Great Barrier Reef...Is it really THAT great?

ABSOLUTELY!!!

The real reason that I chose to visit Cairns was to get scuba certified.  It has always been something that I thought I would enjoy, and there's no better place to get certified than the Great Barrier Reef!  My experience started out pretty rocky, as I landed at the airport after an overnight flight at 4 am.  The first diving lesson started that same day at 8 am.  We had 2 days on land where we did classroom work and pool work with the gear.  Honestly, I almost quit.  I was having freak outs under the water, especially because one of the skills was to remove your mask below water and then to put it back on.  I'm not sure if I didn't like the water hitting my face or if I was afraid to lose my contacts, but that was the most difficult skill for me to master.  I really had to force myself to continue with the course and to calm down under the water.  I'm so glad that I trudged through it, because this was the most amazing experience ever!  After those first two days on land, we packed up to head out to sea.  Our ship is below and was called the Kangaroo Explorer.  I stayed aboard a total of 4 days in order to complete my open water course and to work on my advanced certification too.  

The ship had enough room for 40 guests and additional staff, so the rooms were compact.  Mine is below.  It was just a basic dorm style room with four beds and a small bathroom.  The ship would sway so much that it was difficult to even stand up to shower.  

This was the saloon, where everyone gathered to eat, drink and be merry.  We also had some dive briefs held down there too.  It was on the bottom level, along with the dive deck, some cabins, and the kitchen.  

This is the second floor and the hallway to my cabin.  Everything was very compact on the ship.  This floor also had the dry line, a wet bathroom on the back deck, the wetsuits/stingsuits, and the captain's control deck.  There were times that the ship was rocking so much that I would bounce between the walls.  

This is the dry line on the back deck.  Amazingly, things actually did dry off, even though we used the same towels more than 4 times a day.  You had to tie it tight though, because while the ship was on the move, things would fly off all the time.  

This is the daily dive schedule.  We got a wakeup knock on the door at about 5:15 and took the first dive at 6:00.  That was actually one of my favorite dives, because the night sea life was just heading home and the day sea life was just coming out.  The conditions were always much more clear during this dive too.  After that dive, we would come in, dry off and eat a small breakfast before heading back out for the 8:00 dive.  That dive was also usually a good one because it was clear.  The best part was after coming in from that dive, I could dry off and read, chat, or lounge on the sun deck.  Everyone just laid around getting sun and sharing their stories.  Most people were from Europe, so that was super interesting.  I was thrilled to read 3 books while aboard the Kangaroo Explorer.  

We stopped lounging long enough to eat lunch at about noon, and then continued to hang around until the 4:00 dive.  This one was my least favorite, because the water wasn't as clear.  Also, we picked up new passengers in the afternoon, so the ship didn't have time to head way out to sea like during the other dives.  After the 4:00 dive, we dried off again and sat down for dinner, all the while anticipating darkness and the night dive.  Initially, I was terrified to do the night dive since everything is completely black and you can't see the ocean animals until they're right next to you, but honestly, it was super amazing.  Imagine that it's pitch black around you and the only light is coming from a spotlight on the back of the ship shined onto the water near the dive deck.  You look down and see sharks and snappers swarming the light filled waters.  Then, we dive in!  Yes folks, I swam with sharks...I even jumped in after seeing them swimming.  They weren't great white sharks, but they were white and black tipped reef sharks, which are large and equally frightening.  The night dive was also awesome with the lights off, because we could move our arms back and forth really quickly to get the plankton in the water to glow.  It looked like neon green light sticks all around me.  It was also fun to help the snappers to hunt...if we saw a fish and shined our lights on it, they would come up and swallow it.  I didn't try to do this on purpose and was quite frightened the first time, but somethings cannot be helped...like me using a flashlight under the water in the darkness of night.  

I just liked the loneliness of this little boat tethered to the big ship and following us the whole way.  

These are the wetsuits that were available for us to use.  Mine was 6 millimeters thick, and honestly I could have used thicker...I get pretty cold, even in the warm waters of the reef.  Of course, these are not the most flattering things to wear, but imagine how graceful I looked as I was putting one on that was already wet with a rocking ship to contend with.  It was like trying to put on tights, one-handed, in the middle of the Illinois State Fair.  Not pretty!

This is the sun deck.  It was on the top level of the ship, along with the library.  This is where everyone laid out and relaxed during the day.  A big part of it was shaded, but I went out into the sun for most of the trip.  I didn't realize how much I missed the sun in Japan.  Aboard the ship, I got my tan back in 4 days, but have already lost it.  I have also found that I feel much better after some sun, so I'm going to have to find a solution for that problem while here in Japan.  

Before getting in the water at each site, we were given a dive brief.  The experienced crew would tell us the topography of the site, what types of sea life to look for, the types of currents to be aware of, and any outstanding sights that were worth our time.  Overall, I think I made it to about 5 different sites on the Great Barrier Reef, and each one had something unique to offer.  Especially since The Great Barrier Reef is  the largest collection of coral reefs with over 400 types of coral, 1,500 species of fish, and 4,000 types of mollusk.  It is the world's largest coral reef system with over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands.

Here is a view of the dive deck and everyone's gear lined up on the benches.  Each diver gets a number and there is an assigned slot for our gear for the duration of the trip.  

Here are several fellow divers preparing to hop in the water.  The platform gets awfully crowded at times like this.  

Bomb's away!

Here is my buoyancy vest and air tank.  Since I did the advanced course, I was able to get a bigger tank that open water divers.  Yay!

Since I did this portion of the trip alone, I didn't get many pictures of me, so here's one of me at the front of the ship.  Check out the reefs in the background.  Seriously, this place is paradise and I would love to visit over and over again!

One of the sunsets while aboard the ship.  This view cued the night dive, so I had to hurry to go get ready to hop in the water.  

The company that I chose has an onboard videographer who records all the certifications done under the sea and offers them for purchase.  Since I didn't worry about an underwater camera for this trip (I wanted to focus on NOT freaking out under the water), I bought my DVD.  I had some difficulties loading it to Youtube, but I think finally succeeded.  Please check out the links below to see ME at the Great Barrier Reef near Cairns, Australia.  Cheers!

Kim's Diving Experience Part 1 kimeb91 1 views This is the first part of the video, including the morning of my certification and us diving into the water. The videographer took actual shots of the sea life around us d...

Kim's Diving Experience Part 2 kimeb91 2 views This where I actually get my open water certification. It includes us just swimming around and exploring. This was the most amazing experience ever!