Try Scuba Diving on the Great Barrier Reef
A resort dive is hand held by a professional dive instructors and we can teach you how in just a few minutes
Many people have considered becoming scuba divers but for one reason or another they have not.
There may be many reasons one that is frequently heard is that they just want to experience it and will not frequently have other opportunities.
A once in a lifetime event that they do not want to go through all the time and expenses becoming a certified diver.
Sometimes people are just not sure if they will like it and again balance that against the time and expense.
To help people in that situation the diving industry developed what is called the Resort dive, also called try scuba or discover diving.
The program allows guest not certified to experience a scuba dive in around 5 metres of water being accompanied by a professional scuba diving instructor.
It is generally offered at resorts that have dive shops. The Liveaboard industry have also adapted the programs into their offerings.
The MV Reef Encounter as incorporated the resort dive program in two distinct manners.
The first in their Snorkeling Liveaboard package by offering a free resort dive demonstration to each guest who is not a certified diver.
What is a resort scuba dive demonstration
One of our professional scuba dive instructors will begin by explaining some basic information about breathing underwater.
Then our crew will suit you up in scuba dive gear and take you underwater to see if you are comfortable breathing underwater if you are you may choose to continue on a resort dive.
A resort scuba dive is also known as an introductory scuba dive.
We take people on their very first scuba dive every day most people are very surprised to know that it’s easier than Snorkeling.
Once you on a scuba dive you really will experiencing the Great Barrier Reef and getting up close and personal with our wonderful marine life.
The second is the Resort dive Liveaboard package that offers a number of resort dives over the course of the stay.
Resort Dive Program on a Liveaboard
The best way to start discussing this is with a run down of the basic resort dive program.
Guest over the age of 12 who wish to try the program start with a simple medical questionnaire.
Some medical conditions or medications will require a doctors approval however people in general good health will only need the questionnaire.
The program is done in small groups and contains three portions: a theory portion, skills component also called confined water training, and the open water dive.
Many people when they hear that there is a physics theory portion get nervous. No need to be, just remember that youth as young as 12 can complete the program.
The theory portion is in a straight forward and practical delivery. This portion covers what happens to your body under pressure and some of the basic safety rules and why they are important.
This session normally take less than an hour.
Following the instruction portion is the confined water skills training. At a resort the confined water is often a swimming pool, however on the MV Reef Encounter it is in shallow calm water on a reef location.
The skills are mostly how to use your equipment and task such as finding your regulator after it drops from your mouth or replacing the mask underwater and removing the water from it.
These are very simple skills to learn and will keep you from panicking it something goes wrong.
Many beginning divers lose the regulator solely because they open their mouths wide in total awe of something they have seen.
There are four or five basic skills and most people will master them in just a few attempts.
Skills training can take less than a half hour. The final portion and highlighting portion of the Resort dive is the scuba dive itself.
You will be on a scuba dive site that is being used by the certified divers for their dives.
Your dive will be very similar to theirs, often the only difference is that you have an instructor in arms reach and do not go below 12 metres as determined by the instructor.
The Resort Diving Liveaboard Package of MV Reef Encounter
The MV Reef Encounter has taken the Resort Dive program further than what a resort normally does.
It provides a genuine Liveaboard diving experience to those who are not certified. The two day/ one night program gives the resort diver the opportunity to experience five different resort scuba dives.
The three Day program has 8 dives. The first dive is as described above, with the three elements. The Resort Dive package dives after the first do not have the theory or confined water portion.
The instructor might have you practice a skill at the beginning of a dive, however, many advance certified divers do the same thing on most dives.
You get the guide tours of the reef plus additional water sessions for snorkeling and the glass bottom boat can show you the reefs from the surface. You get all the benefits of the liveaboard experience.
Choose the snorkeling package if you think you will only do one or two dives, otherwise get the Resort dive packages and experience what scuba diving is really about on the most highly regarded diving location in the world, the Great Barrier Reef.