Australia and New Zealand trip planning

[Derbdiver]

I have been to Australia on 3 different vacations from 2001 to 2015. I dove the GBR in 2001 on the Nimrod III and again in 2004 with Cairns Dive Center. This included the Cod Hole, Lizard Island and Steve's Bommie just to name a few. The Nimrod III (Explorer Ventures) is no longer operating out of Cairns and the boat was sold. My wife and I dove with CDC on our honeymoon in 2004 and while the weather/waves were bumpy with lots of current at COD Hole it was still excellent. I avoided the larger dive operators on both trips and wound up with really high quality dive experiences on both occasions. We also did a couple day dives out of Brisbane Gold Coast. In 2015 on my 3rd Sabbatical in June/July (Australia Winter) we took the kids and flew from Singapore (Home base for trip) to Perth on a red eye. We then rented a car and drove 14hrs 1100Km from Perth to Coral Bay. This was quite a trip with 7 and 8yr old girls but the drive was beautiful. We started in almost Snow/Sleet in Perth to tropical water up north. The Ningaloo Reef is unique among all the diving I have done because it is a (Fringe Reef) literally 30ft off the beach and requires only snorkeling gear. The beach is remote and in 2015 this whole area was not very developed but because it isn't the experience is something hard to pass up for the adventurer. We spent 2 days just snorkeling and hanging out on the beach(fresh catch for eats at most local restaurants), one day two tank dive at only local dive shop and one whole day snorkeling with Whale Sharks out of Exmouth. I wrote up a whole trip report here if you want more info.

 

[JasmineNeedsGills]

For a very very short time window in October there is a chance to get out on a LOB to Rowley shoals, Clerke Reef and Mermaid wall - the trips usually book up months if not years in advance however there are two 8 day trips with vacancies in October 2020 and three this October. You are 300km from land, don't be surprised if a Marlin overtakes a tiger shark while you're looking at a nudibranch. Less than 200 people a year get out there and it's worth the wait. Big fish. Many fish. Playful fish like the giant grouper at cod hole.
I'd combine that with Ningaloo and possibly the montebellos if you want to dive our newest marine park that is also the site of Australia's forgotten atomic detonations. Certainly not you're average dive spot when you're diving ground zero of an A bomb test.
Ok I'm a little biased living in WA but having done the shoals - it's big kids diving

We also have leafy and weedy sea dragons on the city doorstop and the newly discovered Ruby sea dragon down at Bremer Bay where once a year the Orcas show up along with everything from giant squid to southern right and blue whales. No diving there as the orcas come to predate but an awesome if brutal experience if you get out there and see a predation.

Sorry to re-open an older thread, but thinking it's relevant to other people who stumble on the thread looking for ideas - but can you shed a bit of light on Ningaloo? Not thinking of going anytime soon, but me and s/o are working out holidays plans for the 3 or 4 years and and the west coast is definitely sometime we're interested in looking at, but couldn't find much on Ningaloo beyond whaleshark encounters. An encounter would be amazing, but our first and foremost interest is coral and smaller reef life. Quickly googling found only one dive centre in Coral Bay, and their website wasn't massively informative.

Also, are the Hourtman-Arbolhos islands worth a detour?

 

[JasmineNeedsGills]

If you don’t mind a drive the East Coast from Cairns to Brisbane (Bryon Bay area as well) is nice. Stop on the way for the Yongala out of Townsville (400kms south of Cairns). Best wreck dive in Australia, and as mentioned should be a stop. Big distance 1600kms though.

Again, lots of choices, bit had to give general advice without what your interests are other than diving. Australia is a land of variety, tropical North or cold South, “wild” West coast of populated East coast. New Zealand rich farming land with culture in the North, South with spaces then Mountain ranges with Fjords…

If you've got the time to relax and enjoy, I second an east coast road trip if you have any interest in the surface side natural world. Northern NSW is beautiful - the Waterfall Way near Coffs Hbr is lovely, as in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, and there's various beautiful distractions all the way to Cairns when you get the FNQ wet tropics.

 

[Wingy]

Scuba Diving Tours | Dive Ningaloo


The navy pier is regarded as one of the best night dives for a reason - it's good, very good

It's now legal to snorkel with humpbacks so timing your visit right is going to increase your chances of a random encounter as with the whale sharks and mantas is why Ningaloo is on "must do " lists. Diving at the Abrolhos...hmm...have not done it for 8 years, there wasn't a lot to see and it's an area prone to big seas so it wouldn't really be somewhere that I'd suggest. Hopefully someone with more recent experience chimes in. You could also email dive Ningaloo re coral spawn timing and I would detour to Maud's landing if you're up there at turtle hatching time - they would be able to advise of tour guides at nesting sites. Bookings are pretty tight during the school holidays so planning in advance is key.

 

[Boiler_81]

COVID delayed this trip. We are planning on going in 2024. Any updates to the recommendations?

 

[MB NZ]

None of it's good news at our end. Multiple tour operators, dive companies included have gone under, prices have gone up and roads have got worse due to extreme weather events. At the top of the North Island, we basically didn't have a summer this year, just a sort of monsoon season.

 

[Aquapro Dive Services]

Cairns is still kicking off and all operators running. Assume you are looking at live aboards rather than day trips so see here for who is currently running and itineraries. DM me if you want more info.

 

[Boiler_81]

I believe you have an incorrect link, it takes me to a rock tour.

 

[Aquapro Dive Services]

I believe you have an incorrect link, it takes me to a rock tour.

Whoops! Not sure how that happened. Correct one in now and here it is again.

 

[SurteesDiver]

If you get to the South Island of NZ, do the Milford Sound dive with Descend Diving and the Lermontov with Go Dive Pacific. Both are awesome dive destinations which are not unduly affected by the weather (unlike many of our other great locations). If there has been a few days northerly, the marine reserve on the south coast of Wellington is a lovely dive right within a really fun city. See Dive Wellington for tanks and weights and then walk across the road into the water.