Next March I will be in Australia after 2.5 month backpacking trip through New Zealand. I am flying over yo Australia and ending my program in Sydney. I plan to stay an extra week and want to go dive the GBR. I have heard good things about both Cairns and the Whitsundays and wanted to know about the diving at both areas.
Aussie diving. Whitsundays or Cairns?
- Thread starter ck10
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fredaroony
Contributor
If you want to do the Great barrier Reef then its best to go on a liveaboard as they go to the outer reef and the best locations. You can do both them out of Cairns or Port Douglas.
Mike Ball gets a lot of good recommendations but is a little pricy. You get what you pay for though. Liveaboard scuba diving Australia, the Great Barrier Reef, Cairns
Plenty of places to go diving in Sydney while you are here as well. You are picking a good time of year to come because I remember what those winters were like in Ohio!
Mike Ball gets a lot of good recommendations but is a little pricy. You get what you pay for though. Liveaboard scuba diving Australia, the Great Barrier Reef, Cairns
Plenty of places to go diving in Sydney while you are here as well. You are picking a good time of year to come because I remember what those winters were like in Ohio!
Damselfish
Contributor
From Cairns, ideally you want to get out to the more northern ribbon reefs or the Coral Sea. Spirit of Freedom is another boat that gets great reviews, also pricy. TAKA goes out there and is less expensive, though not nearly as nice - though if you've been backpacking for a couple months it will probably seem luxurious.
The "outer reefs" as advertised by many of the other boats that go out for a day, or a couple days to the platforms, are not nearly as good. They'e much closer to Cairns, heavily dove, with less life and lots of sediment cover. The Taka trip I was on started up north where it was nice and finished further south on the way back to Cairns and it was a huge difference.
The "outer reefs" as advertised by many of the other boats that go out for a day, or a couple days to the platforms, are not nearly as good. They'e much closer to Cairns, heavily dove, with less life and lots of sediment cover. The Taka trip I was on started up north where it was nice and finished further south on the way back to Cairns and it was a huge difference.
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Yep don't miss Sydney as a good dive destination either.. Weedy Sea Dragons, seahorse, heaps of interesting and colourful stuff! Lots of shore diving so not too expensive! You can also go out on the boats to the grey nurse habitat here
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