At first, I was a little hesitant to go… I didn’t know whether I would actually be able to go in the water because of my eye/glaucoma (I’m not supposed to go swimming in any water that isn’t clean because it could infect the drainage duct that is in my eye from surgery a couple of years ago).
Anyway, I decided to just go… If I did not get to go in the water, it’s okay. At least I got to see the reef.
The day started out pretty good… a little rainy, but for the most part, nice. I was afraid I wouldn’t get to go because for the last week or so, it had been flooding in Cairns due to the rain.
What was really kind of scary, however, was as I was walking to my boat, another boat in the harbor was sinking! No, I’m not kidding, it was completely sinking, and all these people were running around, going crazy, and trying to dump the water out of the ship (see pictures below).
Eh, I didn’t care… I wanted to see the reef. The only thing I was hesitant about was my eye… and sharks. Like most people, I’m not a fan of sharks.
Anyway, with the tour I took, I was allowed one free scuba dive and unlimited snorkeling around the reef. I ended up talking with the scuba instructor, and he let me try on the goggles. He told me that water would most likely NOT get in my eyes, and he showed me a way to get it out of my goggles if it did (blow really hard through your nose).
So I made up my mind… I was going to take advantage of my free dive and go into the water. If my eye got infected, I would deal with it… when else was I going to be at the Great Barrier Reef? I needed to take advantage of it.
It turned out to be an amazing experience. At first, it was kind of hard learning to breathe with just my mouth and how to swallow to make equilibrium in your ears/head. The only thing I had trouble with was how to put back my breathing tube if it fell out under water… eek.
Eh, I did my best, and before I knew it, my instructor was telling me to go under. I just went for it… I put in my mouth piece, closed my eyes, and took a dive. I didn’t know if I was going to make it all the way through without having to quit, but I really didn’t care.
Scuba diving is an amazing thing. I recommend it to everyone to try just once in their lifetime. It’s so surreal. You are under water and there are tons of fish around you. It’s kind of like flying I guess… You really aren’t limited to just being at one level… you can go up and down and all-around.
But the reef was amazing… by far, the best thing I have done in Australia so far. There were nothing but corals and tons of fish… It looked exactly like “Finding Nemo,” except the water was a lot murkier… no sharks though (haha). I even took a 2nd dive for $55. This time, though, my instructor found a sea turtle, and it swam around us. We couldn’t touch it though because chemicals/oils in our hands from sunscreen may have burnt it.
Here are my pictures of getting ready to go diving. I don’t have the pictures yet of me actually below the water in the reef because I had to take them with an underwater camera and the film is not yet developed.
I’ll post them ASAP though when I get them! Enjoy…
Preparing to dive
Snorkeling gear
Taking my last breath before going under
Paying attention to the instructor, trying to learn everything and not freak out at the same time (haha)
My scuba instructor... SCUBA STEVE
The wetsuit
On my way to the reef
The boat that was sinking... They were trying to dive under the boat to find the problem.
Not the way to begin a reef excursion
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