Cairns Vs Port Dougal For OW + DM

[adventureswithwill]

Hey guys,

I've just booked a trip with the girlfriend and she wants to do her open water course (yay!). We are flying into Cairns on the 10th of June and flying out again on the 21st. I'm an semi experienced DM with 500+ dives. I've been to Cairns before but last time I did a live aboard up the ribbon reef.

I'm not really too concerned about my own diving, I'd just really like to make sure that the GF has an amazing time and enjoys her time under the water for the first time. We are planning on heading up to Port Douglas at some stage, I don't really love Cairns the city itself so I am wondering if we are better off diving out of Cairns or going directly to Port Douglas.

Would love to hear the advantages/disadvantages of both and any schools (or specific instructors) you'd recommend.

 

[Aquapro Dive Services]

There are not really any schools left in Port these days and only a few operators.

some good trips out of there but Cairns has the 3 main schools - Deep Sea Divers Den, Pro Dive and Cairns Dive Centre.

you can choose from 4 day budget courses to 5 day over night courses. Most do the latter wher you are qualified by lunchtime on the second day. This means you would get to dive together for the rest of the trip.

check out some details below.

Cairns PADI Open Water Dive Course And Dive Trips To The Great Barrier Reef

 

[adventureswithwill]

Thanks, Aquapro. I did my liveaboard with DSDN and they were pretty good for the most part, girlfriend feels most confident with them out of the options so will probably go with them. Think we will just do the 4 day budget course, little bit less pressure on her if she doesn't enjoy it and we can spend the extra money on going to Bali/Philippines if she does where IMO the diving is much better (for my macro loving tastes at least).