Merging the PADI Advanced and Enriched Air (Nitrox) courses offers an optimal approach to enrich your liveaboard diving adventure with an Advanced certification. The Advanced course fine-tunes your diving abilities and broadens your understanding, while the Nitrox Certification introduces the advantage of using enriched air, which prolongs your dive time and lessens the accumulation of nitrogen from multiple dives—perfect for liveaboard excursions. This unique learning experience unfolds over Pro Dive Cairns' three-day, two-night liveaboard journey, with the unparalleled Great Barrier Reef serving as your classroom, showcasing its rich marine ecosystem, varied dive locations, and consistently ideal diving conditions.
The certification process starts before your trip. Within 24 hours of booking, you'll receive instructions to access the PADI eLearning portal to commence your coursework. This includes engaging with essential materials and completing a final review, setting the stage for the maximum number of nitrox dives during your trip.
The curriculum blends theoretical learning with practical experience, comprising 11 dives, five of which are instructional. Since no traditional classroom or pool sessions are required for either course, theoretical studies can be completed directly onboard. This involves going through the PADI Enriched Air (Nitrox) and Advanced Open Water manuals and finishing up with knowledge reviews before the practical dives. Designed to minimally impact your liveaboard adventure, the course schedule ensures plenty of opportunities to complete your studies without missing out on the experience. A PADI Open Water certification or its equivalent is necessary to enroll.
Pro Dive Cairns grants access to 19 exquisite outer reef dive sites across four breathtaking reefs: Flynn, Thetford, Milln, and Pellowe. Diving at various times allows encounters with a vast array of marine life, from giant clams and sea turtles to stingrays, reef sharks, and an extensive selection of tropical fish, against a backdrop of stunning coral formations and clear visibility. Night dives add an extra layer of excitement, revealing the nocturnal activities of reef inhabitants.
Enjoy comfort and relaxation between dives on one of our three top-tier Scubapro vessels, specially designed for liveaboard trips. These boats offer air-conditioned accommodations, spacious lounging areas, and full catering, ensuring a personal and high-quality experience with attentive service from our professional crew.
Setting sail from Cairns daily, except Mondays and Tuesdays, our three-day, two-night liveaboard expeditions promise an unforgettable and immersive experience in the heart of the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef.
Day 1: Great Barrier Reef Adventure
05:45 - Complimentary hotel pickup service from Cairns City and Northern Beaches accommodations.
06:20 - Check-in at Pro Dive Cairns retail outlet, located at the corner of Grafton and Shields streets. See map for directions.
07:00 - Set sail from Cairns for an exhilarating 3-day, 2-night dive/snorkel adventure on the Great Barrier Reef, with a light breakfast provided onboard. This is also a good time to work on knowledge reviews for the Advanced/Nitrox courses.
11:00 - Dive 1: Kickstart your diving experience with a pre-lunch dive. Dive guidance is available for those looking to brush up on their skills. This dive is perfect for acclimatizing to the diving conditions and fine-tuning your diving techniques.
12:30 - Enjoy lunch onboard.
14:30 - Dive 2: Peak Performance Buoyancy. Choose this elective dive to perfect your buoyancy skills, weight adjustments, and equipment positioning, or explore more underwater wonders. The vessel then moves to the next dive site.
16:30 - Dive 3: Navigation Dive. Enhance your underwater navigation skills with exercises in compass and natural landmark navigation.
18:00 - Dinner is served.
19:45 - Dive 4: Night Dive. Experience night diving with an instructor-led training dive, including a simple navigation exercise and the chance to see unique nocturnal marine life.
Day 2: Deep Dive Exploration
07:00 - Dive 5: Deep Dive. Explore beyond 18 meters under the guidance of your dive instructor, learning about pressure effects and color absorption at depth.
09:00 - Breakfast followed by a Nitrox introduction video.
11:15 - Dive 6: Underwater Naturalist. Dive into marine biology, identifying fish families and coral types. Ideal for those who attended the Reef Teach presentation.
12:45 - Lunch, then complete knowledge reviews and the final exam for the Nitrox course. Start diving on nitrox.
15:15 - Dive 7: Underwater Photography. Learn to capture the reef's beauty with tips on camera care and usage. Camera rental available for those without their own.
17:45 - Dinner.
19:30 - Dive 8: Put your night diving training into practice with a dive supervised briefing.
Day 3: Final Dives and Farewells
06:30 - Dive 9: Enjoy a morning dive, completing any remaining training dives.
07:30 - Breakfast.
09:00 - Dive 10.
11:00 - Dive 11.
12:00 - Lunch.
16:00 - Complimentary return transfer to your accommodation.
19:30 - Farewell dinner (optional, at additional cost). Join your fellow passengers and crew at a local restaurant to celebrate the trip's end.
Fit to Dive
Some medical conditions may prevent you from diving. You will be required to obtain a dive medical certificate if you answer “yes” to any of the questions on the Continuing Education student diver medical declaration. We recommend you complete a dive medical (if required) before you arrive in Cairns.