THE BEST THING I DID FOR MYSELF IN 2020
AN ADVENTURE AT THE GREAT BARRIER REEF
This post is part of an ongoing “EPIC (VIRTUAL) AUSTRALIAN ROAD TRIP” from estCA staff, Lindsay Vacek. Make sure to check back often to read and discover all she has to share.
I got PADI certified.
Now, a lot of amazing things happened for me in 2020 so saying that this is the best thing I did for myself is saying a lot. As long as I could remember, I’ve been scared of the ocean. I didn’t like the idea of fish surrounding me and maybe rubbing up on me. Snorkeling and diving has always been very low on the list of things I thought I wanted in my life. Well, I’m happy to say, I was wrong.
As someone who loves getting on a plane, or in my car, and exploring somewhere new, I was getting pretty restless in Byron Bay (pft - never thought those words would come out of my mouth either) but with travel restrictions I had spent a solid 8 months in Byron Bay to ride COVID out. We had just released Issue 1 of Established California Magazine and I was truly on the edge of burn out. I decided I needed to go somewhere and I had not explored the Tropical North of Queensland. So off to Cairns I went.
A 23-hour drive from Byron, I camped along the coast on the drive up. I really had no plans for when I got to Cairns except for one thing. I knew I wanted to do a scuba dive at the Great Barrier Reef (as it’s been on my LIFE BUCKET LIST). This terrified me, but this was the time to overcome and WOW!
I signed up for an Intro Scuba dive trip. The company paired me with an instructor and basically, they teach you how to breathe with your regulator and then, pretty much do everything else for you. You just have to hold on to your instructor or a rope and viola - you’re diving. Well, I was hooked before I even got out of the ocean that first dive. I was FASCINATED by all the fish and coral - not terrified. I kept laughing under water (and then kept getting water in my mask). On the boat ride back from the reef, I signed up for a PADI certification course in Cairns that started the next day. I extended my trip (it takes 4 days to complete the course - 2 pool days, 2 ocean days) and spent that next week in the water, exploring one of the most amazing underwater places on Earth.
I’m back in Byron Bay now but so stoked that I did this for myself because it opened up a whole new world to me. I suppose, if I can’t travel back to California (yet) - I’ll spend my days among the sea turtles and dolphins for a bit.
LEARN MORE: PADI COURSES
ARE YOU CERTIFIED? WHERE IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO DIVE? COMMENT BELOW AND LET US KNOW! WANT TO SHOW US SOMETHING OR SOMEONE? TAG US ON INSTAGRAM OR USE #ESTCALIFORNIA TO SHARE.
Contributed by estCA staff, Lindsay Vacek