Swimming with colourful fish at the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Photo. Me diving at the Great Barrier Reef, outside Cairns in Australia. 

At first, we were unsure. Are there sharks? Has anyone been attacked? What about dangerous creatures like Box Jellyfish or Stonefish? We had all the questions and a bit of fear. But in the end, curiosity won. We signed up for a scuba diving course, and we’ve never looked back. The real magic waited for us beneath the surface.

First of all, I needed feel very safe before I could fully take in all that is around me. I knew there were risks. So, I kept my eyes open, alert and wide, trying to take in everything while staying grounded in the moment. I had to recognize my limits - physically and emotionally – tried to relax and enjoy my adventure. As a beginner, I just dived down to between 5 and 12 meters (15–36 feet), but that was enough for me to experience this wonder of the underwater world.

We swam with strange fish that didn’t seem real. They came in all shapes, sizes and colours. And they had sharp, bony rays and spines in their fins. 

Coral gardens stretched in every direction. The corals were like an underwater forest - alive with shapes and colours I had never seen before. There were soft corals waving gently with the current, and hard ones standing like sculptures in every shade - pinks, purples, oranges, and even neon green.

The ocean didn’t just show us beauty - it revealed something deeper. That courage often waits just beyond the comfort zone. And sometimes, all it takes to change your world is one breath beneath the surface.

Stein Morten Lund, June 2025

Additional information
The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system, composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,300 kilometres (1,400 mi) over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres (133,000 sq mi). The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, Australia, separated from the coast by a channel 160 kilometres (100 mi) wide in places and over 61 metres (200 ft) deep. 

The Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space and is the world's biggest single structure made by living organisms. This reef structure is composed of and built by billions of tiny organisms, known as coral polyps. It supports a wide diversity of life and was selected as a World Heritage Site in 1981 (source: Wikipedia). Read more about The Great Barrier Reef on Wikipedia.