Diving in Cairns

[Forestfish 0]

I will be going to Australia the second half of November, and going to Cairns for a 3 day live-aboard. I would love to be able to take some photos of what I see underwater. These will be my first dives after getting certified (PADI Open Water).

 

I am not looking to buy a camera, but rather wondering if I should rent one on the boat?

 

For land based photos I have an Olympus C-700, and I use it all the time. I did take a disposable camera out snorkeling in Hawaii a couple of years ago, and the photos were alright, but I am assuming that for scuba I need something more...

[TimG 62]

Hi Forestfish - and welcome to Wetpixel!

 

I was diving in Cairns about two months ago from the MV Taka - and would be surprised - actually, amazed - if you could not rent an underwater camera. Cairns is set-up to provide most (?any) tourist desire.

 

But I would suggest you either email the dive operator or check out their website to see if they can provide one for you - and the cost; or you do a bit of web-surfing to find someone else in Cairns who can.

 

There are other Wetpixlers who can advise you - and will no doubt chip-in, but you may be able to buy an inexpensive housing for your Olympus.

 

Have a terrific trip!

[pmooney 6]

Hi Forestfish.

 

Underwater cameras are available for rental from www.scubapix.com. Our store is conveniently located in the centre of the city.

 

We can help you out with camera systems ranging from simple point & shoots ( sony P100 / marine pack ) throught to D2X's / Subal combo's.

 

Depending on the trip you do we may already have rental camera's amd one of our staff on board. ( TAKA , Reefquest , Oceanquest , Seaquest, )

 

I would recomend that you drop by to discuss your needs once you get to Cairns.

 

Peter

 

ps please excuse the blatanty commercial plug.

[SeaDogDiver 0]

I agree with Tim, based on my experience in Cairns, you should have no problem - either renting from the liveaboard or a local dive shop.

 

What liveaboard operator are you going out with?

 

Cheers,

Sieg

[TimG 62]

I dropped in on Scubapix to window-shop. Nice guys, neat shop -and worth the visit. Even if they are blatantly plugging

[Forestfish 0]

We haven't decided which company to do the trip with yet. I am leaning towards Pro-Dive (I like the idea of being on a boat with the same people the entire trip. And I have heard that this shop is very professional.

 

As this will be our first dives after becoming certified, any feedback would be appreciated!

 

My question wasn't so much about whether to buy camera gear, but whether taking pictures is something you all would recommend a newbie diver try. I think that after certification I may have a better understanding of whether I could "handle" taking pictures while diving.

 

But I know that I love to take photos, and really would like to share with others not on the trip, what I see in the water.

[kazuo 0]

I dove in Cairns in 2001 and I would deffinatly rent a camera. We dove with Taka on a 4 day 3 night trip up to the Cod Hole and then back down to Cairns. You will love it. Taka had a decent boat, good food and most importantly not too many divers. We had a Sea and Sea 35mm point and shoot with a macro lens and had very good sucsess.

[TimG 62]

A mate of mine did his PADI DM course with ProDive in Cairns and was very happy with it. I visited the store a few months ago and they looked good to me. The store manager follows Manchester City Football Club - so he must be a good guy.

 

On taking pics on your first post-certification dives, a lot depends on how comfortable you are in the water and how good your skills are - and what kind of camera you are using. I'm a PADI Staff Instructor and often find that for the first post-Open Water dives, a lot of new divers have enough to deal with maintaining their buoyancy and the challenges that a new dive environment produces. But others are completely at home.

 

I would suggest you keep it simple to start with. Perhaps rent/buy a fairly straight-forward prosumer-type camera. Leave it on the boat for the first dive or two until you are familiar with your (?rented) equipment and are comfortable with your buoyancy control and the boat entry/exit procedures.

 

I would suggest too for the first with-camera dive that you wait until you are at a gentle depth, with a bottom visible beneath you, before you start taking pics. Beware of photographing wall dives early on in your diving career! It can be a very long way down........

 

You might also want to think about signing up for a PADI U/W photography specialty. I'm sure ProDive will do them and they are a very good way to learn a new scuba skill assisted and guided by an instructor. (Sorry if this sounds like a PADI sales plug!).

 

The last thing you want to do at this stage in your diving is give yourself a real scuba-scare which is often brought about by too much task-loading when you are still unsure of it all.

