Hi all,

SE QLDer here who's lived overseas for three years - I'm returning to the motherland this Christmas and am keen to show my Brit spouse the Great Barrier Reef. We were thinking of going on a snorkelling day trip from Cairns that takes us out to the reef.

I've only been reef snorkelling once before, in 2012 and it was off the coast near Bundaberg so further down south. It was a pretty disappointing experience - just bleached coral everywhere. Based on what I've been hearing in the news it sounds like the Reef is basically all bleached and dead, but there's got to be some spots that are alive - what's the best spot to visit that's still got some life in it?

I'm not up to speed so if there's something we need to be educated on, please don't be shy and tell us. If this kind of thing is actually damaging to the reef obviously we don't want to contribute to it. Thanks in advance.