Day 87 – Dive, dive, dive

Worst night’s sleep so far after our neighbours air conditioner kept me awake most of the night. Barely awake I dozed as much as possible on the coach to Port Douglas.

On arrival I was pleased to find out that, by chance, the diving tour we’d booked was with Quicksilver, one of the most reputable companies that visit the reef. Our boat, the Silversonic, was the larges, most well equipped and comfortable dive boat I’ve been on.

We filled in the usual paperwork and sat back for the hour’s ride out to the Agincourt ribbon reefs. These sit near the continental shelf, some 34k from shore. The sun was out in force and the conditions looked good. Prior to arrival at the first site we met out dive master, Paul, and had a short briefing.

Our day would  consist of two dives, lunch then a final dive. Its been a couple of years since I last dove but as soon as I hit the water it all came back. I’m thankful for the good instructors I’ve had in the past. The first dive, at Nursery Bommie, was the deepest and started at the base of a pinnacle. Circling round it in a clockwise direction I got my first sense of the abundance of life on the reef. At one point Paul showed us a giant clam, in which he managed to get his hand caught as it closed up!

The second dive, like the first, lasted around 50 minutes. Diving at Phils I had the pleasure of being kicked and bumped around by an incompetent Russian. However this didn’t ruin a technical dive that took us through coral tunnels. Highlights were a school of trumpet fist dancing over the coral and a sea cucumber that Paul showed us.

After a buffet lunch we arrived at Castle Rock, our third and final dive site. We were greeted on the sea bed by a friendly 2 meter Potato cod that liked to be stroked. I took this dive slower and spent more time looking at the wildlife in and around the reef. The current was just right that you could go with it and save your air. Near the end of the dive I gazed back up at the school of snorkelled from the boat and felt privileged to have been able to get so close to the reef.

A superb day was ended by relaxing on the boat as we cruised back to port. I’d love to have the time and the money to dive here some more.

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