recommendations for an affordable digital UW camera?

Hey all,

You've probably gotten questions like this before but if you could help me out here I would greatly appreciate it. I'm in Australia at the moment, on the Great Barrier Reef and I'm about to do some really spectacular dives in the next couple months, including a dive on the S.S. Yongala (supposed to be the best dive site in Australia) and perhaps some shark feeding dives.

Since these will be the dives of a lifetime, I think NOW is the time to get into UW photography!! But being a poor college student, I am somewhat limited by price here. I've looked around a bunch online but my options are quite bewildering, and I dont know what is good and reliable and what isn't. I've been considering buying a Nikon Coolpix and a housing - this seems like an affordable way to go, but does this take good pictures, and are the housings reliable?

Can any of you recommend a decent UW digital camera solution with a housing that is preferably under $500 U.S.? Also something that can take good pictures at depth? (I suppose I need a strobe for that). I'm obviously not expecting top quality pictures to enter in a contest, just something pretty decent that I can take home, show my friends, and put online.

Thanks,

Andy