From the left Danny Dwyer -marketing manager for PADI Asia Pacific, Tony Physick - owner of Deep Sea Divers Den and Bob Baldwin MP – Federal opposition minister for tourism.

Cairns based dive operator Deep Sea Divers Den has been awarded a commemorative plaque from PADI for training and certifying 100,000 scuba divers.

Only the third company in the world to reach the landmark achievement, PADI Asia Pacific marketing manager Danny Dwyer presented the plaque to Deep Sea Divers Den, commenting that he wasn’t surprised that people have chosen Cairns to learn to dive.  ”The Great Barrier Reef is one of the destinations in the world that is a must-see," Mr Dwyer said.

A spokesperson for the company, John Brown expressed how proud he was of Deep Sea Divers Den for reaching such a level.  “An average PADI dive facility would take around 125 years to reach that milestone," Mr Brown said, pointing out the Deep Sea Divers Den has only been training divers for 37 years.

Two of the three dive operators worldwide to have reached the 100,000 mark are based in Cairns, proving the popularity of the Great Barrier Reef and its inspiration to more people to take up diving than any other place around the world.

Visitors to Cairns, which is the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, can get SCUBA diving training and certification from the world’s best and take their first dive on the reef.

Mr Brown told e-Travel Blackboard that 99% of their clients are international and predominantly from the UK, Ireland and Europe.