I don’t know too many people that want to go diving with their boss, but at Poseidon Outer Reef Cruises in Port Douglas the crew are always looking for an excuse to take a Sunday off and go out on a play day. Sundays are the day that Poseidon owner Peter Wright heads out on his weekly dives. Why are the crew so keen to go? Well, Pete has a bit of influence, so when he’s on board there is always the possibility of a few exploration dives, drift dives and the chance to visit diving sites less frequented by other divers.
Peter Wright started diving way back in 1958 in Mombasa, inspired by diving legend Hans Hass and was certified in 1988 as a PADI Divemaster.
For over 28 years, Pete has owned diving charter vessels in Far North Queensland including the liveaboard 'Scheherazade' from 1981 to 1994, which ran extended dive trips to the Ribbon Reefs and Coral Sea, many of them exploratory. For the last 15 years it has been on the daily Agincourt Reef charter boat “Poseidon” running out of Port Douglas. Pete has built a reputation within the local community of offering reef trips at exceptional standard for visitors to the Great Barrier Reef.
With over 45 different dive sites to choose from, both snorkelers and divers are catered for and for those visitors who just can’t get enough of the Reef - there’s a huge variety of dive sites on offer.
Poseidon is a true family business. Pete’s eldest daughter Shelly is a formidable freediver and regularly joins the diving group above the water for adventure drift snorkelling along the outer reef walls. Shelly’s husband, Neilo is a PADI Instructor and commercial diver and has spent years skippering at the helm of Poseidon.
On some of those early liveaboard trips while on working holidays - Pete’s youngest daughter Katrina learnt to dive as a teenager and now with husband Steve, owns and operates sailing vessels, Sailaway and Shaolin. Both vessels visit the World Heritage Listed ‘Low Isles’ (a coral cay) on daily snorkelling and sailing charters. Diving, snorkelling and sailing are in the blood!
But on July 11th, 2009 the third generation of the Poseidon family earned their stripes. Pete’s grandson David Munro, (Shelly and Neil’s eldest son) at age 13 went through his paces with Poseidon Master Instructor, Heidi Taylor and completed his PADI Junior Open Water certification. David grew up spending many Sundays on the boat with the family, snorkelling and freediving and learning about the Reef.
The day after David achieved his certification happened to be a Sunday - so the first dive of the day saw three generations of the Poseidon family jump in together to do a drift dive at Agincourt Reef.
How many people can say they go diving with their dad and grandpa at some of the best dive locations in the world!
For more information about diving the Great Barrier Reef with Poseidon Outer Reef Cruises visit http://www.poseidon-cruises.com.au/
Photo Credits: Oak Beach Productions.