Diving the Great Barrier Reef

First a disclaimer: While I saw all these creatures, I didn't take any of the photos! I rented an underwater camera but my photos turned out dark blue and full of bubbles and blurry fish. Fortunately, the good people at Pro Dive must have predicted this, so they included 100 of their professional photos in my DVD. =)

Onto the entry!

I signed up for a 5 day Open Water PADI Certification course in Cairns, which is one of the main port cities to the Great Barrier Reef. The course included 2 days in the classroom and swimming pool, and 3 days/2 nights at sea with 9 dives.


Scuba diving is complicated, which is why you need to be certified. Being underwater creates pressure on your ears and lungs and pumps nitrogen bubbles into your bloodstream, and therefore makes divers susceptible to a few illnesses if guidelines aren't followed correctly. For example, you cannot ascend to the surface quickly if you freak out and see a shark. There is an international organization called PADI which offers and follows set guidelines for certification courses and dive operations.

Some of the things we had to do for certification were a 200m swim and 10 minute tread water, removing masks underwater, turning air off and switching to a buddy's air source, practicing the various ways to ascend in case of emergency, and using a compass underwater.


The dive trip was very fun and very exhausting. On day 2 on the boat, we had four dives. Our schedule was: Wake up at 6 a.m., set-up equipment, dive, put away equipment, eat, repeat... four times throughout the day. The first four dives were part of my certification and were with an instructor, and the last 5 were just with a dive buddy.


I saw clownfish (Nemo!), huge turtles, sting rays, reef sharks and whaler sharks, giant clams, a lobster, and beautiful coral and tropical fish. One of the coolest thing was the night dive where we went as a group with flashlights. Everyone was a bit spooked because they fed fish right beforehand, and we all watched the fish come and take the bait, and then a few sharks come and eat the fish. I saw 4 sharks on that dive, 3 of which were hovered around the boat when we stopped for the safety stop.

The dive instructors informed us beforehand that shark attacks were extremely rare and only happen if they are provoked. Great White Sharks like cold water, so they aren't in the GRB, and 85% of shark attacks are in chest-deep water. "In fact," said the head instructor, "The most aggressive thing you'll see in the water is Sue. She's the other instructor. She's German." (There is a funny rivalry between a lot of the European countries that reminds me of Bears fans and Packers fans.)


Nemo (the clownfish) is surprisingly aggressive and will bite your finger if you wiggle it in front of him. And we learned Nemo's "secret that Disney doesn't want you to know" - he can change sexes to female if all the females in the family die; which makes the movie inaccurate. (Not that talking, singing fish are accurate...) We also learned that they are becoming very rare ever since the "bloody movie" came out because people are collecting them. The clownfish and the anemone protect each other, which made them very fun to watch.

This was probably the best part of my trip so far, and I am looking forward to diving back home in California!