Scuba-Diving the Great Barrier Reef.
Cairns, 21st to 23rd February 2002
 Scuba
diving on the Great Barrier Reef. One of the greatest things you can
do on our planet. And I've just done it. It was, without a doubt, an
absolutely amazing experience. It is a beautiful region, there is
nothing like it anywhere else. It's a bit like the Grand Canyon, you
really can't grasp how fantastic it really it, until you've seen it
with your own eyes. I'm afraid I can't think of enough superlatives
to describe it, but I'll tell you about what I did.
To scuba-dive properly, you need to be qualified. A group called
PADI runs courses all over the world where you can get these
qualifications. The basic level, which allows you to scuba-dive, is
called the 'Open Water' certification. I achieved this back in the
UK in Summer 1999. The next level up is the 'Advanced Open Water'
certification. I decided to do this on the Great Barrier Reef.
I booked the course with a company called 'Deep Sea Divers Den'. For
just under A$500, I got 3 days/2 nights on the Great Barrier Reef.
During this time I'd do 5 assessed dives for my Advanced Open Water,
plus 6 pleasure dives. Fantastic value.
I needed to be in the Divers Den office at 7am on the first morning.
So after waking ridiculously early I stumbled down there.
Half-an-hour later I was boarding the Reef-Quest boat ready to head
out to the Reef.
The Reef is about 70 miles from the coast, so it takes a couple of
hours to reach it.
The dives were absolutely stunning. The reef is so huge and full of
diverse life, you can dive the same section many times and still see
something different every time.
I turn towards my diving 'buddy' (that's the technical term), and we
fall slowly below the sparkling blue waves. Suddenly everything has
gone a deep greeny-blue. Immediately, the underwater world envelops
me and I'm surrounded by dozens of different species of fish, coral
and plants.
I look around and a huge swarm of yellow-tailed fusiliers, small
blue fish with bright yellow tails passes by, completely surrounding
me for a minute, then continuing onwards. Schools of small, silver
fish shoot by in one direction then return and go the other way. As
I get lower, the boat disappears from sight and the bottom of the
sea become visible, the sandy surface not far away. I look at my
buddy, then we head in the direction of the reef, and through the
very clear water, the coral walls loom into view. We circle around &
through the coral reefs, watching and soaking up the whole
underwater ambience.
The underwater world is set against a backdrop of shape, structure
and texture formed by the hundreds of different types of coral, each
unique in its own way. In the shallow waters, the vibrant colours of
the different coral mix haphazardly across the reef. A diverse
palette of life. As I head deeper, the colours become dull and the
countless different shapes, structures and textures distinguish the
coral apart.
The main attraction for me, are the hundreds of different types of
fish. Swimming around under the ocean is a completely different
world to dry land. It's as though Nature gave all land animals
sensible, plain colours, then went wild with her palette under the
water. Every colour imaginable is mixed effortlessly with other
equally amazing tones. It's completely stunning.
As I swim along, the fish get on with their lives, ignoring me
unless I come just a little too near. They don't mind me coming very
close indeed, but they know when to move. Shoals of fish swim by me.
A large, single, purple & green parrot fish pokes at the coral right
next to my left leg. A silvery fish with huge bulgy eyes, hangs
motionlessly in the water, I swim up within touching, and it doesn't
flinch. It then swims along with me for a moment before
disappearing. A pair of large yellow & black bat-fish dart away long
before I reach them.
Some of the more amazing moments in my dives include:
1) Spotting a huge, green turtle resting on some coral below. My
buddy & I swam a bit nearer, but as we got closer, the turtle took
off effortlessly and glided away. A few gentle, but powerful strokes
of its legs and it soared out of view.
2) At the end of my first night dive, I was clinging to the mooring
chain of the boat, pausing for our 3 minute safety stop. As we hung
there, breathing gently, I saw a distinctive shape appear about 3m
away. A shark, the classic shape. Long tapered body, pointed nose,
triangular dorsal fin. Over a metre long. We'd been told that these
sharks were grey reef sharks, completely harmless. They're afraid of
divers, apparently. As we hung there, now a little nervous, we
noticed that the shark was circling us, but keeping its distance.
