My husband and I were very, very lucky to be able to see the abundant quantity and various species of coral and fish in the outer reef (specifically, Moore Reef). Why lucky? Firstly, the weather (wind and rain) was unpredictable. The day we were in Cairns was rainy and sea was not very calm. The rain and wind died down when we arrived at the reef area. Secondly, we went further out enough (outer reef instead of inner or near Cairns coast) to be able to see very healthy and colorful coral. The variety is amazing. We saw almost all of the species that Professor David Drewry showed us in his presentation’s slides (attached one of his photos). There were also many schools of big and small fish. We got to pat the Wally fish (see Becky’s photo) as they swam by us. Lastly, the fact that we went to a stable pontoon platform via a big catamaran (independent tour) helped a lot, in terms of less motion sickness and easier getting into those tight stink suit (protection from jellyfish) and fins, and into/out of water.
The day earlier when we snorkeled in Whitsunday (Airlie Beach), we did not see any fish or interesting coral (only some dull brown color). Think the main reason is that we were in the inner reef area. Due to short port time, our tour was shortened from the normal 7-hr to only 5-hr, hence no chance to visit the outer reef. Weather was perfect though, and we had a comfortable snorkeling experience.