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Scuba diving in the Whitsunday Islands
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On the second day of our Whitsunday cruise, we went scuba diving. Since I’d never dove before, I didn’t quite know what to expect. I had done some snorkeling before, but only briefly in a lake on Fraser Island. There, I had only looked down through the water and onto the white lake floor. In the Whitsundays, we would be swimming through the Great Barrier Reef.
In small groups of three or four, we were taken out for free 30-minute introductory dives. Along side Andrew and an English guy, I put on my wetsuit, which was really to protect against jellyfish stings more than anything. The instructor, a soft spoken man named Carlo, showed us how to breath and taught us the appropriate hand signals for any situation that might arise underwater.
In a few minutes, I was breathing underwater. We swam down a few meters and suddenly were surrounded by colorful schools of fish and intricately shaped coral growths. The experience was beautiful beyond words.
Abruptly, the dive was over. Where had the thirty minutes gone? I was surprised by the quickness of time underwater. In my own astonishment and awe, time seemed to have flown by with an amazing rapidity. When the instructor said that there would be another dive later in the afternoon, Andrew and I quickly signed up.
Unfortunately, the second dive was more disappointing. The water was murkier and the sun was setting, making the whole experience less colorful and less startling. Perhaps the thrill of the first outing couldn’t be matched, but when I pulled myself out of the water after the second dive, I was content with my diving experience in the Whitsundays. I spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the weather above water.
In the evening, we again boarded boat. After sailing to the location where we’d set anchor and sleep for the night, we were lucky enough to witness a remarkable sunset. Since we were on the water, we watched as the sun slowly cast its’ colorful rays in ever diminishing intensity. Soon it was night. We fell asleep to the peaceful rocking of the boat in the calm ocean water.
On our final day, we again beached at a new island. This time, I turned down another chance to dive. Instead, I collected some snorkel gear and enjoyed the reef for free. In the afternoon, we headed back to the marina. This time, the wind was at our backs and the crew said that we’d sail back. I volunteered to help pull up the sails. Soon the boat was leaning heavily to one side and we were speeding through the water.
For a few minutes, we were racing side-by-side with another sailing boat. However, a catastrophe occurred which sidelined our boat for the rest of the race. The wind, stronger than the crew had suspected, ripped one of the sails off of its line. At the same time, the other sail somehow managed to pull away from the boat itself, ripping a metal post out of its usual place and tearing a hole in the top of the deck a few inches wide.
While we couldn’t sail anymore, we did make it back to port safely. Our Whitsunday cruise had finished, but the excitement and beauty of the trip would stay with us for quite some time.
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