4 Day Open Water Dive Course, Cairns, QLD, Australia

The Great Barrier Reef is the only living thing that can be seen from Space, so what better place to learn how to scuba dive. I booked a 4 day open water course with Cairns Dive Centre (CDC), with 2 days based in the classroom & swimming pool and 2 days/1 night out of the reef.

The first 2 days were studying theoretical knowledge and practical skills in a 3 metre pool providing you passed the medical test - a dauting aspect in itself. All medicals passed, so on we went, 8 dive enthusiasts hoping to become certified divers by the end of the week.

5 stages of theory and multiple skills practiced in the water including mask clearing, BCD removal, hand signals and sharing your alternate air supply with your buddy etc... At the end of the 2nd day we had to sit an exam before being accepted to joining the liveaboard boat - all students passed!

The final 2 days of the course was to be spent on the reef carrying out a series of dives where I skills will be tested for real in sea. Day 1 consisted of 2 dives with our instructor, both dives were good although visibility was a little poor due to the amount of fresh water that had landed in the sea from the previous weeks rain. Still, we were all excited to be down in and amongst the coral and tropical fish. The first day ended with a beautiful sunset during dinner, however, for some of us our diving didn't end just yet. My dive buddy Karl and I joined our instructor for a night dive - a scary prospect of diving in to pitch black waters with only a torch light however, the fish and activity changes at night time so we were keen to take a look.

The fish seemed to change to a more red colour and with torch light the coral seemed brighter still. At one point I shone my torch away from where I was looking to see how dark it really was - PITCH BLACK!!! Needless to say I lit my torch again pretty quickly!!

Early to bed that night as our wake up call for the next morning was at 5.30am to being ready in the water for our 1st dive of the day at 6am. At sunrise there seems to be absolute havoc under the sea with fish in their thousands swimming around like nutters - it reminding me of the scene in 'Finding Nemo' when all the kids were rushing about getting ready for school.

Our final dive was at 8am, a few more skills were tested before our instructor announced that we had all successfully completed the course and had become certified divers - woohoo! On top of the adrenalin of becoming certified, this dive was special as we came across a White Tip Reef Shark, a Shovel Nose Ray Shark plus a Moray Eel with its teeth sticking out of a hole in the coral. We managed to get really close to the Shovel Nose Ray Shark and Moray Eel and was a real highlight.

Before switching boats and making our way back to shore we had an opportunity of another dive, but this time without our instructor. Very excited, Karl and I planned our dive route, got on our equipment and went for it. The buzz of exploring the underworld, searching and searching for interesting creatures is undescribable. We finished our dive and managed to fund our way back to the boats - Karl laughing at me because of my excitment under water for spotting a female Maori Wrauss.

A great 4 days and a definite sense of acheivement - I am now looking forward to diving in Fiji, Thailand and Malaysia.

Next stop the Northern Territory where I will meet up with my friend Rebecca.