Out to the Outer Reef
6th January, Great Barrier Reef, Australia
You come to Cairns, you have to do it - visit the Great Barrier Reef, one of the great natural wonders of the world and just under two hours away from Trinity Wharf, Cairns.
I had been to the reef just under two years ago, and that time I went with Cairns Dive Centre (or CDC for short). Despite leaving my passport on the boat last time - and having to get it sent back to Sydney in the mail - I enjoyed my last stay, even if it did get a bit chaotic. So this time we went with CDC again. Oh, and they threw in a 10% discount on account of me buying a dive computer from the shop the other day. That kind of clinched the deal.
We had our 8:20 pick-up outside the hostel as planned then made our way to the dive shop to fill in the usual 'If I die or something nasty happens to me then it must be my own stupid fault and CDC are not responsible etc etc' forms before heading back out to the transfer boat.
The journey out to the mother vessel - MV Kangaroo Explorer - took 1 hr 45 minutes and I spent most of that time immersed in my music; the engine was so loud that conversation was only possible by shouting.
Once on the main boat we had a tour around from one of the staff, Veronica, who remained bubbly despite the seemingly never-ending set of instructions, rules and so on that she probably has to do every day in this baking heat. And damn it was hot. We got all of that out of the way and then spent another 30 minutes on the sun deck (which is covered, never mind its name, but remains achingly hot anyway) while another one of the CDC staff, Paul, took all the certified divers' details down. Sweating buckets, all anyone could think of was getting into that water! It must have been even more frustrating for the snorkellers, as 90% of the paperwork and instructions were aimed at divers.
We had lunch, waited for it to go down a while and then kitted up for our first dive. Everything on the boat needs to planned with almost military precision - and it's all set out on a board on the sun deck - but getting in that water the first time must always be a little chaotic. It was today. We had twelve people getting in at the same time, and two CDC staff to take us around. I was buddied up with an American lady called Carolyn who had done something like 70+ dives, but this was something of an estimate, as she never logged the dives, but it was good to be partnered with someone who'd been diving a little while.
In all honesty, the first dive was tedious - all we did was go down a mooring line and sit at the bottom and wait for everyone to come down the line, then it was just a brief swim out from the boat and back again. Along the way you had to be careful not to bash in to one of the many other divers in the water or get your mask knocked off by someone else's fins. Like diver soup it was.
Not my group, but you get the idea - lots of divers together and it can
get a bit chaotic.
On the way back up, I did the safety stop of three minutes at the 5 metre level, following my dive computer. The first 2 minutes were completed while hanging on to the mooring line, but then the CDC guide motioned for us to go over to the deco bar that sits 5 metres under the boat. I did the last minute then signalled to my dive buddy, Carolyn, to ascend. Next moment, Carolyn is heading back down to the deco bar while I'm rising to the surface. In the confusion, looking down to make sure that she was OK, I forgot Paul's advice about holding your hand up when ascending to avoid bumping your head on the ladders hanging off the back of the boat. I took my hand down, then bumped my head. D'oh!
The problem - I was following my timings, while Paul was trying to control all these other divers and he started timing the decompression safety stop when we got to the bar. Carolyn saw him gesturing to stay at the bar, while I was popping up to the surface. The CDC employee's instructions overuled! I said to Paul after the dive that it was not a good one - too many people, no freedom to look around etc - and wanted to make sure that subsequent dives would not be the same. He explained that it was just to ensure that CDC were happy that everyone was competent, could ascend and descend safely etc. Next dive we could do what we liked, within reason.
The boat then set off from Moore Reef on to Milln Reef. And just look what happens when you get free reign:
Yes, the next dive was much better.
The one that got away (but only just!) - This turtle had a large bite mark
in its side.
As well as spotting the turtle and swimming alongside him for a while, we also saw many other brilliant fish down there including the peculiarly named Diagonal Banded Sweetlips and the impressively sized but stupid-looking Bumphead Parrotfish. As if wishing to live up to their name, I saw one swim straight into some coral and knocking it off the reef.
Nearing the end of the day out at the reef.
We finished off with a night dive that was much more fun as a duo than a guided tour. We saw another turtle descending, much bigger than our earlier encounter, but let him be, swimming past him to the next batch of coral to see what we could find hiding.