Great Barrier Reef, Day 1/2

The last occasion that I swam at the Great Barrier Reef was about six years ago and I was keen to pay a repeat visit, this time with the ability to scuba dive. Alison and I had booked a three day live-aboard dive trip as part of this extended Australia holiday, but neither of us really knew what to expect, other than the option of lots of diving.

We were booked with a dive shop called ProDive in Cairns, who turned out to live up to their name. There were about 34 guests on the boat, some of whom were doing a PADI Open Water or Advanced course, with other such as us already certified, and a few snorkelers too. Our dive boat had a crew of 6, including instructors, dive master, captain and not least, the cook. The boat itself was well designed for its role, and we had a small but adequate cabin to ourselves.

The dive schedule was quite intensive, with four dives scheduled for day 1 and 2 and three more on day 3. My first dive didn’t last that long as I was getting though air too rapidly, but still long enough to take in the wonderful coral gardens and the great variety of small and large fish that inhabit the reef. Dive 2 was over even quicker for me as I got sick, apparently from the effects of the breathing problem on dive 1. I decided to pass on the remaining dives that day, but was feeling OK again by the evening.

The next day I was fully recovered and we were woken early for the fist dive of the day at 7:30. The boat moves to a new site after one or two dives at a particular location, so by now we were on to our third dive site. There was even more marine life around here than on the previous day’s sites, and we spotted several turtles and reef sharks. Unfortunately my camera was playing up so I’m afraid I did not manage to get too many good photos. For me, the highlight of day 2 was my first night dive. This involves carrying torches underwater and trying to spot the fish that come out to feed at this time. The first sight to greet us when we got into the water was several sharks circling round our little group of divers. Apparently, this was nothing to get too concerned about. These small reef sharks tend not to eat people! The rest of the dive was surprisingly mellow and relaxing and certainly an experience not to be missed. We were greeted by the sharks again when we got back to the boat, but we all managed to get back onboard largely intact.