My first ever open water dive, and what a location. Blue Pearl Bay is on the Hayman Island coast, in the Whitsundays (Queensland, Australia). Visibility wasn't fantastic, but it was warm, and the fish life was fantastic.

I went in wearing not enough weight and my mask poorly adjusted, and while completing our exercises we had a Giant Maori Wrasse swim right into the middle of our group and just hang there. This fish doesn't get 'giant' included in its name for nothing, it's a big fish, easily a metre long. Apparently it's been nicknamed Elvis, and commonly seeks out divers in the bay. We were no exception, and I had to keep looking around Elvis in order to see our instructor.

After our exercises we completed a swim out over the surrounding reefs, all very shallow waters. The fish were universally friendly and unafraid of humans, one of the benefits of having an established marine park.

After the dive I discovered that I had swallowed a bit of seawater, and that it's definitely possible to get sea-sick while in the water.

	Web pjf.id.au

Technical clue provided by Perl Training Australia

Copyright 2000-2008 Paul Fenwick. Copyright information