Great Barrier Reef Dive Trip

Great Barrier Reef day! One of the reasons we chose to stay in Mossman close by Port Douglas was because we learned that Port Douglas has better reef access than Cairns, and we could get a nice AirBnB for all of us close by the marina, so that we wouldn’t have to get up incredibly early on “boat day.”

After doing quite a bit of research and asking for suggestions from our AirBnB host, I settled on Calypso Reef Cruises for our reef excursion. They had a large enough boat to accommodate both snorkelers and scuba divers, had open dive spots, and also offered an introductory SCUBA diving class. We ended up with five divers and five snorkelers. Emily, Gabby, and myself were already open water certified, and Joe and Tanner decided to give “Discover SCUBA” a shot. Emily joined them for a refresher, since it had been more than ten years since she had last been on a dive.

We showed up to the marina, had our picture taken, and boarded the Calypso Blue. We soon learned that, although the boat can normally accommodate 80 people, today it would only be about 1/3 of the way full, with the same number of crew. Sam just looked at me and shook his head. Another "brochure day." As we headed out to Opal Reef, Gabby and I headed to the back of the boat for our incredibly thorough (and entertaining) dive briefing from Rene, our enthusiastic Spanish dive master. She started with, “Can everyone hear me? Can everyone understand my Spanish accent?”

On the reef

There were eight certified divers on this trip, so we broke up into two groups of four, each with a dive master (ours was Dave, a biologist). Gabby and I were paired with Bob and Bill, two middle-aged brothers who had just renewed their certifications the day before. Bob is an airline pilot for American, I told him I was working on my license, and we talked briefly about flying.

All of us are going to be spoiled for diving, after this experience, for several reasons. The boat had a nice wide platform, partially submerged, that made getting in and out of the water a breeze. None of this climbing ladders, giant striding, or rolling backwards into the water. We jumped in at the first dive site (Bashful Bommie), and I was immediately blown away at the abundance and the variety of both fish and coral. It was incredible, and so much better than what we had seen in Florida, on any of our dives, previously. The water was warm and very clear. There was so much to see, the 40 or so minutes of dive time felt like they passed in no time.

When we came out of the water, Joe and Tanner were ecstatic. They (along with Emily) had to hold onto their guide underwater, since they weren’t certified, but, despite that restriction, they were still raving about how cool it was. Tanner thanked me for talking him into trying the diving, and Joe expressed how weird it feels to be underwater, unbothered, and able to look around. The snorkelers also had a great experience, and Adam in particular was pumped at everything he was able to capture with his new GoPro. Lydia (who was a little nervous about the open water) said it was neat to see us (the divers) swimming underneath her (along with the reef and the fish).

The boat visited a total of three dive sites, with hot drinks and snacks available after each site, and lunch after the second. I was a little worried that I would be too seasick to eat, but, with the exception of a few moments when we arrived at the first dive site, the seasickness patch worked to eliminate any discomfort. We also had a nature talk by Dave, our dive master, after lunch. My main takeaway from his talk was that, while coral bleaching is bad, the reef has seen some recovery from it recently.

The second two dive sites (Split Bommie and Blue Buoy) were just as incredible as the first, and we even saw a sea turtle at one point. I also got up close and personal with a jellyfish (though not a particularly dangerous one). We all (even the snorkelers) had on full length stinger suits, given that it was “stinger season” in northwest Australia. We didn’t actually need wetsuits, given how warm the water was, but covering as much skin as possible helps prevent accidental encounters with the Irukandji jellyfish (the size of your pinkie nail, but can kill you). On the last dive of the day, Tanner, Joe, and Emily also got a little more freedom to explore, though Emily had been on her own early on.

When we got back to port, we walked along the waterfront (which included a park that Gabby said had the biggest metal slide she had ever seen), and then went to a restaurant called “Salsa” for dinner, which came highly recommended from several sources. It was yummy, but perhaps not the best fit for our group, who couldn’t pronounce most of the items on the menu (or the many varieties of fish). It didn’t help our confusion that, apparently, Australians call appetizers “entrees” and entrees “mains." After dinner, we went back to the house for a swim and an overall relaxing evening. We saw so many stars (and unfamiliar constellations) in the sky above, including Orion, upside down from our perspective in the Northern Hemisphere. At one point, we even spotted the international space station flying over. Sam asked, "How far out did you plan that?"