David Around the World: December 18, 2014 Drive to Port Douglas, Boat Dives, Ride back to Cairns.

Today is one of the days I've been looking forward to since I started planning this trip in March of this year. I have had my scuba certificate since my son Bronce talked me into joining him in getting his certificate back in 1999. We have had several dives over the years in Hawaii, Caribbean, Mexico and California, And we both have had separate dives in Bermuda (for me) and Belize (for him). But getting to dive in one of the most reknowned areas of the world is very exciting.
I'm picked up around 6:45 by the dive shops bus. We will be heading on a two hour trip up to Port Douglas, where we will board our dive boat and head out to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). We stop at several hotels in Cairns (which is pronounced "cans", "r' is silent. While traveling along the ocean highway I notice the number of large plantation like cane fields. It reminds me of driving the north highway in Maui and seeing a similar site with both cane and pineapple fields. The homes on these plantations are beautiful and look just like the ones I remember in Hawaii. Very long one level homes with large wrap around porches.
We do make a direct east turn and go directly to the ocean highway that we will take for the last hour of our trip. We stop and pick up a few more people in the coast town of Palm Cove, which is a wonderful small beach community with a large number of small bungalows and cottage, that lay right on the beaches of the Coral Sea (Pacific Ocean). Also there are beautiful old age trees that look like the same eucalyptus trees I noticed on my drive back to Adelaide from ta he Barossa Valley a couple of days ago. The drive to Port Douglas is just damn beautiful. The road is a very quaint two lane road that seems to fit right into the landscape along the hills and treed roadway. The Coral Sea has several colors, though the majority of the color is a deep blue coloring. As we drive further north toward Port Douglas, you can start to see the coral reef colors of light blue, aqua, and green about 1-2 miles from shore. The GBR is broken into basically five areas: sand beach, inner reef area, reef, outer reef (wall) and the sea. We continue our breath-taking trek toward our dive boat location,
When arriving in Port Douglas you can't help seeing the numerous boats of all shapes and sizes, though sailboats are probably the most abundant. We arrive into the port area where many of the dive shop boats are docked. We get off the bus and head inside to the Poseidon Dive Shop to check-in. They direct me to dock D-1, where the Ship Poseidon is located. This boat is a huge double catamaran, that I don't think I have ever seen that large of one. I'm greeted at dockside by the captain and the crew. Once on board we are treated to a light breakfast and start listening to the safety and rules of the ship. The Poseidon shoves off and it will take us just over an hour to get to the area where we will be diving, Agincourt Reefs.
There are several other people on the boat, around 80. During the day I figured they were broken down into several categories: just passengers, there for the ride (about 12); snorkelers (about 35, the majority of the people); new school certificate learners (about 15); and the certificate experienced divers (about 18 of us). We are broken down into our groups and assigned to dive masters. I'm with a nice local lady named Dinah and she explains the dives that we will be taking. Our group of about six. I meet my dive buddy, Geoffrey, that lives locally in Port Douglas, after leaving the Seattle area 15 years ago to live here in this beautiful beach community. I have to admit i'm a bit jealous of him. We spent several minutes talking about our lives over the course of the day.
When it was time to start gearing up, I let my dive master know that it had been several years since I dove and may need a bit of help with the gear up. She said it would be know problem because she helps make sure everyone gets her help no matter the experience. We get fitted for our fins, snorkel and mask first. They have several prescription dive masks which is great because without my glasses on dives is always a bit of a blur for me. But with the prescription mask I was able to see clearly under water for the first time. We are also given a light lycra full body suit to use. I'm a bit surprised since the outside temperature is over 90 degrees and the water temperature is over 72 degrees. I would have expected a "shorty" suit if anything. But I find out from one of our group that between November and March small jellyfish are abundant and the suits will keep us from getting stung. I'm all for that.
Okay time to jump ship, so to speak. Unlike the snorkelers and the beginning divers that step off the end of a ramp into the Coral Sea, we certified divers jump off the stern side of the big ship. I would say its about a 10 foot drop. I must say my heart is beating very fast and my mask is starting to fog up due to my perspiration. It doest help that there are about 5-6 small sharks swimming around the area where we will be jumping into the sea. The dive master had warned us that we might see a few at the beginning, because when boats first come up to the area, the sharks think they are going to get feed. Her advice, "just jump on top of them, they will move." Okay it's my turn to jump off and I can see 2-3 sharks hovering around the spot where I will be making a giant step into the sea. I hit the water, and I'm floating with my air filled vest and I can now rinse out my fogged up mask. I'm ready for my descent. On this dive we will be going down to about 60-70 feet. I maneuver pretty easily down to the sandy bottom while waiting for the rest of my six group partners descend as well. It takes about five minutes for all of us to meet at the bottom, since one of the ladies was having some problems with her air device that permits her to descend. My breathing is less labored now that I'm at the bottom and can relax a bit, no sharks seem to be around.
We head out toward the first signs of coral, and I notice that the area doesn't have the best visibility (vis). As we pass by the many shaped types of coral, I do notice that some have lost their color (grey-white). I find out between my first and second dive that the coral in the area is starting to die off due to many reasons but for the most part due to human effects: global warning (water is too warm), oil and material dumps, over fishing, tiny starfish from areas of the China Sea brought to the area by fishing vessels that kill coral. After about 40 minutes it's time to surface and move to our next dive sight.
The second site also is around 60-70 feet and has more and larger coral, plus a few more fish, which we didn't see a lot of on the first dive. Again, we jump off the stern, and wait as a group to descend to the bottom. This time everyone makes it down. This dive I will be using my GoPro camera a lot more to video. This dive has some great giant coral spots that I get some good video footage. This dive also takes about 40 minutes and we are headed to the surface. That was my last dive of the day and I must say it was a bit exhausting for an old guy of 62. But I did get to fulfill one of dream dives, but wish I had planned two days of diving. I hope when i get back Bronce and I can do more diving in the future. Maybe we can convince others in the family to get certified.
We start back to Port Douglas and I sit at the top of the boat where you can get a good look down into the water and see the multi-colored coral reefs pretty well. As we dock at the port, I'm reminded of one of my favorite Mark Twain quotes, "Years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor and catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."