Diving with passion in paradise

WITH so many Reef tours to choose from, find out why this small Cairns company is winning so many tourism awards.

The team from Passions of Paradise stop at Paradise Reef for a dive. Picture: john Wright

"IS there anyone from the UK?"

Russell is saying. ‘‘Well, if you look up, there’s a big golden ball in the sky. It’s called the sun.’’

A few dozen pairs of eyes shift involuntarily, swapping a view of the catamaran’s lounge and the young man about to give them a snorkel briefing for one of an expansive tropical sky topping a gently rolling seascape of blue and green.

The middle-aged couple from Surrey sitting next to me, heading for a Christmas in Pomona after their first trip to the Reef off Cairns, joins the chorus of laughs.

The Kiwis cop it next, then the French . . . no one is safe from the good-natured banter aboard Passions of Paradise, and already I’m thinking, ‘‘It’s the staff. That’s why they’re winning these awards.’’

Cairns is not short of operators willing to charge good money for taking day-trippers out to the Great Barrier Reef.
The Marlin Marina, right next to where you pick up your ticket for what you hope is going to be a day in heaven, is full of reef trip, fishing and other tourist boats, and the 25m sailing cat Passions of Paradise is almost dwarfed by some of them.

Every morning, a procession of tourists in sun hats, shorts and thongs heads out of the Cairns Reef Terminal, makes for whatever berth their chosen vessel is occupying, gets boarded with the efficiency of years and joins another, nautical, procession out of Trinity Bay, across what local mariners call ‘‘the paddock’’ to the Reef.

It’s big business, so how does a small, locally owned business cut it with the big boys and get to be this north Queensland city’s most awarded small tour operator, winning so many consecutive state tourism awards it now has a place in the Hall of Fame?

‘‘How,’’ I’m thinking, ‘‘did Passions of Paradise slip through our radar?’’

Next stop, Paradise Reef

Back on Passions, a couple of dozen tourists of mixed ages are going through the snorkel training, pushing masks to their faces, sucking air through tubes and looking a bit nervous.

One of them, Doug, a Canberra accountant, tells me he’s never snorkelled before. Another, Richard, a local housing authority officer escaping the madness of Schoolies, is in the same boat.

How can you reach middle or even old age in Australia without having snorkelled?

No wonder many of the so-called scuba diving accidents in this country are snorkelling-related. The training on Passions, while fun, is serious, as it has to be.

As a diver, I check out the onboard scuba equipment about to be used by another 16 passengers who’ve signed up for a 30-minute, $70 introductory dive. I’m impressed.

It’s virtually brand new – ScubaPro buoyancy jackets and Uwatek regulators and dive computers – as good as you’ll find on any Reef dive boat in Australia.

The boat is heading out to some shoals at Paradise Reef, after which the plan is to stop at Michaelmas Cay, a major bird sanctuary where Passions has a rare permit to land passengers on the beach. The sea is calm. The Pommies are looking at the golden ball and applying sunscreen.

Before we reach the first snorkelling and diving spot, the 71 passengers on board, fortified by coffee and snacks, get a rudimentary lesson in marine biology and think about outlaying $7 or an optional lycra or stinger suit. The other snorkelling gear is free.

Everyone opts for the suits.

They are, in lycra suit terms, state-of-the-art. Not only do these thin, bright blue garments have hoods but also built-in gloves. No chance of a sting here.

Every one of the passengers gets into a suit and all of the novice snorkellers put on a conspicuous flotation vest. When they get in the water at the shoals, now almost quarantined from the environment, they look like Navy Seals.

The water is warm, the snorkelling good but not exceptional.

A couple emerge to say they have spotted a turtle. Others come back on board wide-eyed and talkative, the beauty of the reef below an instant high point of their visit.

A true coral cay beach

A hot and cold buffet lunch appears and, as is usually the case on one of these dive/snorkelling trips, the punters go at it enthusiastically. There’s plenty of it and it’s not bad, if unexceptional.

There are usually about 11 crew members on Passions, most of them young, enthusiastic, personable and from a range of countries. They clearly enjoy their work.

"Most of them have trades or skills of some kind and want to upgrade them,’’ says Brett "Popeye’’ Unterrheiner, an employee of nine years who has risen through the ranks to be skipper of the boat.

‘‘That’s our point of difference. When they come to Passions, they tend to stick.

“What makes them happy filters down to the passengers.’’

At Michaelmas Cay, the Seals, still in full anti-environment gear, disembark on a tender and reach the beach to be greeted by several thousand astonished birds protected behind a rope barrier.
The snorkellers wade out to a shallow, patchy reef; others put on more sunscreen and have a rare hour on a true coral cay beach.

On the return to Cairns from these full-day trips, Passions of Paradise usually raises sails to give the customers another, perhaps more relaxing experience. Today, though, even with an apparent following wind of 7 knots, and with the mainsail and jib up, Passions barely makes headway.

The sea is as flat as glass. As the punters tuck into afternoon tea, Popeye decides to engage the twin 210hp Cummins engines and heads back over the paddock, a satisfied look on his face.

‘It’s glorious,’’ he says up in his cockpit. ‘‘If only they knew how perfect a day this is. They think it’s like this all the time, but it isn’t.’’

We approach the coast, subtle shades of blue and green and the cityscape of Cairns ahead of us, after our perfect tropical day and a near- perfect way of enjoying it.

The crew – all of them – say a genuine goodbye at the marina.

I head off for a sundowner along the boardwalk and say to myself, ‘‘Yes, that wasn’t bad at all. That’s what a day on the Reef should be like.’’

FAST FACTS

Cost: Day trip rates: adults $139 (incl $10 Reef levy), kids 4-14 $89, family of two adults, two kids $409; first scuba dive or intro dive $70, second dive $45; return transfers from Cairns city and beaches $12-$18.

Contact: Call Passions of Paradise on [phone] or 1800 111 346.