Day 7 - Reef, Dancing and Flip Cup in Cairns

Day seven (Thu, Feb 25 in Australia) started early. We were on the docks at 7:30am to catch the Down Under Dive Great Barrier Reef boat. It was an all-day reef excursion with snorkeling, scuba diving, submarine tour and options for a helicopter ride. By the end of the day we added an extra option...booze cruise! After snorkeling and scuba diving through coral and seeing a plethora of marina life including turtles, sea cucumbers, clown fish (we found Nemo), massive napolean fish, giant clams, crocodile fish, large clams and more, we started our trek back to Cairns.


Matt, Greg, Dave and Mo lounging on the Great Barrier Reef boat.

Mo gets ready for some snorkeling. We had to wear Stinger Suits to protect us from a very deadly jelly fish that are common this time of year.

Matt ventures out into the reef.

We got lukcy and spotted a green turtle on our dives.

Greg, Matt, Mo and Dave get ready to dive!

Great Barrier Reef up close.

Dave goes swimming with the fish.

Reef life.

Wally, a Napolean fish, is the king of the area of the reef we checked out.


The return trip was highlighted with live musical entertainment from one of the staff members and free wine and cheese. Free alcohol and live music was all we needed to take it to the next level. Before they knew it we had the whole cabin singing and dancing along to Bob Marley, Neil Diamond, The Beatles and Elvis. When asked if a dance party had ever broken out on one of their boat excursions, the staff manager said, "Not in a long long time...the whole crew loved it!" The dance party didn't end when the boat docked. Using our iPod player as a boom box, we literally danced off the boat, along the dock, through the town and right to the lagoon.

Group shot from the bow of the Great Barrier Reef boat.

Dave doing his best Ace Ventura impression.

After starting the on-board dance party, the staff gave us free Coronas.

We got our beginner scuba diving certificates.

After a rince at the lagoon, we did dinner at Rattle N' Hum, one of Cairns popular eateries. A few friends from the boat came over for a pre-party and then we hit the Rhino Bar where we organized a group flip-cup game and danced the night away.

Things were looking up for the Travel In Sandals crew.

Travel In Sandals takes flip cup international...

Greg and Dave fist pumping and beating the beat.

Greg and Clare dancing on the stage at Rhino Bar.

Ohhh man...

Matt dancing the night away.

Day eight is a travel day to the famous Whitsundays Islands for a 3 day, 2 night boat trip. Check it out at http://www.islandive.com/.