Das Great Barrier Reef

Finally, the day has come we see the Great Barrier Reef 🎉😊.

We booked an Open Water dive course with Pro Dive in Cairns. This means that after this course we are allowed to dive up to 18 meters deep with an oxygen tank. At the beginning of the course, we had to learn theory for two days and do exercises in the pool before we were allowed into the sea. Our diving instructor was Sophia from Germany. It was important for us to do the course in German so that we could understand everything. In total, there were only four students including us and there were also two Swiss students. It was a bit like being in school and we even had to take an exam - but we managed to do everything and were allowed on the boat!

On Sunday morning, we started at 06:20. The days before, we were in a party hostel, which was not the best idea because there was a different theme party every night and people were very eager to party 🙈! We survived with earplugs. Our boat was in the port of Cairns. There were about 35 people on the boat and we had a twin cabin - there were quite a few Germans as well 😁. To get to the reef, we had to drive for 3 hours. After that, we started with the first dive - very exciting. After four dives with Sophia, we were certified divers and were allowed to dive alone. We saw turtles, manta rays, reef sharks, Nemo and his family, and many other colorful fish. We had a lot of fun, met super nice people, and had a whole new experience. It is still rocking, even though we have been on land for the third day now.

Now we have left Cairns after almost 2.5 weeks and are heading south - our first stop is Townsville with a stopover at Mission Beach.