Diving the Great Barrier Reef

g8erchum

Stephen Scuba Diving in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia

As you know by now from other entries, I love to scuba dive, and I had to do at least a day of diving The Great Barrier Reef here in Australia. Although Shannon is a certified diver, she opted to come along to snorkel.

Scuba Diving in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia

I signed up with TUSA Dive company and really splurged! While the boat was very big, fast and nice and lunch was included, the cost for this trip was definitely a budget buster. Being so close, we had to do at least one day of diving.

Scuba Diving in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia
Here’s a shot of the dive boat from the water

Here’s a video of a turtle being fed some seaweed underwater

Here’s another GoPro video underwater

There was a lot of divers on the boat, so it was a bit chaotic getting in and out of the water. Once underwater, there was several groups that separated from each other, making it much less hectic.

Scuba Diving in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia

I was paired with another even more experienced diver but we also had 3 complete novices in our dive group too. Most dive boats try to avoid this type of grouping as its not really fair for the more experienced divers.

Scuba Diving in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia
This fish is getting a mouth cleaning by another fish
Scuba Diving in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia
A Giant Clam

Scuba Diving in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia And of course some sea turtles

Scuba Diving in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia Scuba Diving in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia

The photo just below was taken by a photographer working for the boat. She had a DSLR camera in a proper underwater housing with strobes attached. I’d love to have a setup like this but the costs (not even including the camera) can be thousands of dollars. You can see how much better the quality is however.

Scuba Diving in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia

I did three dives total (3 tanks) on for the day and really enjoyed it.

Scuba Diving in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia

The boat staff really emphasized the fact that they had sea sickness medicine available before starting back to Cairns. I have a pretty hardy stomach but the roughness of the seas was almost too much even for me…almost (I didn’t throw up).

Great Barrier Reef in Australia

However, several (I saw at least 10) people on the boat got sick and even fell flat on the deck trying to get up while nauseous. I stuck to my time tested remedy (stare directly at the horizon) and somehow didn’t lose my lunch. Shannon took the medicine and felt great – she was enjoying a beer while several people around her were scrambling for a sick bag or the bathroom.

Back in Cairns we relaxed at the hostel for the rest of the night.