I had never gone diving before I moved to Guam. After all, I was never anywhere that diving was a popular hobby. It’s one of the best things to do here though, so I got my dive certification.
Anyway, I went through MDA. The class was $200, and involved three nights of videos and two days of practice in the water.
I have nothing but good things to say about MDA. If you are thinking of getting your dive certification, it’s an affordable and professional organization.
The camera I bought when I got my certification is an Olympus Tough TG-4. It is supposed to be waterproof to 50 feet, but I try not to take it down that deep. On deeper dives, I go without a camera.
Mostly I dive around 25 to 30 feet. The pictures are a little dark and blue, as you can see. You need a flash and a better camera to get good pictures deep down.
However, it serves me extremely well for snorkeling.
I guess I hit the lottery. I had a blood vessel in my ear burst during my dive class, which is supposed to be extremely rare. My doctor assured me that it was a very uncommon response, and that it would probably never happen again.
However, diving with my friend later, a vessel in my nose burst and my mask began to fill with blood. I had to surface early.
The next time I dove, I also got a bloody nose. This time it was after I surfaced. I was with my husband and he freaked out because I guess there was blood all over my face.
Eventually I thought about it honestly. A few burst blood vessels doesn’t sound like a big deal if you think about it as something that only happens inside your ear or in your nose. However, I couldn’t help but realize that the next time, it could be in my brain.
That is when I stopped diving.
It’s a shame, because it’s really affordable here. A complete gear rental for two is only around $50. It’s such a good deal…
I also wish I was better at diving because of the way the fish react to humans snorkeling. They swim away so quickly.
When you are diving, the fish just swim with you as though you are one of them. They never seem frightened, or like they want to flee in fear. It’s so much better!
It’s nice to feel like one of the “in” crowd instead of feeling like a pariah.
The water here is so warm that it feels like getting into a bathtub. That’s one of the wonderful things about being on the equator.
My dive instructor, like most of the guys here, went diving in shorts and a tank. I see the appeal. The water feels lovely on bare skin.
I tend to wear long pants and a long-sleeved rash guard when snorkeling. Jellyfish hang out near the surface of the water and there is also a big risk of sunburn. But diving, it’s nice to wear a little less.
I have already wrote about the best beaches to dive that have surface entry: Gab Gab, Gun Beach, and Fish Eye.
However, as I have said before, most of the dives are off of a boat. There are a lot of historic sites, such as the sunken WWII ship the Tokai Maru. We also have our own Blue Hole. And there are quite a few reefs where you can see cool marine life.
It really is a great place to scuba dive. I wish my veins were stronger so I felt like I could safely do it more.
This will be my last Australia post. I think I have finally covered nearly all the things I wanted to say. There are just a few loose ends that I will sum up here.
The main takeaway is that you should definitely go to Australia. I felt like I stepped into a parallel universe where everything was the same; and yet just a bit off. It’s not like England were even the recent immigrants and decidedly English.
It’s actually shockingly like the US (in that they lack an established culture), while somehow simultaneously being nothing at all like anywhere else on Earth. I know that sounds crazy, but when you get there, you will see.
The big highlights to note from the trip are:
The bills are plastic and feature the Queen of England, and the coins are heavy and weigh you down. Still, very neat. I love foreign money.
1. Stay at YHA hostels if you are by yourself and on a budget. They are mostly wonderful, and extremely affordable. Make sure to buy through their website, and look into package deals (sometimes they run a special on a set amount of days like: 10 days for $200.)
I stayed at the YHA in Bondi Beach, Railway Station Sydney, and the one in Cairns. All were good, with the usual hostel bothers (sharing a room with a stranger) and the usual perks (kitchen to cook in and knowledgeable staff.)
Bronte Beach on the coastal walk trail.
2. Snorkeling and diving on the reef will be warm, but if you go around Manly Beach or other popular locations around Sydney (or anywhere south of Sydney); get a wet-suit. It was freezing in the middle of summer (January.)
On a side note, it was totally worth it. I hadn’t been in a cold-water environment since middle school, and the kelp dancing in the waves was magical. So were the groupers.
Kangaroos hopping away from us in a National Park.
3. Go to the Blue Mountains, but maybe not with a tour (so you can hike around at your own pace.) I am sorry to say that I can’t recommend the company I took a tour with, though maybe you’d have better luck?
However, I do recommend the Blue Mountains. The land is wide and open like Northern Arizona, and it has the same stark and empty beauty.
Sweating up a storm in the rain forest.
4. If you’re going to Cairns for a reef tour, it’s worth it to go to the tourist town rain forest for a day. I got great pictures in Kuranda.
