Diving the Great Barrier Reef!

From Sydney we flew to Cairns to start our open water diving course! The first 2 days were spent learning the theory and getting familiar with the dive equipment in the pool. We had the best instructor that anyone could ask for – very knowledgeable, vibrant and always happy!

There were 14 people on the course which made it a very big group… On the third day we were taken to a day boat that takes people on day trips to the Great Barrier Reef and to the overnight boat. The trip out was quite bumpy and a few people were looking very green! We were transferred to the overnight boat, had lunch and waited patiently for our first open water dive in the afternoon. Sean and I had bought our own masks to dive with and this was the first time we would be using them… Sean was not very comfortable when he put his on – he was sure air was leaking in through somewhere. We then got into the water with our instructor and had to snorkel to the boats anker rope before we descended.

We started descending down the rope – Sean and I were the last 2 to descend. We started descending and when I looked around Sean was nowhere to be found… I was very worried and didn’t know whether to signal to the instructor or to go back up and find Sean – but the rules are stay with your buddy!

So back up I went to find Sean. He was on the surface holding a lens from his mask in his hand – his mask had broken! Sean was given a new mask thrown to him from someone on the boat and down we went again. It was a scary feeling at first but once you see what is down there the feeling disappears quickly!

We had to do 5 open water dives before we were certified – and this included many skills – taking your mask off and clearing the water from your mask, buddy breathing and how to retrieve your regulator once its been knocked out.

We decided to do the adventurer course too which includes a deep dive (30m), night dive and navigation dive.

It was an amazing experience to see the under water world! And cant wait to dive again!

Once back in Cairns we did a day trip to Kuranda on a scenic railway train. It was a very hot and humid day so we walked around Kuranda - which is filled with markets and small shops. We then headed back to Cairns with the Skyrail which is the highest skyrail in the world and it goes over a rainforest – very picturesque.