Visit the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

With its swirling anemones, dazzling green brain coral, schools of blue and yellow butterflyfish, and powder-soft white-sand shores, the Great Barrier Reef is a natural environment at its most prolific. Stretching for more than 2,250 km (1,400 miles) along Queensland's coastline, it’s home to over 900 islands and thousands of individual reefs, encompassing everything from tropical coral cays and palm-fringed islands to coral gardens teeming with marine life.

Your days can be as languorous or as action-packed as you desire. By boat, you can sail between cays and tropical islands, pausing to swim, snorkel, or dive for views of shimmering shoals of silvery fish, ponderously slow sea turtles, and vibrant coral gardens.

Or, for an aerial perspective, you can take to the skies on a helicopter flight over Whitsunday Island’s 7 km (4 m) expanse of chalk-white sand and clear turquoise water, or clamber through Orpheus Island’s densely vegetated interior. Alternatively, you can bush walk through rocky Lizard Island, spot Heron Island's noddy terns through the dense Pisonia forests, or embark on a day cruise to the Low Isles.

Equally, you can simply embrace the slower side of life on the reef, spending your days relaxing on private beaches or snorkeling to fringing reefs from ashore.

Activities in the Great Barrier Reef

There’s no single way to experience the Great Barrier Reef. Wildlife is a major attraction — the area is teeming with rays, damselfish, dolphins, and reef sharks, which you can dive or snorkel past from many of the reef islands. Meanwhile, cruising lets you go further afield, whether you choose to travel by catamaran, semi-submersible, or even a submarine-style vessel.

You can also take part in reef walks where a guide will teach you about different marine species or take a helicopter tour over the reef, providing a bird’s-eye view of the swirling patterns of coral. And, if you’d rather stay on land, there are options for you to go bush walking with expert naturalists.

Best time to visit the Great Barrier Reef

While the Great Barrier Reef is a year-round destination, it’s best to visit between May and October when temperatures are milder, the rain and humidity levels are low, and the water is calm. However, each season offers a different perspective on the natural environment, including the wet season, December to April, when humidity is high, and rain clouds the water, but turtles are nesting, and new coral is forming. Some resorts are closed in these months.