Australia - The Great Barrier Reef, SCUBA Diving & Finding Nemo.....

Dive Gear
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Mon 17/11 - Fri 21/11

We arrived at the ProDive training centre at 8.30am and were sat in a classroom with around 20 other people. As we had been organised and had passed our dive medicals a few days earlier we were put in a group with 3 others and after a short briefing on the course we found ourselves putting together our own SCUBA gear which consisted of ; wetsuit, mask, snorkel, flippers, tank/cylinder, regulator (mouthpiece and tubes), weight belt and BCD (Buoyancy Control Device) before getting into the pool. We did a number of skills such as flooding & clearing the mask, breathing through our buddy's alternate air source (Teresa and I were dive buddy's) and removing and replacing our weight belt.

What Disney didn't tell us..............

Sunset over The Reef
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After we got used to the very strange feeling of being able to breath underwater we descended to about 4m in the pool to practice our buoyancy and hovering skills along with learning how to equalise our ears. In the afternoon we did some theory and a few mini tests. That evening we spent about 2 hours revising the manual (it was like being back at uni!)

The next day we were back in the classroom and took our final exam that morning. I got 98% (Swot!) and Teresa got 90% so we both passed easily. In the afternoon we were back in the pool practicing the the skills again and also what to do in emergency situations. We were then whisked off to the dive shop to choose our gear for the next 3 days on the boat.

Barney in the water
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On the Tuesday night we went to a lecture called 'Reef Teach' where we would learn about all of the creatures/coral that we would find on the reef. We also learned a very interesting fact about Nemo that Disney failed to mention in the movie..... A standard family of Clownfish would consist of Female (Mum), Male (Dad) and a baby (Nemo). If the Mum was to die.... as in the film, then the Dad would pump himself full of hormones and turn into 'Mum'. The child 'Nemo' would then pump itself full of hormones and become 'Dad'. Mum (used to be Dad) and Dad (used to be Nemo) would then have offspring!..... very incestuous and we could see why Disney left it out!

Ready for a Dive (Teresa on top deck)
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The next day we were picked up at 6.15am and taken to board the boat. There were 32 divers on board and 6 crew. We were briefed on the trip and shown to our cabins. After a 3hr trip we arrived at the Great Barrier Reef at a site called 'Petaj' on Flynn Reef. Within moments of stopping we were told to go out onto the dive deck and to 'suit up' before the 1st (of 9) dives on the Reef. Entering the water for the first time was very strange compared to being in the pool.

Teresa's Story

Barney
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The trip out to the reef was, in a word, rocky! So after the 3 hr trip I was not feeling well at all! Putting all my dive gear together and on was therefore a struggle so when it came to jumping in the water I was already completely stressed out! After jumping in I came as close to a panic attack as I've ever come! My BCD wasn't fully inflated so I began to sink, after sorting it out I was in such a state and I couldn't go under the water. The thought of going so deep freaked me out and Claustrophobia set in. In the end I got back on the boat, had a good cry and decided I definitely didn't want to be a SCUBA Diver! For the rest of the trip one of the instructors called Sam pestered me about going snorkelling instead and when he eventually said he'd come with me I had to give in! The snorkelling was great and going with the instructor was awesome as he knew where all the good stuff was! I saw a shark, turtle, giant clam, sea cucumber and I even found Nemo! The Reef and fish were amazing and so colourful and I'm glad I got to see it..... from the surface of the water!

The Reef
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Barney's Story

After seeing Teresa freak out and leave the water I was rendered 'buddyless'. As a result I was paired up with the instructor Ben which was good as I knew I would be safe. When I first looked down it was amazing to see how clear the water was and how many fish were about, it was like being in an aquarium. We descended to about 12m and swam around the Coral Reefs, the colours were amazing. On this first dive I saw a Reef Shark, Turtle, and Clownfish (I had found Nemo!) In the afternoon we did another training dive where we had to do the skills practiced in the pool again in the sea. The next morning we had 2 more dives and learned skills such as compass navigation and towing a tired diver. On the first dive my BCD failed though as it had a leak, I was in the sea but couldn't stay afloat and swallowed a lot of water. It was very scary and I saw Teresa looking worried on the top deck. I then remembered the training and ditched my weight belt which enabled me to swim back to the boat where I was given a new BCD and got straight back into the water.

The Reef
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After the 4th dive I had completed the course and was given my card as a 'Certified Open Water Diver'. In the afternoon I did 1 more dive without the instructor and saw a Stingray and a Giant Clam. That night we we all taken on a guided night dive which was quite eerie as the only light was from torches. The instructors decided it would be funny to play the 'Jaws' Theme over the loudspeakers before we got in.....hilarious! The night dive was great but it was very strange looking to the sides and just seeing pitch black!

Sea Turtle (Taken by Barney)
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I did 3 more dives on the Friday which were good although on the 2nd dive myself and my dive buddys got lost underwater and couldn't find the boat (so much for our compass skills). We surfaced about 150m away and just creased up. We then had a 10min swim back to the boat through a load of jellyfish (not dangerous ones thankfully!)

On the last dive I hired an underwater camera and got lots of shots of the coral,. Just before the end of the dive I saw a Sea Turtle so headed straight for it to get some photo's, it was less than a metre away and was happily eating jellyfish not at all bothered by me giving a good impression of the paparazzi!

Sea Turtle
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After getting back on the boat I was knackered after 9 dives in 3 days but it was such an amazing experience. I was also really pleased that Teresa had a snorkel and she was beaming after seeing so much with Sam.

That night back in Cairns we went out for a meal with the people off the course and went for a few drinks. The coursemates and instructors were a good group and we will hopefully keep in contact with some of them.

Next stop, Townsville and Magnetic Island!

Barney & Teresa

Dive Boat
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