Then we realised there were at least 3 moving around us. I felt
adrenalin pumping. Are you sure they're safe? Are you sure it
doesn't fancy taking a bite out of me? Unfortunately, the media has
made people very afraid of sharks. So when you see the classic shark
shape, suddenly appear, apprehension kicks in. I stayed extra close
to my buddy, just in case. Then, when our safety stop was over, and
our air low, we exited the water quickly.
3) Before we went diving, we were warned about the dangerous things
under the water. We were told about the poisonous things with enough
venom to kill you. We were told about the ones that shoot little
barbs at you and we were warned about one type of fish in
particular. The Trigger Fish. This fish is about 2/3 metre long and
very distinctive looking. It's nesting season is January and part of
February. (i.e. possibly right now). Trigger fish have caused major
injuries to diver during this period. A Trigger fish has a cone
shaped section of water, starting from the place where it's nest is
and growing like an ice-cream cone right up to the surface. If a
diver enters this area, it wants to protect its nest, so it attacks
the diver. Initially it will swim full pelt at you and ram you.
Nasty surprise having a huge fish ramming into you, which cause huge
bruises. Apparently, it also bites with its large teeth. And then it
will spin round and whip it sandpaper like tail across the open
wound. Nasty. If we saw a Trigger fish, we were told to stay well
away. A few times when I was diving, I'd be happily swimming along,
then suddenly I see the very distinctive (and a bit scary) face of a
Trigger Fish. An immediate stop and direction change then occurred.
4) On another dive, when I was ascending the ascend/descend line, we
stopped for our 3 minutes safety stop, then suddenly, a huge shape
appeared in the water. Swimming towards us was an absolutely huge
Maori Wrasse. This thing was at least 2/3 my height in length. It
was a fantastic mix of colours, purple, blended to blue, blended to
shimmering green. It actually looked quite friendly and I watched as
my instructor held up his hand and the fish swam towards his hand
and gently nudged into it and pushed by, letting the instructor
stroke him. Due to the size of the fish, I was a little unsure at
first, but the instructor grabbed my hand and held it up. The Maori
Wrasse then swam towards my hand and nudged it. I ran my hand along
it's side and it had a really strange, almost oily texture. I later
learned that this particular fish is known very well by the diving
company. They call him Wally and he loves to play with the divers!
He's a fantastically friendly & amazing fish!
5) On my penultimate dive, I went on the Underwater Photography
module of my course and it was probably the best dive I did. Every
way I looked, there was a hive of activity. Shoals of one fish swam
above me, another type swam below me. Other fish swam around in
pairs or on their own, nudging the ground, searching for food or
foraging in the coral. I saw dozens of different species all going
about their everyday underwater life. It really is a very busy place
under the sea and most fish will just ignore you, continuing with
their life. It's fascinating!
6)On my very last dive, my buddy and I discovered a small underwater
cave. He swam up closer to have a look, then suddenly, a large
white-tipped reef shark darted out. Over a metre long and the
classic shark shape, my buddy was startled and swam backwards a bit.
The shark slowed a little, my buddy managed to take a photo, then it
swam off into the distance. These sharks are quite afraid of divers,
so it didn't want to hang around too long!
In a nut shell, the reef is teeming with countless varieties of
life. Every colour and shape imaginable exists down here. The Great
Barrier Reef is a beautiful and outstanding place. It's reputation
is definitely true and I recommend it to everyone. It was one of the
best experiences ever.
 Also,
the company I went with were brilliant. Everything was superb and I
don't think they could have done anything better. If you ever come
here, go scuba diving with the 'Deep Sea Divers Den'. The crew were
great fun, really helpful and fantastic people. They give great
meals and have really comfortable beds.
My Reef dive was an unforgettable experience, and now I can say
"I've scuba-dived the Great Barrier Reef."
Next Diary Entry >>
|
