Snorkeling on the Reef
Wednesday was my day to visit the Great Barrier Reef. The bus picked me up bright and early, and after making sure everyone still wanted to go (high winds, choppy, etc etc), we were on our way. We arrived in Port Douglas, about an hour north of Cairns, and boarded our boat, the Silversonic. It took us out to the Agincourt Reefs. Everyone kept telling me the outer reef was much better, and this was about as far out as you could get!
The ride out was very choppy. I felt my stomach drop over and over again and I was a little worried I might get seasick for a few minutes. But then we were there! I really wanted to get certified to scuba dive before coming here, but I didn't have the time, so instead I signed up for an introductory dive. I debated about whether or not I should even write about this, but I've been pretty candid about everything else so I wanted to be about this too.
I got all dressed up in the scuba gear and got in the water, but I didn't go on the dive. The feeling of only being able to breathe through my mouth made me feel claustrophobic, and when we got in the water it was so rough I felt like I couldn't breathe. The last thing I wanted to do was freak out on the bottom of the ocean, so I returned to the boat, feeling more than a little embarrassed. This is one of the only things I can remember trying to do and not going through with for a long time. Anyway, I have promised myself that I will take a class so I can get used to the feeling of all the gear in the safe environment of a pool and return to dive the reef sometime in the future. I felt a little better when one of the other introductory divers also canceled out of his dive - a little less like it was all in my head.
Anyway, I spent the day snorkeling instead, and it was excellent! There were a lot of different types of fish swimming about - some were quite large - and many different kinds of coral. I was so close to most of it that I could have kicked it with my flippers if I wasn't careful! I didn't buy an underwater camera because I wanted to just enjoy it and not worry about taking pictures, so sorry for no pictures! After the first stop, we went to a second place called Turtle Bay. I made it my mission to see a turtle while we were there, and I did! I followed him around for a little while, but he could work his flippers better than I could work mine! I also saw a four foot long reef shark in the area! That was pretty cool too.
On the third site, the wind had picked up and the current was so strong it was virtually impossible to swim anywhere, so I didn't get to see much there. I did get to hold a coral that one of the dive instructors brought to the surface, and that was pretty cool too.
We returned to the boat and back to the hostel, where I had a bit of dinner and promptly fell asleep!
3 comments:
I would be the same as you - I'd not feel very comfortable with the breathing aparatus. Even snorkelling bothers me a little, but at least you're right there on the surface.
I hope to hear you got some good weather. Some friends returned from an Easter trip to Cairns and said it rained the whole time - I thought of you!
Have a lovely last day or so, and a safe trip home.
Kerry
I'm not sure if I could do it either; I don't normally get claustrophobic, but then again i've never tried scuba diving. But you tried it at least, and that's more than most people.
Good choice regarding scuba; a rough day in the open water isn't an ideal way to try it for the first time.
We've done the course and are certified divers, and have done some diving on the Grest Barrier Reef. But we've actually decided that we prefer snorkelling to scuba. At the more accessible sites you see almost as much, and there's no big hassle with that horrible, uncomfortable gear.
That's just us, obviously. But it's also a long-winded way of saying I don't think you need to feel disappointed with yourself.
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