Foreigner newbie diving australia

Hi.
I?m from Denmark.
I will be visiting Australia in February 2005 and i would like to dive at the great barrier reef.

I?we got an 10 years old cmas* certificate and haven?t used it since, but i would like to dive again.

I expect to take a padi openwater course to refresh diving procedures.

Any ideas to where i should go?
I?m in the mid twenties, backpacking with base in Sydney.
I don?t need anything fancy, but the teachers and equipment have to be professional.

Can anyone recommend any diving centres for newbies like me?

Thanks
Susan

Contributed by susmh added 2004-12-05

Replies of 2

Singlemalt added 2004-12-06: Hi Susan.

If you want to do a OW course on the reef then you will find there is no shortage of options.

Most people tend to do their OW in cairns, although all major centres and many islands along the reef offer courses.

Depending on how far you want to travel you can do your course as far south as Bundaberg and as far north as Pt Douglas.

For a bit more info I would suggest to also ask this question over at http://www.diveoz.com.au (more people there so you will get more answers).

For what it's worth, I did my Open Water with Down Under Dive in Cairns and could not fault them for the e quality and professionalism. Pluss, their dive boat, the Atlantic Clipper was a great boat for diving from.

Best of luck.

Tim Hochgrebe added 2004-12-06: Hi Susan,

We suggest you contact the local operators directly (click on the email link on their mini-site or check out their own websites). We try to be an unbiased source of information promoting underwater Australia in general.

My biased personal opinion would be that on your way up the coast you stop in Byron Bay (most easterly point) and do your dive course refresher there - see http://www.underwater.com.au/dive_shops.php/location/byron_bay

The underwater card will give you great discounts in many shops all around Australia with more being added every week. If you are planning to do a dive course, book a trip or buy some equipment, the card will be your best investment ever - remember the more stars a business shows with their listing, the better discounts they offer.

Click http://www.underwater.com.au/underwater_membership.php to find out more.

As underwater.com.au member you'll also go into all our prize draws - http://www.underwater.com.au/prizes.php

Hope that helps and ... see you underwater!

Tim and the UWteam
Tim Hochgrebe
http://www.underwater.com.au
Dive in, Explore ... and Save!

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