Nekton

Diving is a potentially hazardous activity. The materials contained within this magazine are for informational purposes only and are not intended as a substitute for proper and appropriate training.

Often hearing experienced divers talking about The Great Barrier Reef "cattle boats", I was pleasantly surprised that there are some operators that offer great boats, great service and most of all, great diving.

I was going to Cairns for a few days and in a dilemma as to whether or not to bother taking my dive gear. I did not have enough time to go on one of the live-aboard boats, and did I really want an expensive day out on the reef on crowded boats with students finishing their dive courses limiting the areas that they go to?

Luckily for me, I decided it would be well worth it - after all The Great Barrier Reef is one of the wonders of the world and any opportunity to dive should not be missed.

One of the best ways to decide which boat to book on is to talk to local divers; they will give you a good run down on the best reefs and boats that visit them.

Slowly cruising out of the channel towards The Great Barrier Reef, tea, coffee and biscuits were available while a safety briefing was conducted that introduced all of the staff members, their roles and the on-board services.

We decided to go out of Port Douglas, mainly as I had been to Agincourt Reef many years previously. I had fantastic memories and dives there, plus some very good friends have recently opened a dive shop in Port Douglas, (Tech Dive Academy) and were using the services of this operation.

It was really exciting - this was the first time that I have dived on the Reef in many years.
We boarded the, Poseidon 111 at Marina Mirage in Port Douglas. Poseidon is an ultra-
modern, 24-meter, high-speed luxury catamaran. With a top speed of 30 knots, it is a faster, more comfortable trip to the Outer Barrier Reef, resulting in more time at each of the three sites that you visit daily. Featuring a large air-conditioned main saloon, a spacious top sun deck and wheelhouse salon, and a purpose built rear deck with a lowering transom, that makes access to and from the water extremely easy, it is, overall, very comfortable and clean with plenty of space.

One great opportunity available aboard, Poseidon are digital photos. Dave is in the water taking pictures and during lunch shows a proof sheet of the images. By the time you are ready to leave he has printed and framed a souvenir of your day on the reef.

Passengers were encouraged to mix with the crew. Neil, our captain for the day, had a great knowledge of the reef and the area visited and was only too willing to share his experience and his wheelhouse with the passengers.

It was interesting listening to the variety of accents, all excitedly chattering away, some on their first trip, others returning, finishing their dive course or going to experience the underwater world for the very first time.

The trip to the reef takes about one and a half-hours, and once under way the briefings are given and the order in which the reefs will be dived. The reefs visited on any given day are chosen according to the best conditions, and today we were going to go to Agincourt.

Our first dive was at, Barracuda Point; a site that certainly lived up to its name. Often you dive on a site called, "Barracuda-something-or-other", and wonder why, when you never manage to see a single Barracuda? On this dive we certainly did!

The water was blue and clear and the first thing I noticed was the school of Barracuda - the site lives up to its name! Barracuda Point is a bommie that goes from 30mts to about 8mts and you can spend the entire dive around it. The fish and coral life were fantastic. The white sandy seabed is home to garden eels and rays and the bommie is covered in beautiful hard and soft corals, sea whips and anemones. Fish life surrounds the bommie and the schooling barracuda truly allow, Barracuda Point to live up to the name.

After the dive we moved to the next site, The Point; another great dive. For the more experienced divers there was a drift dive along a great wall or - for those who wanted to - the alternative of jumping in by the mooring where the drift ended. This dive had a totally different terrain and here is where "I found NEMO".

The dives had both been excellent and after a total of two hours in the water I was now starving and ready for lunch.

Lunch was a smorgasbord of cold meats, prawns, salads and bread rolls with cheese and fruit for dessert. There was plenty of food available complemented by coffee and tea.

After this feast it was a bit harder to get the wet suit on for our third and final dive! We had moved to another mooring called, North Bay, and once again, I was not disappointed by the quality of the dive. There were so many clams varying in colour and size, flute fish, sweetlips and more beautiful hard corals

All too soon it was back on the boat for the homeward journey. The chatter and excitement was non-stop and I was very pleased that I'd brought my gear and not listened to the rumors of over packed day boats. This had been a great day out, and

If you are in Cairns or Port Douglas for pleasure or business and
only have a day or two, make time and dive on The Great Barrier
Reef. You will not be disappointed. We are very lucky and very spoilt to have such an area on our own doorstep.

If you have family members or friends with you that do not dive, take them for a reef experience and you may end up with a new dive buddy. For a Scuba Introduction there are small groups of four people, while courses run to a maximum of eight: Or talk to the guys at Tech Dive Academy for personal tuition.

Getting there:

If you are staying in Cairns or the northern beaches, transport is not a problem, as most of the day boats will pick you up from your accommodation and transfer you directly to the Port Douglas departure jetty.

Poseidon details:
www.poseidon-cruises.com.au
info@poseidon-cruises.com.au

Tech Dive Academy details:
www.tech-dive-academy.com
info@tech-dive-academy.com