Are you an Open Water diver that wants to go deeper and expand your scuba diving knowledge on the Great Barrier Reef? Then Cairns is the destination for you. Its professional dive centres and operators offer a range of liveaboard dive courses on the Great Barrier Reef, including Advanced and Adventure Diver Certifications right up to SSI Dive and Rescue Courses and Certifications.

What is the difference between being an Open Water Diver and Advanced Diver? Open Water Divers are certified to dive to a maximum depth of 18m. Advanced Divers can dive up to 30m, which means you can explore wrecks and deeper reef locations, including the Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea.

Learning to dive at depth with a fully qualified dive master is essential, as when scuba divers descend to 30m (100 feet) they may suffer from nitrogen narcosis. What is nitrogen narcosis? Basically, nitrogen narcosis is an altered state under the water when the sufferer loses some motor function and decision making abilities.

Symptoms of nitrogen narcosis include giddiness, euphoria, disorientation and delayed reaction time: it has been compared to feeling ‘drunk’ under the water. It is caused by the total gas pressure increasing with the depth of the dive, leading to more nitrogen dissolving in the diver’s bloodstream which impairs the conduction of nerve impulses, which has a similar effect to alcohol or narcotics on the individual.

The effects of nitrogen narcosis reduce and then disappear, as the diver ascends and the pressure decreases. Typically, by the time the diver has returned to a depth of around 18m (60 feet) all symptoms should have disappeared.

Learn to dive in Cairns – Advanced Diver Courses include five skills, two of which are compulsory and three are optional. The compulsory components include diving at depth and night diving. These practice skills are taught in safe environment with qualified professional dive masters. Optional skills include underwater navigation, boat diving, photography, recovery diving or being an underwater naturalist.