Australia/Hawaii 2002, part 3: Great Barrier Reef

Spent my next few days on a liveaboard dive boat, the Nimrod Explorer run by Explorer Ventures (who no longer operate out of Cairns). This was a 4-night, 5-day trip from Cairns up to Cooktown, with a flight back to Cairns at the end. Tuesday night we left Cairns and voyaged overnight to our first dive spot for Wednesday morning. Then we did several dives per day: 4 on Wed., 5 on Thurs., and 4 on Friday, flying back to Cairns (CNS) from Cooktown (CTN). I did 11 dives over the 3 days, skipping the last 2 on Friday due to my early flight time from Cairns to Alice Springs the next day. Here's a map showing locations of Cairns, the Reef, Cooktown, and Lizard Island.

Previously: Part 2, Cairns

Wednesday Sept. 18 to Saturday Sept. 21, 2002: The Great Barrier Reef
Diving the Reef

The crew of the Nimrod consisted of Ian, the captain; Klaus, the mechanic/first mate; John and Shiori, dive instructors; Molly, the hostess; and Jen, the chef. Jen was formerly a professional chef so we were treated to some outstanding meals during our time aboard ship. A typical day started with wakeup at 6:30 a.m., breakfast at 7:00, dive #1 at 8:00, dive #2 at 11:00, lunch at 12:30, dive #3 at 2:00, dive #4 at 4:30, then dinner.