Laying low at idyllic reef
Easygoing island full of wonder
SNORKELLING in the sandy channel between Low Island and Woody Island, I came across a long piece of rope, laid out along on the sea floor.
It took me a few seconds to realise what I was actually looking at: it was no rope, rather the tail (and barb) of an enormous stingray, casually just lying there camouflaged in the white substrate.
It’s not recommended snorkelling above stingrays at the best of times, but there was really no cause for alarm: it seemed the ray was far more content to remain sitting there minding its own business, as much as I was exploring the depths surrounding one of the Great Barrier Reef’s most historic offshore destinations.
Low Isles, situated 15km off the coast of Port Douglas, is one of the most easygoing places to experience the Reef.
The isles consists of the two islands – one uninhabited and full of mangroves, and a smaller island which is a sandy coral cay with a small forest and large lighthouse.
The view of the cay, Low Island, when you are sailing in from Port Douglas on-board Quicksilver Cruises’ catamaran Wavedancer, is almost a dreamscape: crystal clear blue water, a white sandy island, emerald vegetation and then this white lighthouse capped with a bright red roof.
You almost feel like staying on-board the vessel and just painting this stunning view.
But, you don’t of course, because the water beckons.
Once you are ferried to the beach, you strap on a snorkel and flippers.
The moment I plunged into the water, I encountered not one, but two small blacktip reef sharks, bolting after a school of fish. The predators were no bigger than my forearm, and I felt completely at ease. Large, healthy-looking boulders of coral had hordes of reef fish buzzing around them, tending to algae and other morsels.
And crevices hid some of the reef’s more shy critters.
Towelling off after a dip, there is a short 15-minute walk around the sandy island.
Captain James Cook discovered Low Isles in 1770, describing it in his log as a “small low island”.
Since then, the tiny piece of land and its 22ha of coral have played an important part of history, maintaining weather records since 1887, becoming the base in 1928 for a year-long reef scientific survey.
This study was the first of its kind in the world and many current theories of coral reef are based on its findings.
The lighthouse, first lit in 1878, still has caretakers.
If you join the Low Isles Preservation Society, you can sign up as a volunteer to take over duties whenever the caretaker is away on holidays.
Not that you imagine this happens much – it would be difficult to imagine anyone wanting to escape this slice of paradise.