Down at the bottom of the deep blue sea

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Diving - Laura's experience:

I love swimming, I love snorkelling, so it seemed logical to assume I'd take to scuba diving like the proverbial fish to water. Signing up for a 5 day PADI course was the main reason we went to Cairns in the first place, although we had to wait several days to get spaces on the ProDive course we wanted. Having both passed the medicals, although with reservations from the doctor due to Luke's propensity for nose bleeds, we spent the first few days in a mix of classroom and pool based training. The theory parts were easy and the initial pool sections a breeze, once we got over the discomfort of wearing so much gear. However, I soon discovered a previously unsuspected fear when we had to practice letting the masks fill under water and then clear them, or remove them entirely then replace. Nevertheless, with a bit of practice, we both got through the course and were kitted up for the 3 day boat trip to the reef to complete the open water course.

The boat was a mix of Open Water students, people doing more advanced courses and those fully qualified and just there for the pleasure dives. On the first dive to 9 metres, I struggled with a weight belt with a slack clip, which kept sliding down and adding an element of discomfort to the experience. However, once we got down, it was fine although I don't think many of us saw a great deal, as we were concentrating so hard on controlling buoyancy and praying there were no equipment malfunctions. Dive two however required tests of a number of skills and when I couldn't get my mask to clear, memories of being trapped underwater on that rafting trip in Peru came back and I freaked out, practically fighting the poor instructor to let me go back to the surface. Perhaps it was the fact the reef there was (in my mind) incorrectly spelled as Milln reef that made me feel uncomfortable!

No more diving for me, at least not in the near future. However, plenty good snorkelling opportunities were available and I got to see as much as the divers, indeed more in some places, as the underwater world opened up, filled with dozens of beautiful parrotfish, countless butterflyfish and angelfish and even some 'Nemo' anemonefish hiding in the corals. Snorkelling on my own gave me the opportunity to slowly cruise along, following pufferfish and chancing upon rays and new sightings such as bigfin reef squid, giant clams, chevron barracuda, crocodile needlefish and a rather large Maori Wrasse, with its Mick Jagger-esque lips. I'm sad that the diving didn't work out for me, but at least I didn't miss out completely.

Luke's bit:

Without evangelising at all, I loved diving! I won't rub it in for Laura's sake but despite my general problems with swimming in the sea, I wasn't at all freaked by this..perhaps because diving involves gadgets....

Anyway, I survived the main Open Water certification and went on to do an additional adventure diver course, which involved a really cool night dive on the reef during which we found a giant sleeping sea turtle on the bottom and thankfully no sharks whatsoever! My buddy Dan & I also realised that we needed the extra navigation skills course when we managed to get lost on the way to the reef and end up in 18m of water in open ocean at one point. We made it back to the surface slightly embarrassed but unharmed, having at least seen a big Moray Eel and a cool cuttlefish for our troubles.

On the deep dive, down to 30m or so, I managed to run out of air and had to come back up with the aid of my instructor's reserve tank...not a big problem provided I kept calm, but a pain in the backside nonetheless. I've decided I prefer not to dive too deep in future - generally just as much to see without the rapidly diminishing air issue and thus longer underwater for your money!

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