Cairns: Shark Diving − 22 October, 2000
We woke this morning to the melodious lilt of our Aussie dive master shouting, "Oi! Divers! Get up!" The looks on all our faces as we climbed from our bunks was the same: Inconsiderate bitch. I was ready to dive, though; I don't know if it was the diving or the slow rocking of the boat all night, but I haven't slept that well in a long time.
As I emerged from the bowels of the boat, I stood on the deck and just took it all in. There we were, out in the Pacific ocean with no land in sight. The sun coming up over the horizon, casting a net of sparkling diamonds over the still water. A cool, fresh breeze of salty sea air caressed the boat. I could really get used to this.
After breakfast, it was right to diving. The first two dives of the day, at 7am and 11:30am, were at the same location (Milln Reef, "The Whale"). The sights were more of what we saw yesterday, and again, we were captivated by the excretory antics of the sea cucumber. We even had a game of "track the sea cucumber," which was played by following a trail of sand poo until you found one. What can I say... I'm easily entertained.
During lunch, the boat moved to new location (Flynn Reef, "Gordon's"). We took a break and only went on one of the two afternoon dives. The 3pm dive was fantastic. Besides all the coral, there was a lot more sea life at this location. We floated through a big school of little black fish (I'm crap at fish identification) and watched them scatter and regroup. There was an abundance of giant clams in the area. We spent a good deal of time fanning water at them with our hands to make them "close."
As we floated up to yet another giant clam, we noticed something hanging in the water above it. Awesome: it was a big cuttlefish. We sat and watched it until our air was nearly gone. Then, on the way back to the boat, my wife spotted a small reef shark below us. Damn, shark diving without a cage! No, not really. This thing was small, and if it did decide to attack the most it could have done was give us a bad hickey. Still, pretty cool to see a shark swim by below you.
After dinner, the night dive was at 8pm and was in the same location. The spotlights from the boat lit up a huge area underwater, which made the night dive eerie and surreal. It was a lot of fun just thinking about the fact that it was night and we were scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef. I know we saw a lot of sea life, but I'll be damned if I can remember a single thing we saw. Just the sensation of floating weightless in the diluted light from the boat was enough for me.
After the dive, we crammed ourselves into our bunk, and I knew it'd be another good night's sleep.
As I emerged from the bowels of the boat, I stood on the deck and just took it all in. There we were, out in the Pacific ocean with no land in sight. The sun coming up over the horizon, casting a net of sparkling diamonds over the still water. A cool, fresh breeze of salty sea air caressed the boat. I could really get used to this.
After breakfast, it was right to diving. The first two dives of the day, at 7am and 11:30am, were at the same location (Milln Reef, "The Whale"). The sights were more of what we saw yesterday, and again, we were captivated by the excretory antics of the sea cucumber. We even had a game of "track the sea cucumber," which was played by following a trail of sand poo until you found one. What can I say... I'm easily entertained.
During lunch, the boat moved to new location (Flynn Reef, "Gordon's"). We took a break and only went on one of the two afternoon dives. The 3pm dive was fantastic. Besides all the coral, there was a lot more sea life at this location. We floated through a big school of little black fish (I'm crap at fish identification) and watched them scatter and regroup. There was an abundance of giant clams in the area. We spent a good deal of time fanning water at them with our hands to make them "close."
As we floated up to yet another giant clam, we noticed something hanging in the water above it. Awesome: it was a big cuttlefish. We sat and watched it until our air was nearly gone. Then, on the way back to the boat, my wife spotted a small reef shark below us. Damn, shark diving without a cage! No, not really. This thing was small, and if it did decide to attack the most it could have done was give us a bad hickey. Still, pretty cool to see a shark swim by below you.
After dinner, the night dive was at 8pm and was in the same location. The spotlights from the boat lit up a huge area underwater, which made the night dive eerie and surreal. It was a lot of fun just thinking about the fact that it was night and we were scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef. I know we saw a lot of sea life, but I'll be damned if I can remember a single thing we saw. Just the sensation of floating weightless in the diluted light from the boat was enough for me.
After the dive, we crammed ourselves into our bunk, and I knew it'd be another good night's sleep.
coral
among the gear
