Where to take Great Barrier Reef PADI?

[jenj]

I'm in Australia from Oct 7th through 17th and want to do my PADI course. I was wondering if anyone had any recomendations of good companies to go through. I've heard the Whitsundays are supposed to be amazing. Is it better to go Whitsudays or Cairns or somewhere else? I want to do my PADI in the coolest place... Thanks, I appreciate your thoughts.

Cheers

Jen

 

[matgiani]

Jen,

I'm no expert on the location but I can tell you what I thought about my diving there last year.

I went on a liveaboard trip with Pro Dive Cairns and can recommend them wholeheartedly. Great staff, great boat, world class dive sites as you might expect.
IIRC, they run their OW courses on "land" in Cairns for the first 2 days where they do the confined water activities, and then you go out on a 3 day liveaboard where you finish off the course with the open water dives.

Whitsundays in my experience were absolutely breathtaking scenery, great for a sailing trip and sightseeing but diving there was not, for me, as exciting as the outer sites of the barrier reef I dived out of Cairns (granted, I only did one dive in the Whitsundays so did not see a massive amount).

So to answer your question, if I had to choose, I would go to Cairns to dive. Wouldn't be disappointed to go back myself. Awesome social life there too, very easy to find people to hang out with in Cairns and on the boat as the flow of backpackers is strong.

My 2 cents.

Cheers

 

[Freddy Smith]

the whitsundays i9s a great sailing destination - but a little too much water movement due to large tides to allow for reliable vis. Cairns would be your better bet I think

 

[Wobbegong wannabe]

Port Douglas (about an hour's drive north of Cairns) has lovely reef diving and several dive operators who can do a PADI certification. The diving in Port is supposed to be better than Cairns (particularly if you ask anyone from Port ), but Cairns is a much bigger town if you want to have some onshore fun as well.

I have dived with Quicksilver recently in both Cairns and Port Douglas, and found them very efficient and professional. I've also heard Poseidon (Port Douglas) and Calypso (Cairns) recommended by locals, though I haven't dived with them myself.

Have fun!

 

[diver_dj]

Go to either Cairns or Port Douglas. Pick up the phone book and close your eyes and point. Better yet, use the dive shop locator on padi.com.

I did my original Open Water with Down Under Dive out of Cairns and was very happy. I've also dived with several others in that area since then and found them all to be quite good. There are so many good shops to choose from there that a bad one goes out of business very quickly.

 

[Aquapro Dive Services]

Cairns has far more optioned, but only 2 PADI schools. Deep Sea Dives Den and Pro Dive. Both very good. Not sure about Port any more.

Port Douglas much smaller and laid back, but does not offer the live aboard option for OW courses. 3 day 2 night is the best way to take the course.
Schools closed in Whitsundays now and as Freddy says, its all about the sailing there.

if you wanted to go budget in Cairns, you can do it over 4 days doing day trips, but doing the over night trip gets you fun dives on top of your 4 training dives.

 

[lloyd_borrett]

G'day,

There are plenty of operators, but I'd recommend Pro Dive out of Cairns. For Open Water, I think you do two days on land in their pool and then 3 days on a liveaboard boat. Thus you get out to the dive sites that the numerous day boats out of Cairns and Port Douglas don't go to.

I did my first trip to the Great Barrier Reef as an Advance OW diver on the 3-day Pro Dive liveaboard. Half of the boat were OW students and the rest certified divers. Great crew, great setup, great diving.

But a few years later I did a 7 day live aboard on the Sprit of Freedom. And that's the way to really experience the best of the Great Barrier Reef. You go north to the Ribbon Reefs and out to Osprey Reef. Simply magnificent. But I doubt you could do your OW course on such a trip.

Best regards, Lloyd Borrett.

 

[Oldbear]

I'm in Australia from Oct 7th through 17th and want to do my PADI course...
Cheers

Jen

Jen,

If you are in Oz Oct 7 - 17 of 2013, I would recommend at a minimum to take the PADI ON-line training before you get there (Part 1 of 3 parts to the PADI OW course). Even better to take the Confined Water or "Pool Dive" training locally (Part 2). Then all you have to do is a quick review and on the referral system take your "Open Water" (Part 3 and has a min of 4 dives) at your chosen Oz dive operator. This will allow more time enjoy the GBR as well as more time at home to learn the fundimentals. I did it this way; took the first two parts of the PADI OW course in Denver and the third part in Mexico.

I did a lot of research for Dive Training Facilities in Austrilia and the one I liked best was Pro Dive; logistically ended up in Honduras through.

Good luck and happy diving,

~Oldbear~

 

[drbill]

It's been 12 years since I was in Cairns to dive the GBR. I was there on a 3-month circle the Pacific (North and South) dive/backpacking trip. I had grown tired of PADIU instructors not knowing what my Los Angeles County (LAC) c-card represented and making me do check out dives (I'd been diving longer than they'd been alive). I told one instructor in Thailand but from Los Angeles "Where do you think the founders and early instructors of PADI got their initial training?"

When I got to Cairns I checked out several shops. At Deep Sea Divers Den the instructor not only knew what my LAC card represented, he referred to it as a "museum piece." I did my PADI AOW cert with him out on Reef so I'd have a PADI card to show. I enjoyed the experience out on their liveaboard and would certainly return.