Today we were finally going out on the water. We had booked this tour with the Bullet yesterday. It's said to be extremely calm in the water.
While we were waiting for the pickup service at the meeting point in front of the campsite shortly before 8 a.m., a young couple from Germany joined us. They had booked the same tour. We quickly got into conversation, and when the lady from the driving service gave us travel tips and asked us questions about our travels, the mood was quickly at its peak.
When we arrived at the harbor, we had to fill out a few forms before we finally set off. First, we went to Point Bay, where we took a short hike to two viewing platforms. From there, we had a beautiful view over Whitehaven Bay. Unfortunately, we arrived at high tide and could only see the winding waterways indicated by the water's color. Yesterday we flew over it at low tide, and it looked completely different then.
After everyone had taken their obligatory photos, we went back on board and made our way to Whitehaven Beach. On the way there, we encountered some larger waves. However, the skipper did a really good job and immediately stabilized the boat through clever steering maneuvers.
Once on the beach, we made ourselves comfortable in the sand and now had 2 hours to bask in the sun and finally eat something. In the meantime, it looked like it might rain, but after we had blown away the clouds, the sun quickly came out.
Finally, the Bullet took us to a really nice snorkeling area. Of course, I immediately searched for anemones and their residents (Nemo and Dory). Unfortunately, neither were to be found. Steffi wasn't lucky in her search either. The other two weren't lucky with Nemo either, but they were fortunate enough to meet a turtle. Thanks to Cyclone Debbie, these can't be found here.
Unfortunately, we were only allowed to stay in the water for 40 minutes before heading back to Airlie Beach. Since the skipper gave it his all to keep the boat rocking as little as possible, we decided he definitely deserved a tip. The price of $132 (about 90 euros) for this full day was absolutely justified.
Back at the campsite, we all went to shower to get rid of the salt water and warm up because the wind was quite fresh. Then the four of us sat together in the camp kitchen and cooked together. We spent the rest of the evening chatting and playing games.