This gallery includes my favorite photos from my recent 3-week long trip to Cairns, Australia and the Great Barrier Reef.
Free scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef: my 5 days as a hostie
Sometimes, the best travel experiences are the ones you didn’t plan. A perfect example of this: five days of free scuba diving while I volunteered as a “hostie” on a recent trip to Cairns, Australia. In this post, I’ll explain what a hostie is, and how you too can dive for free at the Great Barrier Reef.
PADI Divemaster Course in Cairns, Australia (Part 3)
Below is a recap of Days 16-18 of my PADI Divemaster Course at Deep Sea Divers Den in Cairns, Australia and the Great Barrier Reef.
PADI Divemaster Course in Cairns, Australia (Part 2)
Below is a recap of Days 7-15 of my PADI Divemaster Course at Deep Sea Divers Den in Cairns, Australia and the Great Barrier Reef.
PADI Divemaster Course in Cairns, Australia (Part 1)
It’s finally here! My 3-week scuba trip to Cairns, Australia has commenced. I’ve squeezed this trip in during my winter break from teaching and have one main goal: complete the PADI Divemaster Course! This course is the last step before I can take the scuba instructor course, which I hope to do this summer.
Thanksgiving in New York, NY
A few weeks ago, I visited New York for the first time. Here’s a quick recap of my trip!
Scuba trip: San Carlos, Mexico (October 2017)
For the third time in 3 months, I went south to San Carlos, Mexico for a long weekend of diving. In August, I did my Advanced Open Water (AOW) certification and in September, I wrapped up my Rescue Diver certification. This time, though, I didn’t have any training to complete. It was a recreational trip in the fullest sense – a couple days of diving just for fun and nothing else!
Scuba trip: San Carlos, Mexico (September 2017)
In my last scuba-related post, I mentioned my goal to become certified as a scuba instructor. During that trip to San Carlos, Mexico, I got the second certification level I need: Advanced Open Water Diver (AOW). A few weeks later, I returned to San Carlos to complete the third certification: Rescue Diver. As I did for my Open Water and AOW certifications, I decided to do the Rescue Diver certification through my local dive shop in Tucson, Planet Scuba. They organize a trip to San Carlos at least once a month, and I love their owners and staff.
Scuba trip: San Carlos, Mexico (August 2017)
I’ve made up my mind that I want to become certified to be a scuba instructor. I’m not in a rush; I just know eventually I’d like to do this. In order to get to instructor status, I’ll need to build up my diving experience and also go through several certification levels. First up: Advanced Open Water Diver (AOW). This is one level up from the basic certification, Open Water Diver. I decided to do the certification through my local dive shop in Tucson, Planet Scuba. If you’re in southern Arizona and considering diving, I strongly recommend them!
San Carlos underwater photos (August 2017)
I took these photos on my recent trip to San Carlos (recap is here). All of these pics were taken while diving in the Sea of Cortez off the coast of San Carlos. Enjoy!
Belize underwater photos (May 2017)
I took these photos on my recent trip to Belize/Guatemala (recaps are here for the first half of the trip and here for the second half). All of these pics were taken while diving or snorkeling in various areas of the Belize Barrier Reef. Hope you like them!
Birthday Trip: Belize and Guatemala (part 2: scuba!)
Wow – it’s already been more than 2 weeks since I posted part 1 of my Belize/Guatemala trip recap! I’ve been teaching some summer session engineering courses which has kept my days full so time has flown by. I’m glad I finally found some time to finish up part 2 though. It’s been fun to reminisce!