Arriving Cairns Sept 30 - October 4

[wilton]

My newly-certified girlfriend and I will be visiting Cairns at the end of September and we would love some diving advice. It doesn't look like we'll be able to schedule one of the regular 3 or 4-day liveaboards, due to the fact that we're arriving on Friday. Most of those trips appear to leave on Monday or Tuesday.

With that in mind, what do you all recommend for day trips or, perhaps, a 2-day weekend trip out of Cairns?

Thanks in advance!
Wilton

 

[ocdiver1]

In my opinion, the best diving out of Cairns is on the type of 3-4 day trip you've looked into that gets you to the outer reefs...did you look at Mike Ball, Taka, and Spirit of Freedom? I've done the Mike Ball trip. I also did a 2 day trip out of Cairns on Reef Encounter which I enjoyed. The start days on this were almost continuous so something like that might work for you.

 

[Aquapro Dive Services]

There are plenty of options. The trips that go to the Cod Hole and Coral sea do twice weekly departures but the ones that go to the Outer Reef (like those ocdiver1 mentioned) leave every day.

But if you wanted to go to the Coral Sea Taka leaves Fridays. What time do you arrive on Friday, as check in is around 3pm. See here for details Cairns Live Aboard Dive Trips With Taka To The Cod Hole And Coral Sea

But OceanQuest, Scubapro and Reef Encounter have daily trips (well Scubapro doesnt go Tuesdays) see here for some options Cairns Live Aboard Over Night Dive Trips To The Outer Barrier Reef, Cod Hole And Coral Sea.

Plenty of good threads about these trips on this forum too.

 

[markmantei]

+1 to ocdiver. If you can possibly make it on one of the 3 or 4 day trips further out definity do it. Did a trip 6 months ago (booked through aquapro above ) on oceanquest. It was enjoyable, boat was clean and well setup for the dives (I'd recommend it for a 2 day liveaboard), but I regret that I did not have the time to do one of the trips to the "nicer" areas (Cairns was a quick stop for me). Be prepared, its alot of fun, but a ton of diving squeezed into a tight time period, it could have been jet lag, but it was pretty much dive and snooze the entire time .

 

[wilton]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the great feedback. We definitely want to do a 3-4 day trip but I just don't think it's in the cards for us this trip. The good news is my gf is from Australia and we expect to be making many trips in the future to see family, and a final stop in Cairns before returning to the US will probably be a regular occurance now that we know the scheduling.

That Taka trip with a departure on Friday would be perfect, but we fly on Tuesday and it's just cutting it too close.

I think that one night / 2 day trip on the Kangaroo Explorer looks perfect for us this time around.

Cairns Over Night Live Aboard Dive Trips With Kangaroo Explorer To The Great Barrier Reef

Thanks for the tip!

 

[bracko]

the outer reefs (that the kangaroo does) aren't bad for a first taste and would be perfect for a new diver to experience reef diving. I don't mean to be rude, but places like cod hole and some of the bomies aren't n00b diving locations due to strong currents, sometimes average conditions and above all, new diver buoyancy related reef damage.

expect to see sharks, turtles, reef fish, all that kind of stuff, but the coral isn't as good as other regions (like cod hole and ribbon reefs), and the water isn't as crystal clear as it's closer to civilisation.

but it's still better than diving in cold water or quarries!

 

[Stephiewinkles]

You could even do day trips on different locations, such as a trip out on Reef Magic's pontoon where you both can do up to 3 dives each in the day.
2nd day head out to a sandy cay location like Michaelmas Cay with Passions of Paradise where you can do another 3 dives. 3rd day I'd head out on Poseidon which leaves from Port Douglas but they also do pick ups from Cairns. This would give you so much variety and build up your girlfriend's confidence so next time she'll be confident when you head up the Ribbon Reefs to Lizard Island where the Cod Hole is.
There's a lovely sail boat called Coral Sea Dreaming that does 2days / 1night out of Cairns roaming around several different types of reefs. It only takes 12 guest at any one time and departs on Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday.

 

[mscherzer]

Hi if you are doing any of the day trips I'd recommend only doing two dives (1st one and last one skip the second). I've done almost all of my diving in cairns and doing 3 dives on a day trip is just way to much stress when squeezed into the tight boat schedules. Also doing the second dive usually means you will be chasing the scraps left behind by the snorklers for lunch and then rushing to get ready for the third dive.

My personal must do trip are the coral sea ones they are the best! (taka / mike ball etc.) For day trips my favorites would be the Sea Star which goes to the outer reefs and Michaelmas cay and Reef Magic.

Enjoy your stay.