For a quick break between the end of classes and the beginning of finals, we decided to take a snorkeling trip at the Great Barrier Reef. We left out of Cairns, and stayed on a boat for one night out on the reef. Fortunately, I had extensive snorkeling experience thanks to my parents, who forced me to take a snorkeling class at the community center pool back in fourth grade (where all the other students were literally 5 year-olds).
I hadn’t planned to go diving at all on the trip since I had no experience at the time, but decided to go on a guided beginner’s trip. I didn’t anticipate being as frightened as I was, since I’ve been extremely comfortable with swimming and water for most of my life. When we first entered the water, I was the most frightened I’ve ever been since the time my mom found me squeezing out an entire bottle of conditioner into the bathtub when I was four. Something about breathing underwater made me quite nervous. Eventually I had so much fun, and even went out on another dive the next day (RIP my bank account). I got to pet a fish, which is my proudest accomplishment to this date.
I rarely do things that scare me, because I don’t like to feel scared. It’s not really rocket science. And as small as it may seem, this experience really did show me that sometimes it’s worth it. I’ve never been able to see sea-life up close before and it’s something that I’ll definitely remember forever. My only qualm about this experience was the fact that my GoPro completely stopped working during the dive. I found this difficult to comprehend, as the whole point of investing $28137912 on one is so it can film underwater, and what does it do? NOT film underwater. So, examine your gear beforehand, I suppose.
Our trip was through Reef Encounter, who I highly recommend, and would definitely use again for future boat trips. The boat we stayed on was very nice and well kept, and all the meals were quite good. Their staff were all very friendly and helpful (big shout-out to them for not throwing me overboard during my scuba diving meltdown).
Upon returning to the Gold Coast and finishing finals, I decided to get my Open-Water Diving certification. This was purely to flex on myself, since I wanted to show myself that I could somewhat master something that had scared me so badly only a week prior. The course was three days long, and consisted of skills tests out at Wave Break Island, combined with book work in a classroom. While I obviously won’t have the opportunity to dive regularly when I get back to the United States, this process really helped me overcome a surprisingly big fear, and showed me what I’m actually capable of. I took the class with Queensland Scuba Diving Company, and their instructors were extremely helpful and very patient. I had planned on getting certified at home in Missouri, but I’m so happy I decided to do it here in Australia where the weather is nice and there’s so much to see underwater. Next up on my list is to get a boating license even though I don’t own a boat or know anyone that does, because again, I’m a BIG fan of a useless flex.
I had so much fun at the reef, and genuinely intend to return in the future to see it again!
