Open Water Course@Great Barrier Reef day 1

Great sunrise to start off our day!

It's the third day of our dive course, a whole new excitement where we will be on board doing our first 2 dives at the sea today. We took the day boat, ReefKist (about 2 hours) to reach the Kangaroo Explorer liveaboard boat. 

Kangaroo Explorer II (photo from Balz)

It's a big boat and we were allocated a private double cabin. Yay :) So excited!!! Before our first dive, we ate lunch. Taking food considerably (which is unusual when it comes to self serve) because we don't want to feel bloated underwater :p

The servery

Lunch

The diving equipments...

Dive Deck

Before any dive, we have to do a buddy check which can be remembered by BWRAF (Ethan's version of this buddy check is Beer, Wine, Rum, Aaah FUN! LOL... First, Beer: Is the BC. Check if it inflates and deflates alright. Wine: Weights. Check if the weight belt is worned, secured and strap arranged so that diver can release it with right hand. Rum: Release, check the velcro waist band and shoulder straps, also familiarize with buddy's BC releases. Aaah: Air, open the air tank then close the tank a quarter turn. Test operation of primary and secondary regulators, both buddy should breathe comfortably and the air pressure gauge should not drop, while ensuring the air is fresh & dry. Fun: Final Check, ensure hoses are clipped to the diver neatly and correct configuration. (This is just a summary for our own reference =))

Well, our first dive is a disaster. Ethan said it was the worst dive he ever conducted. We just follow the rope down to 18metres (the max depth open divers can go), equalizing our pressure every 1/2feet. Then we had to practice our neutral buoyancy, trying to stay at balance without floating up. But then few of us floated up without realizing.. Which is terrible because we have to ascend real slowly, at 9metres per minute so that the nitrogen in our body can be released. If not, we might have decompression sickness. So then Ethan had to cancel the dive because everyone seemed blur and one of us don't have enough air. Gosh.....

Second dive was better, and we saw two turtles! Got the chance to scratch the turtle's back, oh they will just stay there and let you scratch! How cute, they enjoy the spa treatment by human, scratching off all the algae from its back =)

Enjoying the Moore Reef view and sunset after two dives...

Beautiful sunset, right on the horizon...

After the sunset, we watch the moon rise =)

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Dinner time!

A beautiful day. Experiencing real diving in the sea for the first time. It was really exciting but scary at first. But after the first time, we got on really well. And it is actually easier than snorkeling since we'll not be drifted by the strong currents. Just when we ascend back to the surface and swim back to the boat exhaust us. But normally when diving, we will first swim against the current to see the reef and follow the current back to the boat so we'll not be so tired.

NEXT: 2nd Day @ Great Barrier Reef