[Grace] Scuba Diving at the Great Barrier Reef

Currently we are staying in Cairns, a small town on the Eastern coast of Australia. It is a delightful town just to explore - personally, it is by far one of my favorite places we have visited. It feels like a tropical oasis, with warm weather, palm trees and lots of gelato places. Aside from those perks, one of Cairn's main attractions is its proximity to the Great Barrier Reef. To make sure we didn't miss out, on Tuesday my family and I took a boat out to get a closer look at the reef.



On Tuesday morning my family and I boarded the "Seastar" a boat that would take us to two locations on the Great Barrier Reef with a promise of getting a good look at all the marine life. The hour boat ride to the first location was slightly uncomfortable, as the boat was pretty crowded and it was rocking back and forth pretty violently. I was very much ready for the boat to stop moving. The fact that I already had butterflies in my stomach did not help me with my sea legs.

The Seastar ★

The reason for my nerves was because - drum roll please - I was going scuba diving for the first time! Exciting, but nonetheless, it is very easy to imagine all the ways to die a watery death. I am not a certified scuba diver (yet) so I was going diving with an instructor who would do most of the hard work. I just had to learn a few emergency procedures and I was instructed to always breathe. Surprisingly, easier said than done.

Eventually, the boat stopped and it was time for me to get suited up. The water was 84°F so I didn't have to worry about the temperature (but don't worry, I still found things to worry about). I was wary of the big oxygen tank strapped to my back. It felt so heavy I was certain I would sink like a rock to the bottom of the ocean.

Trying to disguise my fear through a smile

I took a big step off the boat to get into the water - I thought I was going to have to go
backwards off the side of a dingy, so this was a welcome relief.

Once I was in the water, I felt a little better. I had not died yet, which I counted as a victory. While my instructor was helping the other two women in my group, I just bobbed in the waves. The more I waited, the more exasperated I got. Yes, I had been pretty anxious to get in the water, but now that I was in the water I wanted to get moving. Finally, we started descending.

Waiting to go underwater.

I am the one with the yellow and black flippers.

You can see with the picture above that we had a rope to hold onto as we went down. That was super useful and it kind of felt like I was ziplining underwater. We made it all the way to the ocean floor, about 20 feet down. There was a ton of coral and fish! Also a giant clam - imagine my reaction when I kneel down next to something I think is rock...then it closes shut.

Overall, I probably spent 10-15 minutes underwater. I was always within arm's reach of my instructor, and often held her hand. But I loved it! It felt like I went from seeing the world in 2D with snorkeling to seeing the world in 3D as a scuba diver. Plus, I didn't die. Not even close. So I was pretty pleased.

When we got to our next location, I was planning on just going snorkeling. But then, out of the blue, my diving instructor asked me if I would like to do another dive - it took me a split to decide (weighing the possibility of death with awesome experience) until I excitedly agreed. I was super happy - especially because snorkeling gets a lot less interesting once you've scuba dived.

For the second dive I was a lot less nervous. The thought of a watery grave was in the back of my mind instead of the focus of my attention. 

No fear to disguise this time - all smiles.

The second dive was overall better. Not only was I more experienced and less anxious, but the actual reef was much more interesting. We also went a lot deeper, maybe around 30 feet this time. We saw a lot more fish and the coral was a lot bigger. At one point we swam through what I can only describe as a coral canyon. The coral walls on either side were really steep it almost felt like I was on another planet! It was incredibly fun.

In the long run, I am so glad that I was able to have this opportunity. I loved it - despite the fact that it has, quite possibly, forever ruined snorkeling for me. I hope I can get certified once we settled down. My main motivation is my dad; he used to go to a bunch of cool places with his friends to go scuba diving. I hope that once I get certified I can cajole him into taking me cool places too. I will update you on the effectiveness of that plan at a later date.