If you’re planning a holiday in sunny Oz, or on a working holiday take a few days to fly up to Cairns and try a scuba diving experience.
Whether you are qualified or going to get qualified up there it’s the perfect place! Check out 10 reasons why you should try scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef!
1. Ever Experienced Breathing Underwater?
It is one of the most surreal things you will ever do. The feeling that you can casually swim 10meters down and not worry about your next breath is mad, and truly something that needs to be experienced.
2. You Don't Have to Dive Deep
Unlike some places where you go where you have to go down 30meters, the Great Barrier Reef you don’t! Most reefs are between 5-15meters down, which means everyone can enjoy it whether it’s snorkelling or scuba diving! There are options to go deeper if you want to, especially if you want to see some sharks but you don’t have to!
3. The Colour
Every country has some place you can dive but the varying colour that you will see whilst swimming in the Great Barrier Reef is unreal! It is something you won’t expect and very unlikely you will see it in other popular diving locations.
One minute you could be staring at a clown fish and then the next a group of brightly coloured smaller fish will swim right past you head! It’s such a busy place!
4. The Freedom
If you decide upon staying on a dive boat for a couple of days you will have the luxury of deciding how many dives you will like to do whether you do everyone or sit a few out! If you don’t fancy a dive then why not sit back and enjoy the sun?
5. The Clown Fish
The clown fish, or as they were known when I went ‘nemo fish.’ Everyone has seen finding nemo, or at least knows about the film! Why not go and try and find a couple of these legendary little colourful fish?
You will normally see them swimming around the sea anemone which they call home and will aggressively protect. (One even tried head butting my dad!)
6. Sea Turtles
Yes chances are you will see one, many on the dive boat did! Why not go on the look for them and have the opportunity to play with them? The sea turtles are playful little things most of the time and love sea weed if you can find any to give them! If you would like to give back you might like to search volunteer programs in Australia where you can help marine animals.
9. The Sharks!
Not talking about the legendary great white sharks that roams further south but rather the white and black tip reef sharks!
Pretty scary when you first see them swimming around your boat whilst you are down on the seabed, but they genuinely don’t attack and are just curious and after a while you will go on each dive hoping to see them and will purposely go deeper on the hunt!
How cool is it to say that you’ve swam with sharks?
8. A Night Dive
If you have the chance to do a night dive, do it! It is very different from the ones you will do in daylight. It is pitch black and you can only see what you shine your torch on, a bit scarier but well worth it!
Different fish come out, it won’t be the bright colour you see in the day! You may even be lucky enough to see a bigger type of shark or other predator you wouldn’t see in the day!
9. Create Memories
If you want to book a scuba diving course in Australia you're doing something amazing and your friends and family will be so jealous. Not everyone has the opportunity to dive and see everything you will see, who wouldn’t be jealous?!
10. And the most Important Reason?
You’re seeing it all, the colour, the fish, turtles, rays, sharks-everything-in their natural environment! It’s not behind a tank, or in a swimming pool, you are swimming in their environment so everything you see is natural. Where else will you get to see all of this where it should be?
By Sarah Williams
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