My very first Scuba dive

While in the Whitsundays...over a month ago now...Jase and I did a boat trip to the Outer reef. It was 100km's out to sea, a long way out. They take you to a big pontoon at Knuckle reef. It took 2 hr 30mins to get there.
On the way out, the crew were talking about all the activites you could do out on the pontoon. Things like snorkelling, get a massage, have a go on the waterslide, relax, eat, go on a glass bottom boat or semi-submersible(sp?) with the marine biologist, have a helicopter ride over the reef or go scuba diving. I was planning to go snorkelling out at the reef. After the divers did ther talk, I turned to jase and said I want to do that, and he said the same. They made you feel very relaxed about it and it looked like heaps of fun. I'm always one to have a go at something once and what a place to do it, on the Great Barrier Reef.
So, with a quick tutorial on breathing underwater in the dive centre , we were off. Once you realise you don't breathe through your nose, you're right. It's all about the mouth and once you get that you're right. We had a great instructor, Leilani, who held our hands until we felt ok about going off on our own.
The fish are so bright and beautiful. And the coral...just amazing. We are so lucky to have this in sunny Qld. It's something that may not be around for much longer with global warming and the ocean temp's rising. It was an awesome experience, one I won't forget.
This trip was definately the highlight of our holiday. I'd highly recommend it.

Here's a few pics...
This is a pic of Seaflight and the pontoon.(I didn't take these pics, the onboard photographer did with his awesome underwater camera!)


An aerial view


Jase, Leilani(our instructor) and me


Jason had an encounter with Wally, a Maori Wrasse. A huge fish that lives out on the reef. As we were swimming past him, the photographer pushed him towards Jase and got some awesome pics. This is just one of them.


Chat soon,
Chelle Xx