Hey. I have been out with Reef Encounter on two different occasions, and would go back in a heartbeat. They run a service called 'Top Deck' which gives you a dedicated dive guide, state room and a few other bell and whistles. You pay for the privilege but in my opinion its worth every cent. They dive the usual suspects, in term of Saxon and Normal Reefs for example, and I went back mid last year specifically because of all I had heard about the bleaching. Not minimising anything, but I had a marine biologist tell me that the GBR has been there millions of years before we were and its going to be there millions of years after we're gone! Its going through a marine cycle that has been happening for thousands of years, and it will rejuvenate itself over time. I saw one small amount of bleaching in 3 days, but was encouraged to see new growth becoming well established too. I had it explained much the same way as a bush fire, in that while its a disaster at the time, the eco system comes back and rejuvenates bigger and better than before. I'm sure there are counter arguments for all of this, so I guess it all comes down to personal experience (as mentioned above). I love the GBR and I'll be back again for sure. Cheers and happy diving, Don. PS If you had longer, someone like Mike Ball would be great too, as they get to the very outer reefs like the Cod Hole etc., which operators like Reef Encounter don't.
