Need Help re: Diving in Cairns, Australia?

[FredTracie]

 Hi All
 I am helping my oldest son plan a 2 month trip through Australia and New Zealand after he graduates and before he starts his career with Amazon in Seattle, Washington. He will be doing the bulk of his touring with Contiki tours including taking his dive certification in Cairns includes 3 days/2nights on the reef . He will then have an extra 5 days to dive on the reef before heading to New Zealand.
 Any suggestions, input, ideas and thoughts would be most appreciated! Should he follow up his basic with the advanced course while there? Any input into which dive operation would be great? What kind of camera? (basic touron proof, that can double for everyday use) Anything else you folks can think of would be most appreciated?

 Thanks

  Fred

[Pacific State 808]

Hi Fred

Wow, what a wonderful trip this sounds that you are planning. Regarding the diving, I would first of all recommend that your son trains under PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors), this is the most widely acknowledged diving organisation around the globe and the qualifications are recognised everywhere, (except Cuba). The training and courses are well developed, and PADI is the market leader for this type of diving.

I would say the best option is to do the first level opening course (Open Water) and also combine the advanced soon after, once the Open Water has been completed. Obviously, this depends on how confident your son is after completing the Open Water, not wanting to run before he can walk etc. He might feel that he would like to get some dives in before going onto his advanced to sharpen his skills he has learnt on the Open Water course, or just get some experience and confidence with the equipment and his bouyancy.

The reason I say that it is best to go and complete the advanced is that it will give your son greater options and availability of dives. Once qualified as an Open Water diver, this will permit your Son to dive to a maximum of 18 metres, which is a little restrictive when diving in the open ocean. Many dives will usually be between 20 and 30 metres, so it's good too have the knowledge and qualifications to be able to do this and understand the effects that this has on the body etc. It's no fun to be sitting on the boat having to sit dives out because it's out of your range, or even worse, find out that you are diving deeper than the 18 metre limit, which then can potentially get you in trouble should you have any medical issues or problems as no travel insurance will touch you.

You have two options available to you as to how you can do these courses. First option is to book the courses up and then complete once he is out in Australia. This can be time consuming if time is precious and could possibly be spent doing better touristy things, rather than swotting for diving exams in a class room. The Open Water course theory can now be completed on-line, in the comfort of your own home, via the PADI website. So basically, if your Son had the time before he departed, he could do the boring, time consuming theory part prior to leaving and then just pay for what is known as a 'referral' and that is to complete the fun part of the course, the in water activities and qualification dives when he arrives in Australia. You can arrange this through your local PADI dive store, (any problems with finding your local store, let me know and I will locate it for you via PADI).

So this is just food for thought, to get you started.

Some other things to think of too and consider, you MUST seriously consider taking out a DAN insurance policy for your son prior to departure (Divers Alert Network). I am not sure how much the policy will be for DAN North America, but Google it and take it up, it won't be to much. He will only need a basic membership, maybe called a bronze membership, but if he is diving, if you decide to take any advice from me, then this is the most important advice I can suggest. It will be the best $ you have spent and will be a global policy. Diving is dangerous, the easiest 10 metre dive can go wrong as diving problems are not an exact science, and it's always best to be safe rather than sorry. DAN are fabulous, the will have a medical chopper out to anywhere in the world you are and will ensure that you are in the nearest hyperbaric chamber/ medical facility in the quickest possible time. I have seen it in action myself and can tell you that DAN are second to none and every diver should have a policy. Not the more fun side of diving, but IMHO, a vital part which many divers over look or just can't be bothered with.

Happy to help with cameras etc, I will do some digging with some of my instructor contacts and see if I can get any recommendations for good dive operations in Cairns. Hope this is of some help.

Warren

[FredTracie]

Warren
 Thanks so much, your info is fabulous and most appreciated. He will be diving with a company in Cairns called Pro Dive, Contiki uses them. One of the options that we are looking at is to just do the open water and then it will allow more time and Scott can possibly do a stopover in Fiji on the way home and we can arrange for him to do the advanced there???
 This is just in case he has some issue and isn't committed to doing the advanced course right away??
 Thank you for reminding me about the insurance!!!!! Doing the classroom work before is the way to go and it is a PADI course, he also has to have a full medical in Australia before he starts the course.

