Blogs from open water, Cairns, Queensland, Australia, Oceania - page 5

Hola to all.... A little late with this blog, but I wanted to make sure to share our experience on the live aboard scuba diving boat trip we took to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia about 6 weeks ago. In a word...amazing...and awesome...two words...sorry! The boat is called the Spirit of Freedom and it was very accommodating. We arrived at the boat on day one, and met the ten crewmembers, and 16 other divers/passengers. The majority of the divers were from the US, with a few from Ireland and England and one from Australia. After the usual briefings on diving, the boat, safety, etc...we were off to the outer ribbon reefs to begin diving! Basically, we did 11 dives in 3 days...it was a 3 night/4 day trip, and it was the Cod Hole trip. ... read more

A lesser known fact about Cairns is that it is also hosting some of the best fishing spots for salt water fly fishing. Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef is strategically situated in one of the world’s top fish nests and fishing nexus. Every imaginable fish has made the Great Barrier Reef a world marine mecca. A whole lot of tourists from across Australia and even, from different parts of the world come down under to partake in this fishy journey. Not only fly fishing, but to also snorkel, scuba and float through the crystal blue depths of the reef. The real experience in fishing is being able to defeat a fish that knows how to fight well. It depends on you to whether set it free, or to keep it for food or to ... read more

Fom the Whitsundays we drove up the cost to Cairns and from there took the Osprey V to snorkel on the outer reef. Once again we swathed ourselves in revealing royal blue lycra stinger suits and ventured into the Pacific Ocean. Told we had five hours of snorkel time in two different locations I thought the time on the boat might drag a little but there was so much to see in the water that the time passed quickly. Whilst the corals were not as big as I remember from our trip 27 years ago, the variety and colours of both corals and fish seemed endless. Although we didn't manage to see any turtles whilst we were in the water, the grand finale was Wally, a huge Maorie Wrasse with beautiful markings who didn't seem to ... read more

Llegue a Cairns en avión, muy listo yo, conseguí un avión muy barato, y todo orgullosos de mi mismo me di cuenta que es que a las 6 de la mañana no puedes coger autobuses así que tienes que coger un taxi que son 30 dolares mas... Al llegar a Cairns me di una vuelta por la ciudad, que parece mas bien un pueblo de turismo. Lo que mas me sorprendió de Cairns que no tiene playa, una ciudad de turismo en el que su mayor atracción es el submarinismo para ver la barrera de coral mas grande del mundo y... no tiene playa! Andado por el paseo marítimo que se llamaba The Promenade, averiguabas porque no tenia playa, el mar era pantanoso, que es otro tipo de paisaje tropical (al igual que en Florida, por ... read more

Ende August hab ich nach dreieinhalb monaten, vier festivals und ungefaehr 50 arbeitstagen mit arbeiten aufgehoert und bin wieder nach cairns (groeesste stadt im norden queenslands und touristisches zentrum fuers great barrier reef) gefahren. dort angekommen hab ich hab ich sofort mein open water dive course und advanced course (tauchschein und fortgeschrittenenkurz)angefangen. der kurz besteht aus 2 tage theorie und pool training um tauchen an sich zu lernen und dann ging es fuer 4 tage auf das aeussere great barrier reef. nach vier trainingstauchgaengen bekommt man dann sein tauchschein und taucht mit anderen bis zu 4 mal am tag bis zu 18metern. mich erwarteten aber insgesamt 13 tauchgaenge, sprich einige tauchgaenge nach dem grundtauchschein und der fortgeschrittenenkurs, der nachtauchen und 30m tieftauchen beinhaltet. Ausserdem ein kleiner unterwasserfotografiekurs und ein navig... read more