Scuba Certification in the Great Barrier Reef

Well, I'm sure that the title tells you all you need to know, so I'm going to leave it at the....




Yeah just kidding. It was too fantastic for me NOT to tell you about it.

July 10 and 11 2009

I had to go through class. That was really all we did. We had some time in the classroom where we learned the theory then we all hoped into a pool and began our practical. It did not take long for me to get the name "giggles" yet again. It all really started because they had us do 16 laps of the pool. Well, I was having so much fun doing this that I was laughing the whole time. Everyone hated me for that because they were beginning to struggle.

It was really bizzare putting on that wet suit for the first time, then putting together the our tanks knowing that that was going to be our life line. Lucky for us, we had awsome instructors so we were much less afraid than I think we should have been. Basically we spent the next 4 hours doing different exercises that would be what we would need to know while 18 meters under water, instead we were only 1.5 meters down.

So you don't need to hear all about the classroom stuff so we'll get to the good stuff.

July 12, 2009

It was an early morning to get us to the boat. Once at the boat we still had a long ride out. Of course the sea was very choppy so there were many people who got sick. Thankfully I did not. That would have been horrible to be sick then go diving for the first time in open water. AAAHHHH!!!

After a short briefing we were geared up and getting in for the first time. It was so amazing to jump in and be able to see the bottom and all the coral and the fish. And to think, that was the worst site we dove at. It was nice, because we got to just swim around and enjoy everything.

Once we got out we had a massive lunch all prepared for us.

(Just so you know this may seem repetative and I'm sorry)

Then another briefing and we were back in the water. This time we had to do some exercises. It's very distracting when you see fish every where and you just want to follow them around. There were just sooooo many and of all different colors. But I did it and passed that dive.

That was actually our last dive for that day, but a group of us went out snorkeling. We got to see a shark just chilling on the bottom of the ocean. We also saw a whole cluster of Nemo fish. Well, actually cousins of Nemo, but it was good enough for me.

That night the certified divers all went diving and while we watched them go in we saw a massive shark swim around the boat. Glad I wasn't in the water.

July 13, 2009

Bight and early we were in the water. This was at a new sight and more impressive. From a distance we saw a sea turtle eatting away. We also saw a sting ray, and another shark. Really as cool as all that is, the most impressive part is just the color and all the fish, and the variety of fish.

After Breakfast, we had one last dive. This was a very relaxed dive seeing as it was our last before we were certified open water divers. Yay, us!!!

We all had a celebration. Of course, without alcohole because if we drank we would not be able to dive again for the day. So guess what that means. After Lunch we all jumped in and got to just explore on our own. Yeah that was totally different. We actually had to pay attention to where we were and figure out how to get back to the boat. So I guess we spent more time doing that then looking around, but we did get to see some cool stuff. We saw a turtle eatting and stuck around it long enough that we got to swim right up with it. It was so totally cool.

After that, some of us decided to upgrade to an Adventure certification, so we had to do a few more dives with instructors. One including a night dive. Yep, so that night we all geared up and jumped right back into the water. To be honest, there really wasn't much to see, but we did see this massive turtle, sleeping in it's nest. That was truely a highlight. We all had torches, but you couldn't see much with them. They were more of a security, plus they scared away all the stuff that comes out at night.

July 14, 2009

We got up even earlier this morning. The sun was just getting over the horizion when we were jumping in the water. This didn't matter, because we were going for our deep dive. We were told the bottom was only 28 meters. According to my guage, while I was kneeling at the bottom I was at 30.6 meters. Oops, that's lower than I'm allowed. Tell no one.... We got to see how the color changes down there, then basically we just swam around. It was just a drop off with coral all on it, and it looks like a ski slope, which was the name of that sight. Pretty cool.

So then it was breakfast time. Once again another very satisfying meal.

At this time many people were allowed to dive, but not us deep divers. There is a whole much of calculations that need to be made to figure out when, how often, and how deep you can dive. Basically we dove deep enough that enough time had not passed, so we could not dive. But, before anyone got their gear to go diving again, a whale was spotted off in the distance. All of us fought to get into our suits so we could jump in to snorkle to see the whale. Sure enough we all got in and the whale swam right below us. Only maybe 20 meters or less. It was so crazy. It was a minke whale and beautiful.

So our last and final dive we had to make an elective. My Buddy (Nathan) and I chose photography. It was hard, but we got some good photos. But I wished we could have gotten to dive there more. They call it the Cathedrals, but basically it was just towers and tunnels of coral. The sun had come out for us and was making the color fantastic. It was truely the best dive sight of them all.

So finally we had to pack up all our gear and head back to the real world. We had to make one stop. A hump back whale was spotted along the way and this was even a first for some of the instructors. That's how rare that is. So we truely got one of the best trips one could ask for.

Well, we are all about to head out for dinner, then I leave on a bus at 12:35am to Airlie Beach. Hope to get in touch with you all soon.

Cheers from Cairns again!!