We dived with Blue Adrenalin.  We had done a fair bit of research on the internet looking for a company to go with.  A number of people on the Lonely Planet's website had used and recommended them.

We got to Townsville and went to the dive shop.  It didn't look like much... sort of like a young company just starting up.  There were only 3 of us taking the course, which was great - small courses are usually the best.  We were ushered into back room where we took care of the first order of business: Liability waivers.  Once all that was done, we started our course, which consisted of us sitting in front of a TV watching training tapes.  I was skeptical about this since I'd taken a course before and we had spent a lot of time in the classroom with an instructor going over things.  End of day one.  Carla wasn't feeling comfortable with her dive table calculations, so she borrowed a book to take home and practice.  

Day Two - Medicals.  We had to get medicals from an Australian doctor.  55 dollars each.  Back to the dive shop to pick out gear.  They had lots of stuff around, but were short on flippers for big feet, and snorkels.  All our stuff was loaded into the company van, and we had 45 minutes to get food, and walk to the training pool.  On the way we checked out some other dive shops.  I went in to Pro Dive to ask about cameras, but the guy working there was a prick.  I left without buying anything.  Next we went to Adrenalin.  The lady working there was really nice, and we chatted for a while, and bought a couple of cameras from her.  

We got to the pool and jumped in and did our mandatory 200m swim and 15min tread.  There were 3 instructors for the 3 students.  Pretty good ratio.  We went through all the gear and then got into the pool again.  Went through all the skills, which were taught one at a time, then practiced.  Our instructor, Matt, was very good.  Took about 2 and 1/2 hours to get everything done.  

Here is where our troubles really started... We went back to the dive shop, and found out they were having insurance troubles with the boat.  It was a newly purchased boat, and had just come from getting refitted, and no one had arranged for insurance. The insurance details had to be taken care of in person, not via fax machine, and the office was 300km away.  We were told that we would leave first thing in the morning, and to be back at the shop at 6am.  I was pretty upset, cause I could see our vacation wasting away.  I had a feeling that 6 was going to turn into 9 and then it would be dark by the time we got to the dive site, and we'd lose a whole day of diving.  We were kind of left in the lurch for a place to stay, so Blue Adrenalin phoned the hostel, and booked and paid for a room for us. We went for supper.

When we got back we found out that they cancelled our trip.. they just left a message that the boat wasn't going to be ready, and to meet at the dive shop in the morning.  I was livid.  I mean I was REALLY REALLY mad.  The only reason we had come on this trip was to dive.  We'd flown 1/2 way around the world at a very substantial cost (like in the 11,000 dollar range) and now it was all cancelled.  I was so upset I didn't sleep well at all, and when I got up all I wanted to do was bring a lawyer to the shop with me so we could sue them and make them pay the whole cost of my trip back to me.  When I think about it, I still get wound up :)

We got to the shop, and after a few hours of humming and hawing and tossing ideas around, we convinced them that it wasn't in their best interests to cancel on us.  We came to dive, and wanted to go.  Things were very disorganised for a few hours, but we weren't going anywhere and just sat on the floor in the shop so no one would forget about us. There was a person who was supposed to go on the boat with us, but she got her money back, and flew to Sydney that day.  I though about doing the same, but I'm glad I didn't.  After about an hour I walked to the Adrenalin office, and talked to the woman who worked there.  She tried to help us find alternatives, so that we could at least get some diving in, but we were hampered by the fact that we weren't certified yet.  I also learned a little bit about the history of diving companies in the area, and how it was a bit of a cut throat business.  She couldn't find anything firm for us, but put us on the top of her waiting lists.  I went back to Blue Adrenalin, and talked with the owner.  He had found us a boat and we would leave that night for 2 days diving on the reef.  I asked if it would be possible to dive both the reef and the Yongala wreck.  This hadn't occurred to him, but the skipper of our new boat was right there, and said it would be fine.  So now we were set to leave at midnight, but there was still the problem of not having enough time to do all our required dives.  We convinced them that we had to go diving today if it was going to work at all.  They sent us across to Magnetic Island to do a couple of the training dives.  While we were waiting for the ferry to take us back to the mainland, we met up with some divers who were working for some of the other companies... turns out one of Adrenalin's boats had engine trouble and was 2 hours late getting to the Yongala.

We got back to the shop, and our refund was waiting for us.  We got back what we had paid for the advanced course (which we couldn't get because we'd be short on dives) and the difference between a 3 day trip and a 2 day trip.  They also gave us a fish identification chart to help us when we were diving.  At about 9 we headed for the boat.  We gained one other person who was already a certified diver. so the ratio was 4 divers, 4 crew.  All the crew could dive too.  We left the harbour at about 11:30 and cruised all night to our destination.  The diving over the next two days was truly awesome.

Conclusion

I think they are all the same.  It is what you can expect from companies that have anything at all to do with the sea.  Boats break down.  Gear fails.  And then there is the weather, which can turn a great trip into a nightmare. Things rarely go as planned.  Just leave yourself lots of time.   If we hadn't had flights booked back to Canada two days after our course was supposed to finish, everything would have been just fine.   The girl who packed it in and flew back to Sydney missed out on a great trip, and probably has a bitter taste in her mouth about trying to dive in Townsville. I know it could have been a lot smoother, but hopefully the dive companies learn from their mistakes.  Blue Adrenalin could have left us in Townsville for 3 days with nothing to do, but they took care of us, and I'm sure they didn't make any money doing it.

We would dive with Blue Adrenalin again.  We would also dive with most of the other companies in Townsville.  But we'd dive at the start of my holidays, instead of at the end.

Jake and Carla