Diving in the legendary GBR
- mhkollme
- May 3
- 7 min read
For the weekend, Rohan, Ellis, and I went scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef in Cairns. We stayed on a liveaboard for three days with the company Reef Encounter, one that Paige had done a few weeks prior with her Uncle Jimmy. Paige was able to join us as a volunteer on the boat, meaning she helped with dishes and other housekeeping duties in exchange for housing, food, and diving. We all went scuba diving except for Rohan because he is not certified, but he got to snorkel and a lot of people on the boat did that too. He also was able to do two dives with an instructor, so he got the best of both worlds. The Reef Encounter was a great company, the food was delicious and the rooms were also very nice. The crew was amazing and so so kind and helped me with my diving at times when I was a little rusty. The boat was a little pricey, it cost me 825 USD for everything, but it was worth it and was an awesome trip.
April 17th
Ellis, Rohan, and I flew into Cairns in the afternoon, checked into Mumma's Hostel where we were staying, and then got burgers at Henry Lee’s. Mumma's Hostel was nice enough, I picked it because it was a short walk to the marina, but others are closer and nicer so I’d do more research before settling on Mumma's. Nonetheless, it did the job. Henry Lee’s was good, but again wasn’t anything special. We walked around the little town, Rohan got ice cream, and then we did some homework at the hostel before going to bed early in preparation for our big day tomorrow.
April 18th
We were told to meet at the Reef Experience boat at the marina at 7:30 a.m. We checked out of the hostel and walked to the boat, where they checked us in, gave us breakfast and fruit, and ran through a brief orientation. It was about a 30-minute boat ride to the Reef Encounter boat, which is where we would be sleeping for the next two nights. They moved our bags for us (Paige included and she did a great job) and gave us a warm welcome to the boat. We ate lunch and then had a scuba diving site briefing, which they did every time we were at a new dive site. Certified residents have the option of diving four times in one day, choosing between the times of 6:30 a.m (50 mins), 10:30 a.m. (40 mins), 1:30 p.m. (40 mins), 3:30 p.m. (40 mins) and 6:30 p.m. (30 mins). The boat usually switched dive sites after the 10:30 a.m. dive. I am certified, but I paid for a scuba instructor to accompany me because I was not sure how the navigation was going to work and I was worried I’d be rusty since I hadn’t dove since January. The first four dives were with an instructor, but the rest of them Ellis and I decided to do on our own, and it was AWESOME. Having the freedom to go at your own pace and stop and admire the reef for as long as you wanted was so nice, and we both enjoyed not feeling rushed and being able to decide what to go look at and when. The navigation was simple, once you were at the reef you just stayed to the right of it and turned around after 15 minutes. Knowing what I know now, if I were to do it again I probably would not have paid for a guide.
Rohan and I snorkeled before lunch. Ellis and I dove with a guide at 1:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m., and 6:30 p.m. after dinner. Between the dives, I went up to the sundeck to tan. The 6:30 p.m. dive was a night dive, so we all had a meeting about night diving and the different flashlight signals. We were all given flashlights and put on our stinger suits while watching the sunset. I played “Sirius” by The Alan Parsons Project to get the boys hype and it worked perfectly. I was so excited, I’d never done a night dive before, and you could see sharks swimming in the water before you jumped in. My adrenaline was pumping. The dive exceeded all expectations I had - it was so cool to dive in the dark water with flashlights, and I felt like I was on another planet. We got to see sharks which were really cool, and the whole time I was in awe. That was my second favorite dive on the whole trip. After the dive, we had ice cream and chocolate cake, which hit the spot. We all hung out for a little bit but were exhausted from diving so everyone called in early.
April 19th
We were up at 6:00 a.m. and in the water by 6:30 a.m. I liked starting my morning by getting right in the water, and I was greeted by a pretty sunrise.
