Moving to Australia

[Donpedro]

Blast from the past. I am doing more diving, got back on scubaboard and decided to update this post.

My wife and I moved to Australia, bought a van and traveled most of the east coast for 6 months. We did shore dives in Tasmania, and around Melbourne, got to dive/snorkel in the Whitsundays and dove the Great Barrier Reef out of Cairns. It was an awesome experience!

At the end of our trip we moved back to the states, and took a hiatus from diving. In the intervening years I have gotten to dive in Idaho, Kauai, and Cano Island in Costa Rica. I sold our gear in 2015 and I'm back in the game in 2025.

 

[qpdbgp]

Fellow American - been living in Sydney for about 13 years. I'm calling myself a new diver because prior to now I did a few dives; 10 years later a few more; 20 years later a few more. Regarding working on equipment and being a divemaster... My background is medical, and I thought I might work on equipment - a notion resoundingly rebuffed when I stopped in a shop to enquire. I don't know who was servicing their equipment back then, but the current guy is someone who did a lot of diving and came at it from that direction; no formal mechanical background. And in terms of divemaster - every shop will encourage you to sign up for their course - but when it comes to working in the field... My speculation is every shop has its owner/small permanent staff, and then traveling divemasters or ones they just trained who are willing to work for less just to travel and dive in different areas. And you can imagine how many marine biologists Australian schools turn out - certified and all vying for miniscule research funds. Another thing you'll encounter - a lot of people inform you that you should tell people you're Canadian, and over time you realize why.

 

[happy-diver]

https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/wars-and-missions/world-war-ii-1939-1945/resources/all-australian-homefront-1939-1945/emergency-home-defence/yanks-down-under-over-sexed-over-paid

 

[JakeDiver]

So jealous, I've always wanted to go to Australia