The Great Barrier Reef stretches over 2600 km and lies between 50 and 200 km away from the coast of Queensland - nearer to the coast in the north, and further away in the south. Its southern end lies on the latitude of Rockhampton, incidentially also the tropic of Capricorn, the southern limit of the tropics. It is the longest barrier reef in the world (called by some the largest living organism, but that is clearly nonsense as it consists of zeptillions of coral polyps).