Frommer's Australia from $50 a Day 13th Edition - To Parent Directory

THE ACTIVE TRAVELER 59
Tips Peak Time on the Reef
August through January is peak visibility time on the Great Barrier Reef,
but the marine life will amaze you any time of year.
dive company’s premises, followed by
2 or 3 days on a live-aboard boat where
you make between four and nine dives,
including a night dive if you opt for
the 5-day course. Open-water certification
courses range from an intensive
3 to 5 days, for which you can expect
to pay between about A$350 and
A$600 (US$228–US$390). A 5-day
course is considered the best. When
comparing the value offered by dive
schools, keep in mind that if the practical
section of your course does not
take place on a live-aboard boat, you
will have to budget for accommodations
and meals. If you’re pressed for
time, a PADI Referral course might
suit you. It allows you to do your theory
work at home, do a few hours of
pool work at a PADI dive center in
your home country, and then spend 2
or 3 days in the Australian ocean doing
your qualifying dives. Remember to
allow time in your itinerary for a medical
exam in Australia.
If you’re already a certified diver,
remember to bring your “C” card and
log book. If you’re going to do a dive
course, you’ll need a medical certificate
from an Australian doctor that meets
Australian standard AS4005.1, stating
that you are fit for scuba diving. (An
all-purpose physical is not enough.)
Virtually all dive schools will arrange
the medical exam for you; expect to
pay around A$50 (US$33) for it.
Remember, you must complete your
last dive 24 hours before you fly in an
aircraft. This catches a lot of people off
guard when they are preparing to fly
on to their next destination the day
after a visit to the Reef. Check to see if
your travel insurance covers diving.
The Divers Alert Network (& 800/
446-2671; www.diversalertnetwork.
org) sells diving insurance and has diving
and non-diving medical emergency
hot lines, and an information line for
dive-related medical questions.
If you’ve never been diving and
don’t plan to become qualified, you
can see what all the fuss is about on an
“introductory” dive that lets you dive
in the company of an instructor on a
one-off basis, with a briefing beforehand.
Most dive operators on the
Great Barrier Reef and other dive locations
offer introductory dives.
Section 1 of chapter 6 contains
more information on diving the Great
Barrier Reef.
For information on dive regions and
operators, try the state tourism marketing
boards’ websites (see “Visitor Information”
earlier in this chapter).
Tourism Queensland’s website www.
queenslandholidays.com.au has links to
most dive operators working the Great
Barrier Reef. If you know where you
want to dive, you may obtain an even
more detailed list of operators by
bypassing the big tourism boards
and contacting the local tourist office
for a list of local dive operators. The
Queensland Dive Tourism Association,
Dive Queensland (& 07/4051
1510; fax 07/4051 1519; www.divequeensland.com.au)
requires its member
operators to abide by a code of
ethics. Its website has a list of members
and the services they offer. Another
good source is Diversion Dive Travel
& Training (& 07/4039 0200; www.
diversionoz.com), a Cairns-based travel
agent that specializes in dive holidays
on the Great Barrier Reef, as well as in
other good dive spots in Australia.
Peter Stone’s Dive Australia is a 608-
page guidebook to more than 2,000
dive sites all over Australia. It by no