Diving The Great Barrier Reef

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Arrival In Cairns

Our bus came in at 6:30am so after making it to Koala Hostel to claim a free night, courtesy of our quiz win. We had a quick sleep before hitting the streets in search of tour operators to arrange some diving and a trip to Cape Tribulation. Once we had done this, we headed for a walk around Cairns to get a taster of the place (pretty nice town) and got some tasty Mexican grub at Koalas (seems to be their speciality) for a cheap price. A jug of beer went down well and we headed to bed early after doing an essential laundry in preperation for the dive trip the next day.

Great Barrier Reef

We were both really excited but also a bit nervous about diving again as it had been over 6 months since we completed our PADI course. We checked out of our room at 7am and headed for the "E Finger" where the Tusa 5 was awaiting our arrival. As we boarded the boat, checked in with reception and settled in the main saloon with a complimentary cup of tea and cookie in hand, we smiled at each other and agreed this was the nicest boat that we had ever been on. This was definately a few steps up from the dive boat in Koa Tao, at last a bit of luxury for the backpackers!!

As we came out of the harbour we were introduced to each of the crew members and their role throughout the day and the presentation was very professional with everyone well informed of what to expect for the day ahead. It was a rather bleak day in Carins however we were not particularly bothered knowing fine well that we would be spending most of our time underwater. The skipper did inform us that the trip may get a bit rough as we passed over certain parts of the reef on our way to the first dive location "Saxon Reef" however this would only last around 20 minutes of our 90 minute journey. Sadly this was not to be the case and it was quite rough the majority of the trip. Gary and myself were completely fine, however there were a number of passengers on board who resided to the back of the boat firmly clasping a sick bag, which belive it or not had instructions for use inside!

Not all passengers on board were qualified scuba divers, in fact there was only seven of us. Some of the other passengers were trying out an introductory dive for the day while the rest were snorkling. As we travelled out to Saxon Reef we were split into our groups and briefed on the conditions, the dive site itself, buddied up and provided with all our gear. We hired out an underwater camera from one of the dive shops in Cairns. We were unsure as to how easy it was going to be to take photos underwater, but we decided that we would give it a go. Gary was excited about the prospects of photographing Nemo so he decided that he would try out the camera on the first dive. The pictures we have from the camera are really good quality but they actually don't do the reef justice; the camera doesn't pick up the colours as vibrantly. Still, well worthwhile getting though.

All geared up and excited but slightly nervous, I jumped into the water. The view from the surface was great, from that point my nerves seemed to disappear and I couldnt wait to get down there. There was only one other couple in the group with our dive guide, as we began to descend, I looked up and the surface and noticed that Gary seemed to be having trouble descending. After a few minutes he did not seem to be getting down any deeper, so the dive master instructed us to stay there while she went to assist him. While they were back at the surface the professional on board photographer took us around and we managed to get our pictures taken beside Nemo. Before not to long the dive master had caught up with us and signaled that Gary was experiencing some problems with one of his ears and that she was now my buddy. Despite being concerned about Gary I had no option but to carry on with the dive as there was no point both of us missing out.

The dive was spectacular, the colours of the coral were great and we were able to see so many different marine life. Debbie the dive master was extremely knowledgable and pointed out a number of different types or coral including the lettuce and the cucumber using a write-on board. The dive site had a lot of hard and soft coral, giving a nice contrast in texture as well as colour. After some time the other couple in the dive group were beginning to run low in air and were advised to resurface and terminate their dive. In Queensland it is law that divers must resurface with no less that 50 bar of air in their tank. Both myself and Debbie still had plenty of air so we continued the dive.

Apon resurfacing and getting back on board, I could see Gary sitting beside his dive gear not looking particularly happy as one could imagine. He advised me that he was not able to eaqualise on the descent and that his ears were hurting. He had still not fully recovered from the cold he had since leaving Sydney and you are always advised not to dive with a cold due to it causing problems equalizing. He thought he had recovered enough though. Concerned that he could do damage to his ears I said that he should not risk it as by this point he was not even able to eaqualise on the surface. I suggested that he went in for a snorkle instead as there was only 30 mins surface time between the first and second dive and then try again on the third dive after lunch. There was also around 15 metres of visibility so he would not have any problems in seeing marine life. Slightly annoyed but in agreement that this was the safest thing to do, Gary went for a snorkle and I took the underwater camera in for the second dive.

The other couple in the group decided to go solo with the second dive, so I joined one of the other dive masters groups for the second dive. It took a little bit of getting used to carrying a camera underwater and trying to remain completely still in order to take photos so that they did not turn out blurry or scare the fish away. Photographing the coral was much easier than the marine life which resulted in the number of coral pictures ourweighing the marine life by far. I tried following a stingray at one point however it was slightly faster than I was. My highlight of the day came in dive two when we spotted a turtle above getting some air. We watched it as it came back down and settled on the ocean floor. It was amazing to see and I was able to get really close to it for a great picture!! Underwater success!!

As I resurfaced I could see Gary coming swimming towards me. Both of us with complete excitement on our faces, he unfortunately had not experienced the turtle, however he did spot a white tipped reef shark during his snorkle which he decided to follow for some time. He also spotted a number of other marine life and coral from the surface. One advantage in snorkling is that due to the proximity to the surface, the colours are a lot more visible due to the light not being as diluted, so I think Gary was actually presently surprised how much he could see, in visibility, the reef colours and the marine life. On saying that, he said he was still desperate to go deeper to try to see more. Both happy with our experiences we dryed off and headed into the saloon for a very nice healthy buffet lunch.

As we headed off to "Hastings Fish Bowl", our dive location for the third dive, we were given a presentation on the marine life and coral found on the great barrier reef. Unknown to many passengers on board the boat, coral infact is actually an animal, from the jelly fish family.

Gary decided to try the third dive site and with success he managed to descend without too much bother and enjoy and dive the great barrier reef. This site was much more about the coral than the marine life. The colours were much more spectacular than the previous dive site, we even managed to see some spectacular Giant Reef Clams. It was good fun having the underwater camera with us and we managed to get some good photos of us sporting our sexy wetsuits and dive masks!! Keeping an eye on my air levels, I was beginning to get the feeling of never wanting this experience to end. I had really settled back into the way of diving again, and in fact enjoyed diving on the Great Barrier Reef so much more than that of Koh Tao. As Gary resurfaced due to lack of air I knew that I did not have much time left in this tranquil place and wanted to have many remiders so I frantically snapped away on the camera making the most of the unlimited photos on the memory card.

Back on board with a warm cup of tea in hand, we enjoyed the return trip back to Cairns while scrolling through the images that we had captured underwater. A great day enjoyed by all. We are now hoping that we will be doing a bit more diving in Fiji depending on money, and hopefully Gary's ear will be better then.

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Photos

Gary
After his Snorkle