This entire trip was built around diving the Great Barrier Reef and that time has come. Early Tuesday morning we boarded a boat for the Reef where we would stay at sea for two nights and three days doing almost nothing but diving.

Getting there was easier said than done. For the first 15 minutes, the captain of the ship navigated us adeptly through the port. He then fled, and from that point on Windows 98 drove us to our destination thirty miles away into the South Pacific…and she drives terribly. Autopilot plus choppy waters equals one miserable boat ride. This was even worse than the Drake Passage! Everyone looked ill, and your loyal host didn’t do too well either. Raisin Bran tastes good going down the mouth…not out the nose. (Latest scoreboard: Ocean 2, Amir 0).

Once we arrived it was amazing. At our first dive site we learned there is a big chunky wrasse who hangs out around the boat waiting for divers to come play with him. They named him Wally and he is particularly fond of having his lips rubbed. Here I am wrestling with Wally.

And here he is looking sideways at Shiho, who is looking the same way right back at him.

Of course you can’t dive the Barrier Reef without trying to find Nemo or his relatives. What do you know…I found him.

The Reef is the well-known home of many fish and coral, and it was really impressive to see it first hand. Unfortunately my camera couldn’t get a good photo of them (definitely the camera’s fault) although my videos turned out much better, so I’ll be putting those together when I return home. Here is a small school of fish.

But without a doubt, the most memorable dive of the trip was my night dive. I’ve always shied away from diving at nighttime mostly be I was too scared but also because I didn’t think there’d be anything interesting to see at night. Most importantly I’m way too afraid of sharks, which come out at night just to eat people. But I finally gathered enough courage and decided to do it…although that was before I saw this:

What you see is a view from the back of the boat, with tons of fish and sharks circling around. The boat’s lights attract the fish, which attract the sharks. And I had to jump into that.

But I did and it was amazing. The moment I started my descent and turned on my flashlight, the very first thing I lit up was a pair of green eyes, of a shark. Of course. If I hadn’t just gone to the bathroom I would have completely soiled my wetsuit.

The rest of the dive went perfectly, and I saw lots of interesting sea life unique to nighttime. And, I didn’t get attacked by a shark! It actually turns out they don’t attack unprovoked, although I still believe what I heard a few years ago which is that sharks leave us alone because they’re afraid of bubbles. That’s the truth and I’m sticking to it.