Arriving on the first day I was greeted by the friendly, professional staff and introduced to our SSI dive instructor, Dan Morrissey. Cairns Dive Centre starts its SSI Learn to Dive Open Water courses every day and after I was introduced to the two other keen students and completed our preliminary paperwork, we were transferred to the Cairns Dive Centre training facility on Sheridan Street.

This trip exceeded my expectations. The dive sites were excellent and varied. The large crew was friendly and professional. MV Kangaroo Explorer had comfortable cabins, a spacious dive deck and comfortable top deck. The daily dive schedule provided ample time to explore the Great Barrier Reef and relax onboard. As a bonus, the weather was brilliant: glassy seas, blue skies, clear, warm waters with 15-20m viability at Milln Reef

December in Cairns can be hot and stormy, but out on the Great Barrier Reef with Passions of Paradise, its picture perfect with excellent visibility, friendly crew and experienced dive masters. A great day out – enjoyed by all on board.

As soon as I hit the water and started breathing underwater I knew this was one of the most exiting experiences of my life, the world around you changes into a silent sea of bubbles, you feel like you have been detached from the world above. Breathing was actually easier in scuba gear than snorkelling. I hung onto a rope connected to the two hulls of the boat, it was here the dive instructor made sure we knew how to clear our mask and regulator if they filled with water or came off, we then sank one meter down to a second rope where we just seemed to hang in suspended animation, above us we could see all the snorkelers thrashing and kicking around but down here the ocean was very different.

Who said snorkelling the reef on a rainy day was a bad idea? ~ Yesterday we enjoyed a fantastic day tour aboard Ocean Freedom, despite the grey skies and patchy rain. Boarding the boat we were greeted by friendly staff, serving tea, coffee, fruit and pastries. When we arrived at Opulo Reef, the skies were still grey and some light drizzle made the glass bottom boat tour a little “wetter” than expected, but did not affect the visibility. Entering the water with fins, snorkel and mask we were amazed at the colours and type of coral.