Download the new Switched app for your iPhone

Skip to Content

Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.

Map of the world

Australia's Open Water

Sleeping under the stars, with the magic of the underwater world beneath you is about as cleansing of an experience as you can get. Far from civilization, the stars are amazingly bright and--but for the waves breaking over the boat--it would be almost unbearably quiet.

The best way to enjoy the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is definitely a live-on-board scuba diving trip. Because in most places, the GBR is some 2-3 hours from shore, it is really not worth it to just do a day trip. In Cairns, a gateway town to the GBR, there are numerous establishments offering just that. We went with Scuba Pro and would recommend them to anybody. A three-day trip is about $400/pp, all-inclusive: boat trip, two nights on the boat (there are private rooms, but some people choose the sleep-on-the-deck option to enjoy the stars), food and drinks, equipment rental and 11 dives, including 2 night dives. All in, it's a pretty good deal. This is also a good way to get certified, although after diving the GBR, you'll be spoiled and other places will seem like a cold pool of muddy water.

Needless to say, the diving is incredible. Turtles, sharks, lobsters, dolphins...all in water so warm you don't actually need a wetsuits, if it weren't for the damn jellyfish.

Filed under: Learning, Scuba Diving, Business, Gear, Oceania, Australia, Camping

Search Travel Deals

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Gadling Features

Categories

Become our Fan on Facebook!

Gadling on Facebook

Featured Galleries (view all)

Dim Sum Dialogues: Bangkok
The King Tut exhibit in SF
Flea Market Finds: Brooklyn
East of Africa: Ilakaka
Amsterdam's Floating Flower Market
Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo
Air France Inaugural A380
Roatan, Honduras
New Zealand Icebergs

Our Writers

Grant Martin

Editor-in-chief

RSS Feed

Scott Carmichael

Executive Editor

RSS Feed

View more Writers

Autoblog Green

DailyFinance

Download Squad

Engadget

Joystiq

Luxist

Switched.com

FanHouse

WoW