Diving off Cairns

Went out on Tusa 5 today. Not a bad boat, not a great one. Competent, and I'd go out with them again.

In theory it was $230 for 3 dives (1 free), all gear, lunch and minor snacks. But if you didn't have a buddy you had to fork out $20 extra to dive with the dive master. Also, add $10 for entry to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (the operator collects it on behalf of the government).

The BCD and other gear was all ok - computers were standard. The tanks were only 7.9 kg, so ask for a larger tank if you use a lot of air.

Lunch was good. The very lengthy intro by the boat host was interminable, especially while he thought he was being funny. The boat was fine with 4 toilets (with 2 showers), but the cabins needed better air con as they smelled a little.

The on board photographer was nice, but a bit pushy.

We left at 8am and were back at 4:30. We went to Norman Reef which was a fair way out.

Crew were all friendly, with English, Japanese and Deutsche speakers.

I had booked over the phone - the lady said she'd fax my confirmation and details of where to board to my hotel. She never did.

Overall, it was a good day, and reasonable value.

JetTard

Off to far North Queensland for a week of work! Unfortunately the
first leg is on jetstar, so it's already a bad start. This flight is
delayed 40 minutes, but the only way I found that out was to ring
jetstar, since there was noone at gate 53 - just a lot of bemused
passengers.

When you ring JetTard the first thing you get is a 40" advertisement
for their credit card. I'd love to know who would think that their
credit card service would be better than their airline service...

Qld OH&S Law

They take it seriously.