explained why Quicksilver Cruises was the ideal choice from the plethora of operators: not only are they one of the oldest in the business, but they also take their commitment to responsible reef tourism seriously.

And the Great Barrier Reef is certainly in need of responsible tourists (and tour operators), who respect the fragile nature of the coral reefs, and maintain a safe distance from them. Quicksilver’s wave piercer boat — named for its sleek design that allows the boat to cut effortlessly through the ocean — also allows for smooth sailing, reducing the seasickness element for those with weak stomachs.

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Apart from that, our decision to join Quicksilver Cruises was dictated by the fact that they had enough on offer for people like me without swimming experience or a debilitating fear of water. These experiences included helmeted diving, an underwater observatory, a ride on a semisubmersible and, finally, helicopter rides for a bird’s eye view of the entire seascape (which was unfortunately not available that day).

The ride from the Port Dougal jetty to Agincourt Reef takes 90 minutes, but that time passed quickly with all the safety briefings from the staff and the presentations from the marine biologists. Thankfully, the sea was calm, and glittering 50 shades of blue in the mild winter sunshine, which made for an even easier ride.

Upon docking at the floating pontoon at the edge of the reef, everyone got off the boat and changed into swimwear (or not, for some chose to just sunbathe on the open terrace) to start exploring this incredible underwater world. The first activity was the underwater walk, called helmeted diving, designed specifically for non-swimmers. That meant wearing a weighted vest on top of the mandatory wet suit and a sealed helmet that weighed 35 kg on land — but thankfully just a fifth of that inside water.

Home to over 1500 species of fish

We walked down the short ramp leading to the underwater platform, which would be our base for the next 20 minutes. There was no time to feel nervous or scared. For the minute I stepped on the underwater platform, the fish arrived in large numbers to say hello. Tiny and yellow, orange and wide-mouthed, white-and-black-striped… it was a veritable rainbow down there. And it was instantly mesmerising.

This activity required no effort, just the need to stand still and get used to the strange and thrilling experience of being under water, even as the fish swam all around, brushing against the thick glass visor of the helmet. After a few minutes, as the dive instructor opened a packet of fish feed, hundreds more appeared out of nowhere, their little mouths working furiously around her fingers holding the packet.

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Back on the pontoon, it was time for a quick lunch onboard before boarding the semi-submersible to go back into the water and see more of the corals through the glass windows. We floated silently along what seemed like entire forests of splendid corals named after their shapes: think staghorn, mushroom, boulder and cauliflower.

According to our guide who was providing a running commentary on the sights, some of these corals were hundreds of years old and still growing slowly but steadily every year. That was heartening to hear, since the only news that keeps popping up about these coral reefs suggests that they are dying at a rapid and alarming rate.

Then there were the schools of fish swimming together in intricate formations, their names as evocative as their colours and patterns: angel fish, parrot fish, butterfly fish. And then a grey reef shark! Sleek and swift, this solitary shark swam around the vehicle, teasing us by darting in and out of our view.

The smaller fish kept their distance from him, in a fascinating display of the tenuous relationship between predator and prey in the depths of the ocean. Over 1500 species of fish — that is a tenth of all fish species in the world — call the Great Barrier Reef home, and some snorkellers and divers are lucky enough to see even dolphins, porpoises and turtles in the water.

Snorkelling with a life jacket

Another (dry) way to observe the reef was from the underwater observatory, from where you can watch the corals illuminated by the muted sunrays filtering in through the water and the snorkelers wading up close to the fish. After a few moments, I realised that I wanted more than just to see it through a glass barrier. And the easiest way to get up close and personal to marine life was snorkelling.

So, there was no choice but to take a deep breath, send up a silent prayer and don the snorkel mask (not to forget the crucial life jacket). Luckily, there were mooring ropes from the pontoon into the water to mark the area that was safe to swim in, and there was plenty of activity within these boundaries. Indeed, there was a whole new world out there, as fragile as it was fascinating.

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Viewing the abundant and intricate marine ecosystem of the Great Barrier Reef was an unmatched experience, and snorkelling with a life jacket on and safety ropes to hold on to made it accessible to everyone. And so I snorkelled on, drawn by the siren song of the lush corals and the multitudes of fish swarming around them. There was never a dull or boring moment, with something popping up in every direction.

The Great Barrier Reef is facing various kinds of threats, from corals getting bleached by the global increase in temperatures, to native fish feeding off them for their nourishment. But they continue to survive and even thrive in the face of all the ecological and manmade stress. As travellers, we just need to treat it with the respect it deserves, and hope that it continues to flourish and delight future generations.