If you like shopping, they have oodles of that. I am not a shopping person, so we went to the butterfly garden and the wildlife park, and ate at a restaurant. The whole thing was really very nice.
We took the Skyrail up, and the train back. I definitely recommend that. Someone here in Guam told me to take a bus up to Kuranda, but if I had, I would have missed some of the best things I saw on the trip! Don’t settle for a bus. Take the Skyrail and the train. Getting there really is half the fun.
Angel Fish with dead coral behind it on the Great Barrier Reef.
5. I did the live-aboard through Cairns Dive Center and stayed on a boat called The Kangaroo Explorer. It was the most affordable option, but the staff was amazing and the chef was top-notch. Seriously, he blew me away with the food. I had a great time! I cannot recommend these guys enough for kindness, fun, and really creating the best experience they could for all the passengers.
However, the impression I got was that tourists only ever get to see the parts of the reef that are the most damaged, and this is both good (for the reef) and bad (for you.) So… take from that what you will. But I see better turtles and coral in Guam on a Tuesday.
Big Bus Tour, Sydney.
6. The Big Bus Tour was good. I mean, it’s better to see stuff by just taking the regular trains, because it is cheaper and you don’t feel rushed. However, I didn’t do it to see the sights. I did it to listen to the commentary and enjoy a day of sitting down (after all the walking as a tourist, and then all the running at full speed in the Blue Mountains.) For what I wanted it for, The Big Bus Tour was perfect.
If you, too, need a day of rest; give it a shot. You can do the central Sydney area and the Bondi Beach area all for $50 for the day. Sit on top (wearing a hat and sunscreen) for good pictures, or sit below in the AC and just watch the stuff go by.
As an aside, I have also done this tour in Paris and London. Both were good. Honestly, the Big Bus Tour was the only place I picked up those fun tourist facts (like how the guy who built Oxford Street was paid in rum because that was Australia’s first currency.) The locals don’t like to repeat that stuff over and over so they just stop telling people, but the recorded voice on the Big Bus Tour will say it over and over.
In the Chinese Garden in Sydney.
Final Thoughts:
Most of the places I spent money on tourist stuff were great and I have almost no regrets on that score. As for the people, they were fabulous. I found Australians to be kind, well-intentioned, and welcoming. People gave me directions and helped me book trips and purchase things with ease as long as I stuck to the tourist spots.
Now, a few of the pubs I went to refused to try my (US) card and asked for cash. They were off the beaten track, and I imagine they don’t see many Americans (only 30% of us even have passports.) So, I don’t think that was too unreasonable.
Actually, I was surprised how few Americans I ran into. With the exception of the reef tour, I didn’t actually meet any at all. Unfortunately, that did not save me from having to think about Trump. Every Australian I met had a go at me for Trump. Seriously, all of them teased me about living in a country run by a madman.
Trump actually personally screwed me while I was in Australia as well. He shut down the government so that the value of the US dollar plummeted. The exchange rate (which is usually very favorable) dipped surprisingly close to 1:1. So, I guess I can’t escape US politics anywhere in the world, even down under.
From the Blue Mountain Tour.
Anyway, I would recommend the crap out of Australia if you were choosing a place to visit. I know the Maldives look attractive and Europe calls to everyone. I know Japan is top on all the anime-geeks lists. But, Australia has something about it that is magical, and I am really glad I took the time to go. You should, too.
And if you are worried about those stories you heard about Australia being dangerous, let me put that fear to bed right now. I saw nothing dangerous. Not one thing. Seriously, they say it’s dangerous, but it’s super tame in the cities, in the Blue Mountains, and even out on the reef.
I suppose you should take into account the fact that I grew up in Arizona (think: scorpions in your shoes, rattlesnakes with skin-rotting venom, Gila Monsters, and Tarantulas.) And, I guess, the fact that I live in Guam and am frequently harassed by Giant Beach Roaches and Huntsman Spiders here. But even so; I expected to see more dangerous stuff, and I really didn’t. I came back with a few black aunt bites, but that is all.
This map is full of lies. It’s actually quite safe in Australia.
I got my dive certification recently. It’s inexpensive on Guam. I paid $200 for the class, and was able to do lots of classroom time and several practice dives.
My first dive by myself was with my friends Ashley and Jason. We went to Gab Gab, which is a beach on the Navy Base.
Gab Gab is a nice place to dive because the entry point is a short staircase. Many beaches require a long walk out past the reef, but at Gab Gab you can just walk down the stairs.
Traveling out past the reef, you can see all kinds of fish and even some sea turtles.
Hiding in the coral you can find anemones with clown fish living in them.
It’s a beautiful beach, but the pictures don’t come out as well as snorkeling pictures because there’s less light lower down.
We had a really good time, but I am still learning.
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