I'm a newbie to scuba diving.
Just about finished with SSI open water certification....in a couple hours I take my last day of open water diving at Square Lake in Minnesota, USA.

I had planned to take a trip in February 2010 to New Zealand to bicycle for a few weeks with my brother from Alaska and he talked me into scuba diving. So we are contemplating the Great Barrier Reef or maybe Fiji Islands. Any advice on that is also recommended. I realize February may not be the best time for diving in either place but otherwise I will be freezing my butt off biking on the southern island of New Zealand.

I am especially interested in U/W photography (just a novice photographer above water but enjoy it). I am thinking of getting a videocamera and housing. From a quick look around the internet it appears that Sony and Canon are the choices. The HD Sony videocam with HDD and memory card look awesome. Any advice on videocameras and housings?