For Travel Thursdays I really enjoy sharing my pictures and telling my stories in order to paint a picture of the adventures I have had the amazing opportunity to experience.  Lately, I have been receiving some questions regarding more advice and suggestions for the “best of” during my travels.  Luckily since I am extremely detail-oriented and thorough, I conduct much research when planning and preparing for each trip.  Therefore, my hope is to use this knowledge and my experiences to help offer suggestions and advice after each new adventure.  So, beginning today, I am starting a “BEST OF” list which I will post on each Travel Thursdays post.  Hopefully this “BEST OF” list can provide some further insight into each travel adventure, or if anything, give you an idea of my favorite part of each trip.

The “BEST OF” list for Hamilton Island I have included at the end of this post.  Now, one of the items in this “BEST OF” list is the BEST of the BEST, as mentioned in last week’s post…Hamilton Island is a jumping-off point for seeing the Great Barrier Reef!

So after a short ferry ride back to the mainland, we met our guide for the day on Airlie Beach and got a glimpse of our transportation for the day…unbelievable!!!  We were getting on a seaplane where we would view the Great Barrier Reef from the air before landing on the water to snorkel in a private sheltered lagoon, surrounded by the reef!  What an amazing experience!

Here we go!  Oh by the way, I’m very afraid of flying…

Open your eyes Grace!  It was just beautiful.  I couldn’t believe we were actually going to see the Great Barrier Reef from the sky!  And finally after years and years of reading about it, we were going to see THE HEART REEF!

Look at the colors!

There it is!!! Our first glimpse of THE HEART REEF!

It was just beautiful!  A perfectly shaped little heart, right in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef!

Continuing on, we made our way closer to the water and landed so smoothly between the reefs.

It was just breathtaking!  Here are some shots from the boat.

After a bit of snorkeling, in the freezing cold water I might add, we were off on our way to Whitehaven Beach – the 7th most beautiful beach in the world.

Tah Tah for now…

 “BEST OF” LIST – HAMILTON ISLAND, AUSTRALIA

1.)  It’s a jumping-off point for seeing the Great Barrier Reef, especially HEART REEF
2.)  Sunsets while dining at Marina Tavern (picture below)
3.)  Local bird watching (pictures here)
4.)  The view from our hotel room – REEF VIEW HOTEL
5.)  The entire island is car-free!  Golf buggies are the main form of transportation, which makes the stay on the island even more fun.
6.)  Fresh, hot sweet buns from BOB’S BAKERY every morning