Cairns Dive

Sleeping on the couch of an airport wasn't the most comfortable thing ever, but I got a few hours of rest. My alarm went off at 6:30AM and it was time to get going to the Marina. I got my "swimmer" on and headed outside for a taxi. We jumped into one and were off to Marlin Marina. The city area was a lot smaller than Melbourne and more resort-like. When we got to the marina, we found our boat, I ate a pb and banana sandwich for breakfast and checked in. I had to fill out some paperwork to do my introductory dive and then we all sat down and it was off to the Reef. Unfortunately it was raining when we boarded so we stayed inside the boat for the whole trip to the reef. It was an hour and half ride out to the diving site. The ride was a bit bumpy---about 4-5 people got seasick getting there--I just laid my head down on the table and fell asleep for a half hour and felt fine! Once we made it to the reef it was beautiful and sunny--crazy how the weather changes being in the middle of the ocean.
Once we reached our destination on the reef it was time to suit up and go out for my dive. I put my wetsuit on, got my weighted belt put on (used to keep body low in the water), my oxygen tank and air pressurized vest which weight about 10kg (4.5 lbs), then my fins, and my mask. I went to the end of the boat where I found Abby and Sarah (a girl we met from Pennsylvania who was diving as well) and our guide (small, Asian guy). To get in the water, I had to hold my mask and do head first sitting down. I successfully toppled in the water. Once in the water--I had to pass three tests before I could start the dive. The first test was to clear my mask in case it filled with water---I had to press fingers on the top of my mask, look up, and blow out of my nose! The second test was to take my regulator out of my mouth, let water in my mouth and then clear the water after putting the regulator back in. Once it was back in my mouth, I had to press the button on the regulator to clear the water out. The third test which I completed was to drop the regulator and its attached cord out of my mouth and down to my side and retrieve it back and also clear it. This one was a little more challenging because it took longer to find the cord again and put the regulator back in and not run out of air. But I completed all three and was on my way down to the reef in no time. As we descended, I had to continually pop my ears the closer and closer we got to the ocean floor. The minute I got in the water---I was about 2 feet from fish (about 2 feet long)--it just shocked me how close they were right away. Once lowered down as far as the rope went, the guide motioned to let go and follow him. As I lowered, an even bigger fish---about 3 feet long but 2.5 feet wide stare me in the face. I did not like this fish---not the cutest thing I have ever seen. As we got closer to the reef, all these brightly colored fish came out and swam alongside us. I saw so many beautifully colored, tropical fish---most of them pretty small in size just swimming around, hiding in the coral. Some came up and grazed my arms and swam right next to my face! I cannot believe some of the colors of these fish---they looked like poster fish! My favorite one a black fish which had blue sapphire looking rhinestones down its spine. It was just gorgeous! I wish I could take one home! Along our dive, we cam across a big clam on the bottom of the ocean and also we found Nemo. The clown fish were so tiny and cute! I was about 5 cm from nemo!! I was very calm and never tasted salt water at all. The dive was about 25 minutes long and went really well. What a beautiful wonder to see! We slowly surfaced and went back to the boat to take off all my gear. After drying off, it was lunch time---a huge salad buffet and cold sandwiches were served--with fruit, minestrone soup, potato salad, pasta salad---mmm all very good and filling!
I relaxed for a bit after lunch while the boat moved to another location along the reef. I decided to snorkel at this spot so got suited up again. I jumped off the boat and swam to meet up to a group in the water---I wanted to be close to a guide who was sharing all the neat things to see in the ocean. Again the minute I got in the water there were fish all around---such beautiful animals! I saw a ton more rainbow, neon fish. I stayed out for about 20 minutes and then heard the boat horn blow. I turned back toward the boat, took my gear off, and dried off on the top deck. The boat was now heading back to the marina. It would be another hour and a half--again I laid down on the table and took a nap---best thing to do because the boat started rocking and a few people got sick again.
Once we got to the marina, we headed to our hostel which was only 5 blocks from the marina. It was called Corona backpackers---very colorful, clean hostel. It was cheap--only AUS$12/bed so we rented three of the 4 beds in a dorm---we shared with an Italian guy as our fourth by chance. He was very nice, but he English was not very good so I couldn't understand him very well. I actually ended up dancing with him at the club we went to. We all showered when we got there and headed to reunite with the other BSU students who stayed on a Live-aboard for 3 days. They were down at the YHA. We hung out a bit and then went to grab dinner--we had free dinners at the Woodshed (kind of like the Cheeky Monkey in Byron) but the pasta portions were larger and it was a bigger and cleaner bar. I got Pasta Neopolitana---vegetarian pasta (pasta and marinara) and it was pretty good. Just spaghetti basically but hey it was free!! Then we walked around the night markets for a bit and souvenir shopped. We met back up with the other students back at woodshed where they were meeting their dive instructors for pizza. We met their crew and hung out with them for the rest of the night---they bought tons of pitchers and pizza and we danced a lot! Again like Cheeky's the tables become dance floors so we hopped up and started dancing! I had a lot of fun---got a little sweaty which I know is gross to share but its get hot dancing for hours! About midnight it was time to go to the hostel--I was getting tired but enjoyed my first night in Cairns. I slept on a bunk under Abby. The beds were pretty comfortable--and I was out within minutes!