ScubaBear14
New
Hello Fellow Divers,
I am planning a trip to Australia for this August with my family of six and one of our destinations is Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef. I really like the idea of doing a liveaboard, but I am having trouble on deciding which company to use. Unfortunately, I do not have the budget to do a liveaboard to sites like Code Hole and Osprey Reef. Therefore, I am probably going to do a 3 day/2 night or a 2 day/1 night with some companies that go to Outer Barrier Reef sites like Norman and Milln reefs. The companies I am considering are Pro Dive Cairns, Reef Encounter, and Deep Sea Divers Den. In my group, my brother, father, and I are PADI open water certified with about 20 dives under our belts, but my sisters and mother are snorkelers. One of my sisters really dislikes being in the water because she is mildly autistic. Are there other things to do on the boat to keep the snorkelers in my group busy if they get tired of snorkeling? While on this trip, my father, brother, and I are looking at possibly getting Advanced Open Water Certified just because some of the required dives like the Night Dive, Boat Dive, and Deep Water Dive can easily be covered in a liveaboard's itinerary. Does this require a lot of class time or is it mostly completing skills during dives? Would it be worthwhile for us to explore this option while on the GBR? How do the dive sites that each company visits compare? While I like that Reef Encounter has a glass bottom boat for the snorkelers in my group, they do not offer PADI Advanced Open Water certification. Instead, they offer SSI certifications. I am not very keen on making a transition to SSI. Pro Dive Cairns and Deep Sea Divers offer PADI. Reef Encounter and Deep Sea Divers Den visit Norman, Saxon, and Hastings reefs while Pro Dive Cairns visit Pellowe, Flynn, Millnn, and Thetford reefs. How do these regions of the GBR compare?
I am planning a trip to Australia for this August with my family of six and one of our destinations is Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef. I really like the idea of doing a liveaboard, but I am having trouble on deciding which company to use. Unfortunately, I do not have the budget to do a liveaboard to sites like Code Hole and Osprey Reef. Therefore, I am probably going to do a 3 day/2 night or a 2 day/1 night with some companies that go to Outer Barrier Reef sites like Norman and Milln reefs. The companies I am considering are Pro Dive Cairns, Reef Encounter, and Deep Sea Divers Den. In my group, my brother, father, and I are PADI open water certified with about 20 dives under our belts, but my sisters and mother are snorkelers. One of my sisters really dislikes being in the water because she is mildly autistic. Are there other things to do on the boat to keep the snorkelers in my group busy if they get tired of snorkeling? While on this trip, my father, brother, and I are looking at possibly getting Advanced Open Water Certified just because some of the required dives like the Night Dive, Boat Dive, and Deep Water Dive can easily be covered in a liveaboard's itinerary. Does this require a lot of class time or is it mostly completing skills during dives? Would it be worthwhile for us to explore this option while on the GBR? How do the dive sites that each company visits compare? While I like that Reef Encounter has a glass bottom boat for the snorkelers in my group, they do not offer PADI Advanced Open Water certification. Instead, they offer SSI certifications. I am not very keen on making a transition to SSI. Pro Dive Cairns and Deep Sea Divers offer PADI. Reef Encounter and Deep Sea Divers Den visit Norman, Saxon, and Hastings reefs while Pro Dive Cairns visit Pellowe, Flynn, Millnn, and Thetford reefs. How do these regions of the GBR compare?
