certified!

Somehow I got myself up at 5:50 am for the first dive of the day. Not being a morning person, this was almost as painful as Reef Quest. (Just kidding. I'd rather wake up before 6 am every day for the rest of my life than relive Reef Quest.) I forced myself out of bed, put on my bathers (I love that word), and caught the sunrise from my cabin window.


The dive ended up being a challenging one. The current was pretty strong and visibility was low. However, I managed to pass my skills tests and after one more dive earned my open water certification! Clearly, looking dorky in a wet suit and snorkel mask was a criterion for earning certification.



With my PADI certification on the books, I was now free to go on fun dives. Obviously, I would be doing all of the remaining dives with Rob. Rob was not only a superlative navigator, but had an excellent eye for tracking down harder-to-find sea creatures, like Nemo!


That night, it was my turn to get thrown to the sharks on my first night dive. I, like Rob, managed to survive this experience, and came out of the water smiling (but only because Rob told me to for this photo).


In fact, the whole team survived.


The following day, Rob lent me his underwater camera for my last dive and I captured a couple of cool things, including:

another Nemo


and this school of fish hanging out in perfect formation in a coral bommie (look closely to see how organized they are!)


With nine or so new dives memorialized in our respective dive log books, Rob and I packed up, bid goodbye to the crew and our scuba mates, and made our way back to Cairns. The return trip was a little windy, but the backdrop was stunning.