Great Barrier Reef
 

Do we need to wear tennis shoes or those swim shoes when we are at the reef? I know in Hawaii that we cut our feet up at the beach because of all the coral.

Out in the barrier reef itself it is best not to touch the coral if possible, to preserve it if for no other reason. If you did walk on coral you may get some nasty looks!

Some beaches I found were a bit rocky, slimy in parts (yuk) so you may choose to wear some protective footgear at some places but generally should not be an issue. My husband took a pair of rubbery things from the dive shop but never used them.

The mainland beach sand is made of coral washed up during cyclonic weather but is well ground to be sand like.

This applies to most places I visited anyway. You may the one place that does have a different surface. !!

Treading on live coral is a definite no-no and when snorkelling you'll need fins so shoes aren't an issue. Don't even rest your feet on coral when snorkelling - the crew on your boat will come down on you like a ton of bricks. Also be careful brushing against it - a coral cut can take ages to heal. Some beaches, particularly in Whitsundays have dead coral instead of sand - a bit uncomfortable on bare feet and on shoreline where there may be dead fringing coral you'd probably need some foot protection. Don't buy coral souvenirs , it's illegal to take coral out of Australia.

I know that you are not supposed to step on the coral, what I was referring to was entering the ocean from the beach. I know in Hawaii we did not wear anything on our feet and we got cut up pretty bad. We will be going to Green Island and Upolu Cay. We plan to snorkel or possibly dive. Do you think that we need any other type of shoes to wear?

As mentioned in reply to your other posting Green Island has very little coral to cut anything on. Both it's beach and that on Upolo Cay are sand, you need to snorkel a few metres (depending on the tide) from Upolo Cay to be over the coral.