24.11.2018 | Australia, Travel

Diving Tour with DiversDen to Norman and Saxon Reef

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Early in the morning we drove to the harbor of Cairns and went to the Divers Den “Reef Quest” boat. I highly recommend DiversDen, because they have only access to 4 of the best reefs in the Outer Reef. Other providers often have the permit for 2 reefs in the Outer Reef and for 2 reefs near the mainland with a bad view. They choose two reefs and they could choose the bad ones. With DiversDen you have a guarantee. I was pretty nervous before we arrived because I booked our first dive with a scuba tank. I didn´t want to miss out on my chance to dive in the best Reef of the world. The parking space near the harbor cost 8 AUS Dollar the whole day. Most people book a tour from Cairns to the Great Barrier Reef, therefore it was extremely crowded. At 8 am we were allowed to go on the yacht. Everyone who wanted to do a Scuba Diving Introductory-Course had to fill out a survey. After they introduced their whole crew we got some security information. We immediately had to begin with the theory for Scuba-Diving while the boat drove to the Norman Reef. Maybe you wanna try a Scuba Dive as well – I am glad I can tell you what to expect:

Basic introduction before diving

They told us three scenarios and practical exercises on the boat, which we had to present afterward one after the other while holding a rope in the 1-meter deep water next to the boat. The dive instructor asks you by hand signals again and again if everything is okay and you have to reply every time. The exercises sound a lot more complicated than they really are and the diving instructor will show you every single exercise at first and you will repeat it easily. They showed us all the dangerous animals. First rule: Don´t touch anything! We learned the hand symbols and where we could find the display for left air on our vests. We had to show him our display again and again. Exercise 1: remove the mouthpiece, exhale, take the mouthpiece in your mouth again, blow out all the water with a powerful “Twoooo” through the instrument. Exercise 2: hold the mask at the upper end with your flat hand, put your head a little back and breath out through your nose, until there is no more water in the mask, remove your hand Exercise 3: let the mouthpiece drop out and fall down, put your arm down and brush it back close to your legs with a calm movement. Get your arm and the tube back to your face. Put it into your mouth and push the button in front of the mouthpiece to press the water out automatically.

Exercise 4: On the water surface you have to press the red button to blow up the vest for safety reasons. When you want to start your dive you have to press the white button for blowing out the air in the vest. Arriving at the surface after your dive, you have to press the red button again. Exercise 5: Because of the increasing pressure underwater you always have to do a pressure equalization, at least every meter. For doing a pressure equalization you have to hold your nose while exhaling powerfully through your nose. Your mouth has to be closed and you should feel a little “plop” or a crack in your ears. As soon as the equalization didn´t work, for example, if you caught a cold, you aren´t allowed to dive deeper, otherwise, your eardrum will burst. Never ever dive with ear pain, then you forgot the equalization! But no worries! Before my first dive, I was very afraid that I can´t manage the equalization. The dive instructors give you all the time you need to try and ask again and again if everything is okay. If not, they will go up a few meters with you and try again. At my first dive I was so nervous that nothing worked but at my second dive everything went pretty good and the equalization worked without problems. The key is to relax – don´t hesitate!

Our first dive at the Norman Reef

It felt a little bit hectic on the boat because there were so many people. If you like it more relaxed for your first dive, I highly recommend booking a tour with DiversDen from Port Douglas because there are fewer participants. The crew assigned the wetsuits, fins, and masks. They help you to put on the dive equipment and the diving vest. Every dive instructor got 4 dive students. When you jump into the water you have to hold your mask and in the water, you pump up the vest. At first, you will present the 3 exercises on a rope only 1-meter beneath the water. Then everyone tries the air equalization. In the beginning, it feels like you can´t get enough air through the mouthpiece, especially at the surface and shortly under the water surface. As soon as you get deeper and you look down with your head you will get loads of air to breathe. With the time you will be calmer and the body will relax and enjoy! Tip: This day there was a heavy swell on the reef. You absolutely have to bring along some travel tablets for sickness, otherwise, you might feel sick on the boat before diving. A lot of people got seasick. We went down slowly step by step holding the dive instructor´s arm. There was enough time to do the equalization. At the first dive, you will dive at most 12 meters deep. When we reached the ground, holding the instructor’s arm all the time, we dived along the reef. And yes – it was an incredible feeling! Even the look to the water surfaces didn´t scare me at all. On the contrary, I felt so free! We then dived very slowly towards the surface. As a diver you will never dive up fast, otherwise, you can get a decompression sickness. The lungs need time to adapt the pressure while diving up. The deeper you will dive with your scuba, the more you have to adapt the sinuses with the pressure equalization on the one hand, on the other hand, the lung has to adapt the pressure by breathing continuously. You can not hold breath for a long time because at this moment the lung isn´t able to adapt the pressure any longer. Due to the continuous breathing, the lung keeps the same size all the time. In contrast to an apnoea diver without equipment, who holds the breath and the lung gets smaller in the depth.

Snorkeling at the Saxon Reef

In the meantime, the crew prepared a lunch buffet. The Reef Quest moved to the second reef the “Saxon Reef”. We only snorkeled at the reef and dived a few meters without equipment. The reef is so beautiful! We found colorful, high piled up coral reefs and loads of beautiful fishes. Sadly some of the corals already got the coral bleaching due to the water heating. The Netflix series gives a lot of information: look for “Chasing Corals”. We are the last generation to save the corals! *** Dieser Artikel enthält Werbung, da Marken genannt werden.