Hamilton Island - Great Barrier Reef
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When it looked like our plan to go to Australia with all my in-laws would become reality, I was, of course, extremely interested in going diving there, especially at the Great Barrier Reef. Unfortunately it turned out that our trip would coincide with the height of the wet season and the chances of being trapped in Cairns due to a tropical rainstorm seemed quite high. But since I just couldn't imagine going to Oz without seeing the GBR, we decided to go as far south as possible, thus choosing Hamilton Island. This turned out to have been a wise decision, since the downpour that nearly prevented us from landing was just the trough of a storm centred on Cairns, making trips to the reef more or less impossible. I had checked out the local outfit on the net and booked two full day reef tours with the dive centre H2O Sportz. When I inquired at the hotel lobby about them, I was told they were an excellent outfit, really keen on diving as opposed to just getting as many people as possible to the reef and back.
First Impressions
When I arrived at the 'Dive Shop' (I didn't at first realize that it was in fact H2O Sportz) it turned out to be a surprisingly small outfit crammed full with merchandise,
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Next day Sarah and I returned and were equipped with stinger suits and shorties to prevent us from being stung by jellyfish, which is another nuisance of the wet season and quite dangerous. A week after we left an elderly tourist died of a heart attack on one of the Islands, brought on by contact with a jellyfish.
The other diving equipment had already been taken aboard the boat, which proved
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Manta Ray Bay
On the way to our destination three briefings were held in the cabin: one for certified divers (which was the smallest group), one for students taking a course and one for the snorkelers (the biggest group and containing my wife). Darren, our dive guide briefed us thoroughly -
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Although the rough sea had a considerable impact on the visibility (reduced to about 5- 10m), I was blown away by what I saw - the bay was teeming with life, and I hardly knew where to look. Blue-Banded Angelfish, Beaked Coral Fish, and Long Nose Butterfly Fish were only three of the many different kinds of fish swarming around me. In terms of coral beauty and abundance, this reef beat Mexico hands down and we weren't even at the outer reef! Darren proved to be a perfect dive guide, never obtrusive; he showed us plants and animals which were either too small to be seen (or appreciated) by untrained eyes or which were well hidden among the corals. As it was a drift dive, I only had to open my eyes and enjoy the ride!
After about half an hour one of the buddy teams was sent up, as they were getting low on air. The other team, Darren and I still had enough air for quite some time. Suddenly I noticed that Darren signalled for us to ascend as well. Although we didn't know what had brought on this change of plan, we followed him, and after a few meters the reason became clear: there was an enormous current between 10m and 5m, which quickly swept the other two (and now us) out of the bay and into the open sea.
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The excellent pre-dive service was matched by a likewise excellent after-dive service. Fresh fruit, fruit cake, tea and coffee were free for all. The dive de-briefing and log book entry completed an exciting dive!
Luncheon Bay
Got woken by the telephone - a call from the dive shop. I was informed that the weather hadn't improved sufficiently to go on a full day reef tour, so would I like to go on another single tank dive instead? Of course I would (not giving up hope to get to the reef on the next and last day, at least)!
Sarah and I decided to spend the morning at the pool. I worked on my apnoe skills, which got quite a few laughs from the Aussies, especially, when I demonstrated my legendary ‘Jacuzzi-apnoeing’ :-)
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Check in and briefing were very much the same as the day before. Since I had been on board the day before (I was the only one) I didn't have to go to all the briefings, only the one about our destination and thus had more time to lounge about and enjoy the ride. The good impressions I had got the day before were confirmed - the same care was taken to ensure that everybody had a safe and enjoyable trip.
This time the bay was more secluded: there were no waves and the current was very slight. Visibility was a lot better, too and Darren once again proved to be an excellent and unobtrusive guide, pointing out the more hidden beauty of the coral world to us. With a dive time of nearly an hour I couldn't complain about too short a dive, either!
Once again ater the dive I observed how carefully everything was checked: even before we went on board we had to tell staff our dive time, maximum depth
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Just before Hamilton Island Max left the cabin and manoeuvred the boat from the upper deck, where he proved to be quite an entertainer who soon had his audience in stitches!
There was only one disappointment on that day: in the evening it was already clear that the weather would still not be good enough to go out to the reef the next day. Ah well, I'll take another half day tour again, then!
Maureen’s Cove
My wife joined me for the third (and unfortunately last) trip, to go snorkelling in the bay. Check-in, briefing and the trip itself were very much like on the previous two days.
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Final words ...
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We were a bit unlucky weather-wise (actually, we seemed to attract clouds and rain all the time during our stay in OZ), but then it could have been worse - in Cairns there were no diving trips at all for several days. Our stay at Hamilton Island was really great, nice apartment with a great view (once the downpour subsided), good food and a diving outfit which made my dives more than enjoyable (much of which was due to Darren). Price-wise, the diving trips were a bit on the steep side, but it was well worth it!
More information on H2O Sportz can be found on their website.
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