 

Have a wicked time - and get completely hooked on the underwater environment and photography. Then you can be a regular member of the bankrupt and happy gang.

[pmooney 6]

Prodive sounds like it would be a good choice - there are Sony P100's and marine cases on board that the guest's are able to rent.

 

Prebooking is not neccessary unless you want to do a photgraphy course.

[Giles 1]

Peodive is good ...

 

been a while since i was there ... but the Tusa Boats looked nice as well

 

I would take photos .... theres so much pretty stuff there ... depending on how much diving i did .. if i was only doing a few dives i would take a compact small one and just get some nice close ups.

 

I love the GBR ... and I love Cairns .. have a beer in the Woolie for me !

[kazuo 0]

Ah yes the imfamous Woolshed... From what I still remember I had a lot fun there. Seems to me there was a lot of table dancing and VB.

[dw-dan 0]

Totally agree with Tim, you'll find the necessary gear on-site, a digital point-and-shoot package is really fine.

I did my Padi UW photo certification there and that was excellent (Used CDC - Cairns Dive Center on Kangaroo Explorer)...

 

But the most important is you

to be comfortable with your buoyancy control and the boat entry/exit procedures

The GBR is astounding, but fragile. Control where your fins are before shooting !

 

Now, I have to warn you that, personally, it caused me to be so hooked with this environment that I'm in the process of creating a new shop in Cairns B)

for Digital Imaging, Photo equipment renting, photo sessions, video sessions and post-production... (no, it's not advertising, and hope Peter will not kill me)

... Now, I doubt being ready in early November, but if it's the case, you'll have a supplementary address to hop in

 

Enjoy your trip !

Dan.

[Balrog 5]

Hi all - a first post in here from me. Came here to look at any advice you might have about filters/complimentary flash filters - but that's by the bye.

Just hours back from a trip to Aus which included two Cairns liveaboards so thought I'd have my 2 cents on this one.

 

I agree with the above comments on buoyancy control - Being able to stay neutral a foot above the coral without flapping around, blowing bubbles and hopefuly not bumping all over it is imo the most important element of enabling good composition. Practice this on dives before you take a camera in.

 

We did 4 days on Kangaroo Explorer (Cairns Dive Centre) on the inner reef and 3 days on Spirit of Freedom on the outer ribbon reefs. Camera hire is availalable on both these boats by the day. Think it was about $A40/day on KE (Canon Powershots) and $60/day on SoF. Both include burning you a CD from the flash card. Took my Olympus C-8080 and think I got some good ones - once they've been through photoshop we'll see.

 

Kangaroo Explorer is comfortable and adequate but fairly basic - mostly of the grunt work on the dive deck and around the boat is done by DM's or DM work off students with a couple of supervising instructors. The boat is fed by a dayboat and never docks so you can do any number of days aboard. It caters for OW and AOW courses so the dive sites are easy but still good. If you're newish to diving you'll be in good company and not embarsssed by your lack of experience. A pro video photographer with exceptional reef & fish knowledge called Renaldo runs a mini business on the boat and will give you some really good advice if you hire his cameras.

 

Spirit of Freedom is altogether a superior standard of accomodation and service but you pay for it. All the staff (including the chaimbermaids) are Instructors and they really look after you. There's always two staff on the platform just to help you in and out, put your fins on if you want and hand your camera down. The diving can be deeper and includes lots of wall and tall bommie dives. Dive deck is top notch with a dedicated camera bath, large wash off table and even a dry off hose. Most excellent if you have your own equipment. 3/4 or 6/7 days only, it has a regular route from Cairns - 3 days to Lizard Island via Cod Hole and 3 days back via Coral Sea which is altogether deeper diving for the shark lovers If you do 3 just days there's a rather nice low level light aircraft flight included between Cairns and Lizard Is.

 

Happy shooting.

[SeaDogDiver 0]

Forestfish,

I think you pose a fair question. I am a big advocate of U/W photography as well as being a dive instructor. As a new diver, you should always keep in mind that you are always a diver first, and a photographer second.

 

Having said that, you can't possibly go to the GBR without taking some pics, but perhaps the first few days might be well spent working on buoyancy and gaining some dive experience, and then if all goes well, have fun taking some great shots as the week progresses.

 

Have a great time!!

 

PS, for day trips, I have had great service from Deep Sea Divers Den in Cairns (www.divers-den.com), but my favorite by far is liveaboard diving in the Coral Sea.