Pro Dive Cairns wins two prestigious PADI Awards
01 April 2010

Congratulations to the Pro Dive Cairns crew who have been awarded two prestigious awards in the 2010 PADI Asia Pacific Member Awards.

Pro Dive Cairns won the prestigious Outstanding Dive Centre/Resort Business Award for Queensland as well as the Instructor Development Award in conjunction with staff Course Director Alex Van Welderen.

All PADI dive centres in Queensland are eligible for these annual highly prestigious awards and winning them is recognition of the significant contributions to the growth and development of the diving industry that Pro Dive Cairns has made in 2009. The winners in each category now go up against the other regional winners from across the entire Asia Pacific region for the regional awards that are decided later in the year.

"We are proud to be the recipient of both these prestigious awards for the second year running as they are recognition of our ongoing commitment to safety, quality and professionalism" said Rod Punshon, Managing Director of Pro Dive Cairns.

In operation since 1983 Pro Dive Cairns is renowned as one of Australia’s premier dive operators specializing in dive courses, from beginner to professional level, liveaboard dive trips and retail sales of dive, snorkel and watersports equipment.

Fully Certified Brofessional Divers
25 August 2009

The Story... Two very lucky Kiwi boys (Hamish and Adam) won themselves the opportunity to spend six weeks traveling all over Queensland. In August Hamish and Adam completed their 5 day learn to dive course with us and here is their story and video clip. Enjoy!

This fantastic initiative belongs to Travel insurance giant World Nomads. To read more information on the boys Queensland Adventures visit vantastic.worldnomads.com.

After the taste of scuba diving that we got in the Whitsundays we were instantly hooked and craved more. Scuba diving is another one of those things that has to be experienced by everyone. It is like another world down there.

If you can have a holiday and achieve something like getting your scuba certification it really gives you a sense that you have made the most of your time.

The team from PRODIVE in Cairns offer a top notch 3 day 2 night dive trip to the great barrier reef. If you are certified you can do up to 11 dives. If you want to get certified you do a couple of days training in the pool then you are straight out there and will get to put 9 dives under your weight belt.

We were lucky enough to get Chris from South Africa as our instructor. This guy was a barrel of laughs. He made sure everyone was safe but still had a great time.

Conditions were perfect for all 3 days and we witnessed some goodies at 18 metres below.

We made friends with sharks, turtles, maori wrasse, barracuda, bump headed parrot fish, stingrays, moray eels, whales and of course we found Nemo on several occasions.

One of the definite highlights that absolutely blew us away was the fact that you get a torch strapped to your wrist and you get to go night diving.

As Chris said 'the freaks come out at night' and you will get to see things that you would never see during the day.

When you giant stride into the water and the first thing you see is 4 sharks as big as you catching their dinner you know it is gonna be an exciting dive.

Not only did we find Nemo we also found Brian, the most monstrousatantic turtle that we have ever seen. Brian was 140 years old and about the size of 5 football fields. give or take.

When you eventually get certified and it is just you and your buddy exploring the ocean unguided you realize you have discovered something pretty amazing.

We met some super fun people from all over the world on this trip. The great thing about PRODIVE is that when you get back to Cairns the team organize a big night out on the town for anyone that is keen.

We had an incredible dinner at MICHAELANGELO'S on the esplanade before partaking in the biggest yager bomb train ever witnessed by a human being at RATTLE AND HUM.

What a way to wrap it all up.

Cheers to Steve and all the crew for a very memorable trip.

Pro Dive Cairns Eco Friendly Operations Awarded
01 February 2009

Pro Dive Cairns is proud to have recently been accredited with the Advance Ecotourism Certification from Ecotourism Australia for their training courses and Great Barrier Reef liveaboard dive trips.

This is in recognition of the environmental initiatives implemented to ensure the sustainability of Pro Dive’s operation and to contribute to the conservation of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. As part of their reef experience Pro Dive ensures visitors have the opportunity to learn about and appreciate the spectacular marine environment.

