Whitehaven Beach and Scuba Diving

When we woke up we saw a shark chasing something...

Later we saw a green turtle.

The beautiful sand of Whitehaven Beach.

All of the passengers

Captain Lindsay at the helm and his able assistant.

I went for a dive which I enjoyed but my ears bothered me a bit.

Hideaway beach.

Thursday, July 7^th

We were all up by 6:30 for a breakfast of bacon and eggs at 7:00. While we were waiting we saw a shark fin swimming in the shallows and obviously chasing something. We also saw a number of turtles too. Then we were loaded up in the boat and shuttled to 'Shitty' Beach (because it was all pebbles and pieces of broken coral) to take a 4 kilometre hike to a lookout over Whitehaven Beach. From this vantage point we could see the beautiful swirls in the sand that the receding tide leaves on the beach. Really a gorgeous view with the white sand and the patterns. Then we hiked down to the beach and walked around on the sand to the shallows where we could see a number of small stingrays and lemon sharks. Apparently this area is a nursery for both species.

After that we re-boarded the boat and went for a real sail sixteen kilometres up the east side of Whitsunday Island. It was interesting watching the crew climbing up and down the rigging to put up all the sails.

The crew were a great bunch of guys. Eager, fun, enthusiastic, entertaining and obviously love their jobs. They reminded me of the guys from the African safari trip. The Italian couple who have been quite shy are becoming more friendly. The husband Giuseppe just retired. They are obviously having a great time and are a very loving couple.

We arrived at Lunch Bay by two and had our lunch. Then five of us were shuttled to the scuba diving boat and the rest went snorkeling off of the beach. It was great to scuba again as it's been a few years. I remembered how to do everything but I had trouble getting my ears to equalize. I went with an instructor and three other people. We swam past a number of great coral formations which were healthy looking and very colourful with lots of fish too that swam out to check you out. Didn't see anything usual but not disappointed. After my scuba Scottie took me to the beach where I snorkeled for a while before we all had to board the boat again. Then we motored up the east side of the island to our mooring place for the last night. We arrived right at sunset. We haven't see any clouds for two days. We had a snack of nachos and some fruit.

Tonight the dolphin light drew in a shark that cruised around us for a while and then a single dolphin which chased the shark away and hung around eating the small fish that were attracted by the light.

Everyone was tired tonight and turned in by 10.