Early morning was the best time to dive as the reef awakens.

The Great Barrier Reef is home to roughly 400 types of hard and soft corals.

Drifting above the coral provides an interesting view from a different angle. Best done from a few feet up. If you get too close you risk damaging the coral (and yourself). Surprisingly, I didn't have as much trouble buoyancy as I expected  and was able to drift along fairly level (except when my tank got too light). No scrapes for me!

In addition to the corals, there are thousands of  mollusks, sponges, worms, crabs, shrimps, sea urchins, starfish, sea cucumbers, and about 1500 species of fish.