Pro Dive Cairns earns a remarkable world first in certifying 100,000 PADI divers
04 November 2008

In what is a world first achievement, on the 1st November 2008, Maike Federhenn from Germany achieved the unique status of being the 100,000th PADI certification to be issued by leading Cairns dive operator, Pro Dive Cairns.

PADI (Professional Association of Dive Instructors) is the largest dive education company in the world and have acknowledged that Pro Dive Cairns’ achievement is a world first in the global dive industry.

This historic event was celebrated with a function on Saturday evening (Nov 1) at Rydges Plaza Cairns. Senior delegates from PADI Australia made the trip up to Cairns to celebrate this major milestone with management and staff from Pro Dive Cairns along with a number of Local Touristy Industry leaders.

Despite a downturn in the tourism industry, Pro Dive Cairns has had a big year. On top of this world first achievement, the company this year acquired more land to allow for further expansion of their diver training facilities, celebrated their 25th birthday, and also relocated their dive shop to a new state-of-the-art retail centre in the heart of Cairns.

L to R: Rod Punshon, Julie Lee, Steve Brady

L to R: Rod Punshon, Susan Majaupa, Maike Federhenn, Henrik Nimb, Danny Dwyer

Commenting on the company’s milestones, Pro Dive Cairns Managing Director, Rod Punshon said, "We are extremely proud of our achievements and the reputation we’ve built over the years. The fact that so many people have chosen Pro Dive Cairns to teach them to dive is very satisfying and reflects our philosophy of ‘quality over quantity’ and a commitment to providing the best possible dive education and trips over many years."

"Our longevity in business over the past 25 years, especially in challenging times like the present, is an outstanding testament to the dedication and professionalism of all our staff, as well the quality and reputation of our product."

Danny Dwyer (Manager, Marketing & Business Development - PADI Asia Pacific,) said, "Our entire team at PADI would like to congratulate the team at Pro Dive Cairns on reaching the remarkable milestone of 100,000 PADI students. While 100,000 PADI students is an outstanding numerical achievement we applaud Pro Dive Cairns commitment to teaching safe and responsible dive courses as their first priority. Pro Dive Cairns offers its customers a world class training facility, retail store and dive vessels which has obviously proved very popular with visitors to the Great Barrier Reef looking for comfort and quality. Our two companies have shared a strong and successful business partnership over a 25 year period and we’re looking forward to sharing more success in the coming 25 years".

Established in 1983, Pro Dive Cairns has built an enviable international reputation as one of the world’s premier dive schools and liveaboard dive trip operators.

Today, with a team of 55 local staff, Pro Dive owns and operates a purpose built 5 star PADI Diver Training Centre as well as three premier 25 metre liveaboard vessels that conduct 3 day / 2 night trips to the Outer Reefs off Cairns 6 times each week, all year round.

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Pro Dive Cairns Eco Friendly Operations Awarded
06 May 2008

Pro Dive’s commitment to the ongoing conservation of the Great Barrier Reef recently received further recognition from internationally renowned Dive Agency "PADI", with Pro Dive Cairns being awarded certification as a Project AWARE "Go ECO" Operator.

Project Aware is PADI’s own eco program and is awarded to operators who are dedicated to protecting our marine environment through responsible business practices and to providing visitors with dive experiences that enhance visitor awareness of our local aquatic environment.

International Award for Pro Dive Cairns
28 April 2008

Leading Cairns dive operator, Pro Dive Cairns has received the prestigious Outstanding Business Award (Dive Centre/Resort) at the 2008 PADI Asia Pacific Region Member Awards announced in Singapore recently (18/4/08).

This highly contested award from internationally renowned Dive Agency "PADI" recognizes outstanding business performance, initiatives and achievements across all areas of business operation.

"Achieving this award in our 25th year of operation is a significant milestone and recognition of our team’s commitment to safety, quality and professionalism," said Pro Dive Cairns Managing Director, Rod Punshon.

It’s been a busy start to the company’s 25th year having also been accredited with Ecotourism Certification from Ecotourism Australia in recognition of environmental initiatives and sustainability, as well as being awarded a Project AWARE Go ECO Operator, PADI’s own eco program.