ProDive Live aboard Great Barrier Reef
Dream. Come. True. What an EPIC experience. We woke up early and got to dive shop about 6:30am. We grabbed equipment, signed forms, and drove to the boat. We had a quick breakfast while we went over all the specifics for the trip. Then we were off! It was about a 2.5 hour boat ride to our first dive site. It was a perfect day. The sun was not too hot, and a cool breeze was blowing from the boat.
We arrived and hit the water! We were surprised to learn that the dives aren’t guided by default. The dive master went over the dive plan, gave compass coordinates and sent us on our way! We weren’t too sure of our navigation skills, but we thought we’d give it a shot. Spoiler alert: we weren’t good. It’s kind of stressful tying to figure out where you are and where you need to be. It takes a little fun out of the exploring and adds a bit of anxiety.
The water was 29 degrees, which felt absolutely heavenly. We had to have on stinger suits because it’s jellyfish season, but no wet suit required. Our first views of the reef were incredible. The coral structures and plants make it feel like you are on another planet.
After the dive was lunch. What is it about the water that makes people so hungry? Then, back in the water for our second dive. Halle and Blake loved checking out the fish charts and learning the names of the fish they saw.
It seemed like just when we dried off it was time to dive again! The giant clams we saw were beautiful. Their colors are stunning.
Blake and Halle were having an amazing time snorkeling. They saw so many interesting things. I still feel like snorkeling gives you the best of the best. The divers probably saw cooler coral structures, but the snorkelers see more fish and more variety.
Our first night dive as pretty chaotic. It was really hard to see (obviously), and challenging to follow the guide. I was pretty nervous. And it was hard to pick Rusty and Josh out of the crowd. We saw so many GIANT fish. And several reef sharks! What a day. After eating our delicious apple strudel desserts, we crashed in bed. Well, I did. Rusty was too hot so he went and slept in the galley on the bench cushions.
Day 2
One of the best parts of today was sitting around a table teaching Ripple to people from Shanghai, Australia, and LA. Then striking up conversations with people from Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK. I love meeting new people and hearing their stories.
Wake up call was at 6:30 for our 7am dive. Then a big breakfast of bacon and eggs and yogurt parfaits.
Our second dive was a wall and we decided we could probably also navigate this one. As you just follow the wall and then turn around and come back. 😂 It was our best navigation yet! We saw some HUGE Angel fish, and lots of white tipped reef sharks. And a really interesting lettuce fan. This was Rusty’s favorite dive of the day.
After that dive we all went up to the top of the boat to catch some rays. Laying out on the deck in the sun with my Kindle, completely unplugged, felt so good.
Levi, one of our fellow passengers, graciously let us join his group and took us on a guided dive. Josh said this one was his favorite. It has a couple of really cool swim throughs. Those are always so fun. I’m so glad we went with Levi-there was no way we were navigating that one on our own.
Halle and Blake did the into to dive course and Blake LOVED it. Halle said she liked it fine, but it’s a lot going on for her. She’s glad to say that she has dived in the Great Barrier Reef.
We saw big gigantic turtle on the night dive. But no sharks today. This was a much more controlled dive—I think the visibility was better. It didn’t seem nearly as scary. After we surfaced, and were coming to the boat ladder, something hit me right in the head. It was a flying fish!
Day 3
We had an early 5:30am wake up call for our first dive. It was hard to get up, but the water is so pretty first thing in the morning.
On the second dive Blake needed a break, and I had wanted to snorkel, so I went with Halle. The colors are a lot more vivid when you are in the shallow waters. We had a fun time spotting gobis, and little crabs.
Josh made the sighting of the trip when he saw 2 Octopi 🐙! They changed color and everything! They also saw an anemone with some clownfish that they were excited to bring me back to on the third dive.
Wouldn’t you know it, right on the very last time in the water, Halle got stung by a jellyfish on the only two inches of skin not covered by her stinger suit. OUCH. She tried to suffer through it for a bit, but eventually cut her time short and came back to the boat where they poured some vinegar on it. It hurt for an hour or so, and then started to fade away.
Our diving time came to an end. Josh and Rusty completed all 11 dives! That is no small feat! So proud of them.
We had a ROCKY ride back to Cairns. The wave were huge. I NEVER get any kind of motion sickness, and even I was feeling kind of nauseous. Trying to shower and pack was an adventure! The kids eagerly awaited the time they were close enough to land to get cell service
GBR—thanks for an epic, once in a lifetime adventure for my family! Here are their final thoughts:
Josh absolutely loved it! He said if they offered ,he’d jump in on another dive right now.
Blake asked, “when are we coming back?” And he’s excited to get his diving certification so he can dive next time.
Halle said it was amazing but she is TIRED. That’s how I feel too.
Here are some things that were unexpected—having to navigate our own dives. We had no idea!
So so much coral that varied in color, texture, size, etc.
how much fish life changes so much from night to day.
We got to the Airbnb, cranked the AC temp as low as it could go and just crashed. Rusty and I had to go pick up the Turo car at the airport so we grabbed dinner from Muddy’s and brought it home for everyone. We watched Kung Fu Panda 4 until it was a respectable bedtime and no one moved a muscle till 8am.
