If you really want to meet a man on Port Douglas, go on…take the plunge (and by plunge I mean dive)
I promised you that today I’d tell you all about the infamous allure of scuba instructors, and you should know by now that I always make good on my promises. So here’s a bold statement I’m confident enough to make: if you want to meet a man in Queensland, run to the marina and book yourself a Quicksilver Reef Tour immediately. Go on then, what are you waiting for?
First, some background info on Quicksilver. It’s easily the most respected Great Barrier Reef cruise experience out there (and no, not just in my limited experience, either. Every local I met was well impressed by my choice). Not only do you have the option of scuba diving, but you can snorkel, helmet dive (I’ll explain in a bit), feed the fish and go on an underwater ‘submarine’ tour. Lunch is included, as are two tea/coffee/cookie breaks. It’s a pretty sweet deal.
But I digress. At this time of year — the low season — the people who take these tours are generally either older, much younger, or couples. It’s rare that you’ll see a solo single girl setting foot on board the ship. I’m not quite sure if I was tagged as fresh meat or just an easy kill because I was alone, but whatever the reason, I was lucky enough to be beloved (or at least they were curious enough to chat) by the dive crew.
In rapid fire secession, I was approached by a sexy Italian, an Aussie, a hard-bodied Canadian and a hilarious Chinese diver. The best part: none of them was aggressive in the slightest. I genuinely felt like they were just trying to make sure that Laura-no-friends had someone to talk to, and wanted to make sure I had a good dive experience (at least, I felt that way until the Canadian pointed out that I had a rotating collection of men. When you put it that way…).
In six hours, I had four new friends. I swapped email addresses and Facebook page accounts with three of them. I was not bored, or lonely or wishing I was somewhere else. In essence, not only did I get to have a very cool experience, but I had it with some ridiculously gorgeous men.
But as I started to explain yesterday, scuba divers can be pigs. It’s not that they intend to be, but they’re young, for the most part, attractive and typically surrounded by women. They are surrounded by temptation constantly, in the prime of their life and want to have as many sexual exploits as possible. Who can blame them? Just don’t make the mistake of falling for one.
Don’t believe me? Take my friend *Catherine as an example. She was married to a dive instructor for well over ten years. It wasn’t always a picnic, but she was still a devoted wife despite the fact that he’d be out on serious dive missions for weeks at a time. Towards the end of her marriage, she discovered he had cheated on her with a dozen women — mostly ladies she knew socially who believed his line that they had an open marriage. Can you believe it? Scumbag!
Of the guys I met, two suggested they ‘come over’ to my hotel; one for a drink, one to watch a movie. I’m sure you’ll be fairly unsurprised to learn that I stayed the way I started — alone. However, you might be surprised to learn that the Italian was not one of the two (watch out for stereotyping when you travel, PS).
Although I may not be looking for a vacation romance, if you are, Quicksilver is the perfect place to find it. Be chill, don’t go all girly and be game to try new experiences (I’m not talking sexually, I’m talking water sports here). Just don’t delude yourself that the scuba dude doesn’t try this tactic with many other girls he sees on the Reef.
Laura xo