Gap Year Australia
You are here: Homepage >> Destinations >> Australia
Sydney and Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Country Facts
Country: Australia
Trips: Learn to dive and Divemaster
Durations: 2 weeks & 12 weeks
Diving Conditions: Variable
Visibility: 5m to 30m+
Ideal for: Learning to dive, Divemaster and work experience at Great Barrier Reef.
- Australia Programmes
- Destination Guide
- Country Fact File
Programmes in Australia
This programme provides orientation as well as learning to dive courses in Sydney / Byron Bay. It is designed for people who are new to diving and require a gentle introduction to life down under! The programme includes a PADI Open Water course, PADI Advanced Open Water course and recreational diving so you have the necessary qualifications to dive anywhere in the world to 30m during your travels.
This is a structured professional Divemaster Internship 'down under'. It is designed for beginners as well as for those with PADI Open Water and Advanced Open Water qualifications. The internship spans 12 weeks and encompasses a range of learn-to-dive courses, speciality dives, first aid courses, professional courses and work experience. When you graduate you will be both a PADI Master Scuba Diver and a professional PADI Divemaster!
Destination Guide
Location
You are based right by the Royal National Park in a suburb of Sydney called Cronulla. It's about 40km South of Sydney city centre (or 15 minutes by train) and it is renowned for it's surfing and the National Park.
Dive Centre
The dive centre has been recognised by PADI as the Most Outstanding PADI Dive Centre in Asia Pacific, and the Most Innovative PADI Dive Centre in Asia Pacific. Also recognized as Australia's Best Dive Centre for the last 4 years; it's simple to see why we run our scuba diving programmes here. The training is personalised and done in low volume whilst our candidate-orientated professional internships allow you to nurture your professional diving career under the watchful eyes of a large team of PADI Professionals in Sydney's busiest PADI 5 Star Instructor Development Centre.
Diving in around Sydney
Australia offers some fantastic scuba diving with a broad range of marine life and Sydney, as the gateway to Australia, offers dive sites unequalled by any large city. Sydney offers a large number of dive sites and you'll be central to the best of the dive sites!
During any dive you should expect to see species such as Blue grouper, Sea horses, various sponges,
Goat fish, various wrasse, various nudibranchs, Giant cuttlefish, Port Jacksons, Morwong, Morays, Dwarf pipehorses, Velvetfish, Gurnard, White ear Sponge crabs, Weedy seadragons, Nudibranchs, Turtles and various rays. The marine life is very good.
Diving Great Barrier Reef
Tropical diving conditions and plenty of topical marine life. By far the world’s largest coral reef ecosystem, the Great Barrier Reef consists of over 3,000 reefs and 900 islands clustered along Australia’s Eastern coast. The astounding diversity of life on the Great Barrier Reef includes over 400 species of corals, over 4000 species of mollusks and over 1500 species of fish. Our DM interns spend 2 weeks working up here as part of their course.
Accommodation
You are housed at a guesthouse in the suburbs of Sydney. It has recently been refurbished and offers secure and comfortable accommodation.
Social Scene / Nightlife
Nightlife in Cronulla Sydney NSW Australia
The local area and the neighbouring suburbs have a vast range of nightlife, from pubs, clubs and nightclubs through cafes, restaurants and theatres.
Cafes & Restaurants
Simply too many to mention! There are over 50 restaurants and cafes within a short walk of the accommodation. They range from take-aways and budget cafes to upmarket restaurants. Venture into the city of Sydney and you will find even more to choose from.
Pubs & Clubs
Northies Hotel is just across the road from Cronulla Beach and offers pool, nightclub and bands with Sportsmans bar and Cable TV for all European sports.
Paddy's Irish Bar & Restaurant has live bands and comedy nights every week. Guiness, Stella and Kilkenny on tap
The Cronulla RSL club offers fantastically cheap beer, food and light entertainment. You might even win a little on the poker machines.
Party Late!
Biggles Nightclub offers the latest dance music and live entertainment. Open till 3.00am.
Brass Monkeys Jazz Club as the name suggests features jazz music! Open till 3.00am.
Carmens at Miranda hotel is the areas best nightclub. A very friendly atmosphere where you can mix with the real Australians. Open till 3.00am - a free shuttle bus is available to Miranda.
The Businessmans Club and NightClub in neighbouring Miranda is open till 5.00am with the latest in dance music.
Caringbah Inn Hotel is one of Sydneys most famous pubs and offers pub style bars and nightclub - open till 3.00am.
Cinemas
The Cronulla Cinema is only two minutes from the Cronulla Beach YHA and has the latest movies.
Good reasons to go here...
1. Get to dive on the Great Barrier Reef
2. Safe and Secure Gap Year destination
3. Explore Sydney Harbor and ride across the Sydney Harbor Bridge!
4. Explore downunder while gaining career quailifations
5. Botany Bay - diving based in a National Park
6. It's backpacker country - opportunity to travel independently after programmes
7. Time to avoid some of the world's deadliest snakes and spiders!! Ha ha...
8. Awesome social scene in buzzing city location
Country Fact File
General Facts
Official Name: Commonwealth of Australia
Location:Oceania, continent between the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean
Population: c.21,000,000
Languages: English
Religion: Catholic / Anglican / Other
Capital: Canberra
FCO Travel Advice Link: Australia Information
Weather / Climate
Generally arid to semiarid; temperate in south and east; tropical in north
Visas / Entry Requirements
Visas are required for all travel to Australia. British citizens can obtain the following types of electronic visitor visa:
* an eVisitor visa direct from the Department of Immigration & Citizenship. There is no visa application charge or service fee for this;
* an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) via their travel agent or airline. There is no visa application charge, but a service fee of A$20 applies
Information on all other types of visa is available from the Department of Immigration & Citizenship, or from the Australian High Commission in London
Vaccinations
Please visit www.netdoctor.co.uk for more information or consult with your local GP for professional advice.
Flight times / routes
From London to Sydney about 22-23 hours, and no matter which airline there will be a stop. Depending on the airline, typical stops can include Dubai, Bangkok, Singapore or Hong Kong.
You might want to consider London to Perth in Western Australia, that is a flight of 18 hrs and 55 mins including a 1 hr 10 minute stop in Singapore. You could then start your Australian travels in the west, enjoy some time there and then catch a domestic transcontinental flight (about 4-5 hours) to the east coast.
