I’ve thought about trying to learn to scuba dive my entire life. And with a vacation fast approaching in Cairns Australia I thought I’d better learn fast.
I telephoned all the local dive centres and they made it all sound so difficult and scary as well as being not cheap. So a bit disappointed I googled for “Scuba Diving in Cairns ” . And what a helpful move that was. I was given nearly hundreds of options of Cairns dive schools and local booking agents only too eager to help me learn to scuba dive.
After sending out lots of emails with heaps of questions I was happy to find out that it wasn’t as frightening, hard or not cheap as I’d antecedently observed. Pretty much, in Cairns you can do a dive course in four, five or six days. Four days is the minimum to get your PADI credential. A PADI certification is the worlds largest and most recognised.The five and six day courses give you more dives and you get to stay overnight on the Cairns Great Barrier Reef.
After a some decision making I chose to invest in a 5 day overnight dive course. Fistly I had to get a dive medical checkup done. Now this shouldn’t worry anyone who is reasonably fit and healthy. If you have no major illnesses or lung related problems you should be OK. The largest problem is bronchial asthma I beleive.
The first 2 days are spent in the Pool and schoolroom. This is when you learn the theory behind scuba diving and some simple skills. The worst part about this was having to tread water for 20 minutes. And rather unfairly the chubbiest people float easier than the muscly ones. Those wines after work every other day finally have assisted me.
On day three you depart for the great barrier reef. You are taken out to your boat at the reef by a fast boat full of daypassengers, but immediately they get you into the water. You start your training dives straightaway. The initial four dives are part of your course, where you learn a few more skills. After that you get to do six more dives with no lessons included. You are now a qualified scuba diver. And I got to do it on the Great Barrier Reef, not in some smelly mirky city water.