After the dive, we had a fantastic breakfast buffet. Eggs, mushrooms, hash browns, bacon, pancakes, avocado - you name it. After breakfast, we had some downtime before our 10:30 a.m. dive, and this is when Ellis and I decided we were going to try it solo without a guide. We did the standard buddy check and were ready to go. I was a little nervous but excited. There was no need because the dive ended up being perfect and we killed it. As nice as it is to have an instructor who can point out types of fishes and knows the best spots, oftentimes I have felt rushed to see as much of the reef as possible instead of being able to really observe and focus on one area in the reef. I think the big sea animals are cool, but my favorite part about diving is all the little unique organisms that inhabit the reef and watching how they interact. I was able to fully admire them on this dive. Diving with Ellis was perfect because we both wanted to go extremely slow and take it all in and admire all the little fishes and Christmas tree worms and massive clams. I felt so in the present and so in awe, and there was no one around us so it was like we had the whole reef to ourselves. Once we finished the dive, we were both stoked and proud of ourselves, and that was the highlight of my trip.
After our dive, it was time for lunch, and then we skipped the 1 p.m. dive and chose to dive at 3:30 p.m. instead. Ellis, Paige, and I all dove together this time, and ended up losing the boat which was a little stressful, and also humbling considering we had just done an awesome job on the dive before. It ended up being fine and we popped up in front of the boat instead of behind it, but it was pretty stressful at the moment. We had some more downtime, ate dinner, and dove again, but didn’t see any sharks this time. After the dives, we had ice cream and played cards with some girls who were also from the States, and they tried to teach us a card game called Euchre. I still don’t understand the game and don’t foresee playing it in the future, but it was still fun to try to learn.
April 20th
Today was our last day on the boat, and since we were leaving today we could only dive at 6:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Ellis and I did not get lost this time, and we saw cool clams, an angry-looking clown fish, and a sea cucumber trying to eat something. By the time we were done, I was pretty dived out - 9 dives in 3 days is a lot - but it was a really cool experience and I’m not sure when I am going to dive again, so I’m glad we stayed for two nights instead of one. They had a photographer on the boat, so we all looked through the photos together and decided to buy them (so none of these photos were taken by me). After the dives were over we hung out on the sunroof and in the saloon (their common room), and checked out after lunch. We rode the Reef Experience boat back to shore and had a complimentary glass of wine, and I took a nap on the chair outside which was lovely. We arrived on the mainland around 5, checked back into Mumma's, and then decided to go to the Cairns Botanical Gardens. We got there 10 minutes before it closed, but there was a path across the street that was a part of the gardens so we just walked that instead. The trees were very pretty. We ubered back to town and ate at Hecho En Mexico Cairns, which was honestly pretty bad so I don’t recommend it. Everywhere else was either super crowded with long lines or super expensive, so Hecho En Mexico did the job. After dinner, we met the girls from the boat at a bar for a drink and chatted with them for an hour before saying our goodbyes. We stopped at a souvenir shop and a gelato shop for Rohan before passing out at the hostel.
April 21st
Rohan and Ellis left to go to the Daintree Rainforest, so I had the day to myself. I woke up at 8 a.m., ran along the water, and got Oakberry Açaí. I showered and packed up my things, and then headed to the library to do homework. It was closed, so I went to a nearby hotel and did work in their lobby. I met up with the girls from the boar and we ate at Perrotta's at the Gallery for lunch. I got the caesar salad which was delicious. We went to the Cairns Art Galley after, which was free, and then I left to finish my work before my flight. I flew out at 5:30, and checking into the airport took about 3 minutes. I was home in no time.
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GBR is an Australian staple, so if you can go, you should. Even if you don’t dive, we all saw so much when we went snorkeling (like turtles) and Rohan was also able to scuba twice with a guide. The reef is beautiful but it is dying - so go visit now before it’s too late. Doing a liveaboard was awesome, and the boys enjoyed the rainforest too. It was worth the money and was a really cool trip, and I would do it ten times over again. I recommend Reef Encounter, they were fabulous!
Reef Encounter - https://reefencounter.com.au
- Ellie 5/3/25
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