  Your help is greatly appreciated!

    Fred

[Pacific State 808]

Your welcome, I know Pro Dive as a company and they have a great rep, they operate some wonderful liveaboards as well as day diving trips out of Cairns.

Any help or diving advice you need, let me know.

[FredTracie]

Any info that you can think of would be greatly appreciated....camera? Should Scott take his own dive mask as he wears glasses, Pro Dive does offer the use of prescription masks as he will have to carry everything with him for 2 months??

[Pacific State 808]

Does Scott have a camera now ? If so, is there an underwater housing already available for it ? If your not sure, I can find out with the make and model.

If Scott is looking to get a new camera for this trip then it depends on how much you would want to spend. Would Scott really want to spend out on a housing, which can be expensive, for what could be potentially a few dives ? It might be worth asking Pro Divers if they hire out cameras, which many operators do. I am just thinking of the cost implications, weighing up the cost versus the amount of time and use you will get out of it.

As an instructor, I do not let any of my students, or recently qualified open water divers bring cameras when they under my tuition. I find they get engrossed in taking pictures, then forget about the basics of diving, failing to look at their air consumption, concentrating on bouyancy etc as minds are else where taking pictures. This was happening all the time to me, (it was giving me grey hair) so I have stopped this which is a personal decision. It's easy to get caught up in the excitement of a reef and get carried away taking photo's, next thing I knew I had people with no air to breathe......trust me, nightmare...lol!

If Scott still wants to get a Camera and a housing, I can only advise on what I personally use, and that is Canon. I use a Canon S95, brilliant little camera for above and below the water, the Canon housing is relatively cheap as housings go, but the housing are really well made and pretty sturdy, waterproof to 40m but I have taken mine down to almost 50m, and it didn't leak. My photo's are on 7 days somewhere, or you can view pictures I have taken with this model on www.warrenssite.com and click the Maldives tab and you will see a gallery from March of this year.

A mask can make or break a dive, if you get a mask that is a poor fit and leaks, then it will be a pain in the ass and Scott will find he will spend the majority of the dive clearing water from his mask every few minutes. It's great that Pro Dive offer prescription masks to loan, that's pretty cool, is it free of charge ?. You might find by the time you have rented one, it's half the cost of purchasing one yourself, which you will have the added benefit of knowing it will be a good fit and wont leak. A mask you would use time and time again, I am sure Scott would be snorkeling at some stage, and if looked after, it will last for years.

Your local dive store will be able to provide lenses, and Scott can ensure it fits OK etc prior to purchase, (the mask should stay on Scotts face without the strap being around the back of the head, this will indicate that it is sealed correctly to the contour of the face. If it falls off, then air is getting in to the mask, which means water will also get in when diving). There is lots of good mask manufacturers to choose from, I have used Atomic masks for the last 3 years which I can vouch for as oustanding, I have also used Mares, Scubapro in the past and they are also pretty good, there will be lots to choose from. It's the fitting that is important at the end of the day.

This is just my own view, there is no point on spending hundreds of $ on dive gear if your unlikely to use it frequently, and you can rent it out there. I would say a mask is one of the few things I would take of my own, it's like being expected to run a marathon in trainers (sneakers ?) that are two sizes too big for you if you get a mask that dosent fit right.

[FredTracie]

Thanks Warren
 I remember when Cousteau brought his film crew and the Calypso to film in Lake Ontario he lost one of his underwater cameramen as he apparently was filming holding his breath and died from an embolism, so even the pros get caught up. Scott does not have a camera so will check into your suggestions as it would be something he could "grow into". Pro Dive does rent cameras for about $35 per dive. We will check into getting a good mask and snorkel for him as well!

[JohnnyCastaway]

I can't really add much to what Warren's already said, other than go for the advanced, as there's not a lot of prep work for the 5 dives other than reading the appropriate chapter, and then doing the dive (and of course doing the pre and post dive briefing with the instructor).  Nitrox certification would be my only other suggestion, as well as peak performance bouyancey as a good skill to know and perfect.