May 22-24
It was one of the most amazing experiences in our lives. After 3 full hours and a lengthy briefing on safety rules, we were there. One of my life long dreams was about to happen.
Once we arrived, we still had 1-hour before the actual event. The staff helped put everything together (all the equipment, organization of the site, etc.) and needed just a little time to be fully prepared. There were 30 of us in total. Many of us on different skill levels – Lindsay and I had just been certified 3 weeks earlier. We were about to scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef!
The “live-a-board” experience was a 3-day, 2-night outing on an 80 foot dive boat. It happened to have staff and passengers from 10 different countries. The USA was well represented with people from Minnesota, Utah, and of course, the great state of Texas!
Lindsay and I were assigned to cabin #3. It was tight quarters; in fact, we had bunk beds! Nevertheless, the good news was that we had a window to see the beautiful scenery and were on the top deck of the ship.
The weather was astonishingly beautiful for this time of year. Clear blue skies, with the temperatures each day in the 80’s (farenheit), we dove 10 out of the 11 dives offered over the next 50 hours. We saw all kinds of coral, various tropical fish, amazingly old sea turtles (they can live to be over 100 years old) and even some sharks!! The sharks got our attention – though we were continuously told “the sharks are more afraid of you than you are of them.” I always wondered how these experts know how the sharks ‘feel’! But regardless, they did keep their distance. Thank goodness!
We felt very accomplished after our dive adventure was complete. It is a GREAT feeling to accomplish a lifelong goal. If you are a diver, and you haven’t already done it, we would highly recommend you make the Great Barrier Reef a dive goal. It is an incredible site to see!
God bless,
JB
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