Cairnes Unfortunately I have no pictures of my SCUBA trip. I wanted to try to get certified while I was in Cairnes, so I could do it at the Great Barrier Reef. But it would have taken too long, so I opted for the quick and dirty method. I signed up for the Super Cat tour that took us out to the reef early in the morning. Just before we got there we were instructed for about 15 minutes how to use the SCUBA equipment. That was all. We docked at the reef and they literally pulled us into the water. As we held onto the bottom of the boat under water the guide motioned to us if we were OK. We were all good so we started down to the bottom. The bottom was only about 15 feet deep and I got used to the breathing pretty quick. Then it was nice, we had a half hour guided tour of all the reef life we could spot. It was only the guide and 4 of us down there. The hilight was the giant clam about the size of a laundry basket. The guide put his hand in it's open mouth and it slammed shut with astonishing speed. I was shocked it could move that fast. But not fast (or sharp) enough to catch his hand. The boat pulled away after a while and docked elsewhere against the reef. I decided not to SCUBA this time because I found you could see more fish just snorkeling. The better fish seemed to be concentrated near the surface anyway. The trip was fun for the swimming and fish, but also the boat ride itself was fun. I met lots of people there that I would run into over and over in town the next couple of days. To end my day appropriately I went to a great restaurant/bar called the Chapel Cafe on the esplanade. Then I feasted on some sort of reef fish. You are here...