Another bright and early start meant no lie in but had a cheeky McDonalds on the way down. I've later found out that this could possible be one of the worse foods to eat prior to diving due to the high fat content...oh well..
Cairns is THE place for Great Barrier Reef diving so much so that a purpose built Reef Terminal has been built just in front of the marina to deal with the enquiries and check ins for all the main companies. It's a vast impressive building and certainly creates a feeling of professionalism when you turn up to dive.
Our on board photographer took our boarding photo and made sure our names were on stickers that we'd wear for the rest of the day whilst on deck. This was a clever move as it meant all the staff could address you by name creating another impression that they'd all remembered your name...It took quite a while before I sussed that I still had my sticker on!
The second part was the medical that threw up the shocker of the holiday - Amber's asthma and past medical history meant that the dive doctor couldn't clear her to scuba dive. It was a real stunner that shocked us both and almost put a downer on the whole day before we'd even started. Determination kicked in not to ruin it so booked Amber in for a massage, helicopter ride and a joint adventure snorkel later in the day.
The site, named Marine World, was a fixed pontoon 60nm out to sea that had a reowned good part of the reef underneath. We've since found out that the company's site and hospitality has a good reputation in Cairns that led to Queensland Tourism taking a supermodel out to promote themselves using Reef Magic the week before.
Marine World had plenty of space to accomodate the day cruisers, sun deck, massage area, various boarding decks for the helicopter and submersible tours, children's snorkelling area and lifeguard patrolled main snorkelling area. It also had plenty of seating for lunch and general rest so was very well appointed.
My first dive was also the first of the day and for some reason didn't have a 'buddy' so had the dive instructor watching my back.
Giant Trevally or GTs were circling the Moon Pool, where the scuba divers had to demonstrate basic skills before being let loose underwater.
The dive consisted of linking arms with the dive instructor who gave you an underwater tour of the reef's fish and corals...
.. including 'Wally', the local Humphead Maori Wrasse and various sea cucumbers. I was under for 25mins and dived to a depth of 7m but seemed like an eternity!
Being underwater is just like the screensavers and pictures you see but with an added 25% to give you the tone, shadow and colour. It was truely incredible and one of the best things I've ever done. I was hooked so booked another secondary dive for the afternoon.
Amber's 30min massage certainly chilled her out before the helicopter ride. Unfortunately it was only a 5mins flight but she did see groups of reef from above and another angle for the day. The spectacular rings highlighted the different depths of water and was hopeful of seeing some wildlife but to no avail.
Amber was back before I so had a quick refreshment on board,
Before the free underwater submersible with the clear bottom. It worked out very well the timings and the boat's design was equally good. Bench seating in the keel that had clear windows all along.
More fish and corals were explained to everyone via commentary from a guide with us. The standard blue photos came out but have been told to play with the red settings and they may come out a bit better!
A superb buffet lunch consisted of breads, vegetables, prawns, fresh fruit, couscous, curry and rice, vegetable lasagne..it went on and on...
The second scuba dive was equally if not more impressive. This time it was a private tour accessing parts of the reef the first dive didn't cover and rather than being linked allowed me to swim and dive unaided. The feeling of weightlessness and freedom was like nothing experienced before. The breathing through regulators can be, on the first dive, quite suppressing making you feel trapped but the second dive is more comfortable as you're more relaxed. I could have dived for ever...air withstanding...and managed to see an abundance of different fish and coral...too many to detail. The quiet, the colour, the environment was magic.
The afternoon adventure snorkel was quite an adventure. It was advertised as a guided snorkel tour with a marine biologist which sounds good but when you think about it a bit more could prove more difficult. It wasn't and in fact was extremely well done. Groups of 12 went into the sea at high tide that created currents around the reef that would aid our swim. Every few metres our guide would drop her head underneath to see what was there and then explain to the group. The benefits of snorkelling is that your ears can still be above the water when you're face down. It was quite surreal being so far out at sea yet in a group getting a tour about the Great Barrier Reef but just brilliant.
More refreshments were provided on the way back whilst the photos were organised and printed for those that wanted to. For those that had scuba dived a certificate was presented by the dive instructor and could if need be be used as proof for a certification. I wonder if I'll get the chance in Alice Springs????
Just so you, some of these photos were taken by the photographer on board in case you were wondering? Can you guess which ones?
