Best dive option - 2 days (June)

[hership]

I will be in Sydney with my husband and two teenage sons (14 & 17). My husband doesn't dive but the boys and I do. The three of us are all good divers. We will be traveling from Sydney to somewhere to dive for a couple days. I think liveaboard would be best but since my husband doesn't dive, we don't want to leave him behind at a hotel while we are gone for 2 days (He would be happy golfing if there is somewhere that offers golf for him and diving for us). Also, on a liveaboard we are an odd number which might make cabins tricky.

If we make the effort to go to Cairns, I want to do the best diving. Can we do that with just doing day dives. I understand the outer reef is best.

Based on only have a couple days to dive is there somewhere closer south we should go that also has great diving (Brisbane, Gold Coast, Coffs Harbour, etc)?

I am trying to decide the best way to spend our time.

We will be there during the second week of June so staying too far south would probably be too cold for me. We love great reef dives, drift diving with lots of fish (but I can pass on the sharks).

Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

[mig_diver]

Personally, I would recommend making the trip up North, but then again, I am a bit of a sissy when it come to water temperatures.

I lived in Sydney my whole life and have just moved up to Brisbane this year and in my opinion, the diving does not compare. I'd go up to Byron, an 8ish hour drive from Sydney. If you go to Byron, go out to Julian Rocks it is amazing

 

[mig_diver]

... and two days are well spent in the town of Byron.

 

[hership]

I think I have decided I need to go up to Cairns or Port Douglas since this is probably our one trip to Australia. We will only have two days to dive so wondering what is the best choice. Day dive from Port Douglas and day dive from Cairns or a 1 night liveaboard. I think I am getting closer to figuring this out. Anyone else have any suggestions?

 

[Double "D"]

When I dove the reef a couple of years ago we dove out of Townsville. It was awesome b/c we got to dive the Yongala, which, has been ranked (on various occasions and surverys) by many as the top wreck dive in the world. We went with Diving Dreams. Modest accommodations, great staff, and they had 2-3 day liveaboards. I don't know what they have in the way of golfing, the town isn't the biggest place in the whole entire world.

 

[almitywife]

you could get a flight from Fraser Coast/Hervey Bay and head over to one of the islands

a friend just got back from Heron Island and loved it and a SB'er got back from Lady Elliott and loved that too

sorry i havent done alot of qld diving myself... but i hear only good things about Bryon Bay

cheers

 

[cherea]

I would seriously consider diving out of port douglas.
I have just returned my self and had a good day diving off a silver boat [/url] Dive & Snorkel Port Douglas and Cairns - Silver Series - Scuba Diving & Snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef. [/url] On top of that port douglas is a damn nice place

 

[hership]

Thanks Cherea. Did you just dive one day? Did they take you to the agincourt reef? Did the large number of people on the boat both you?

What else did you do in Port Douglas?

Did you spend any time in Cairns?

 

[cherea]

Just spent the one day diving, at agincourt reef.
3 Dives and did some snorkeling in between.I spent my time in port douglas taking it easy.spent time on the beach, and ate great food in the evenings!lots of live music at most of the bars as well.i have a few friends who have taken advantage of the various day trips from town in the past,and they seem to rate very well.i have not spent much time in cairns, but the friends i traveled with have and prefer port douglas.
hope this was handy..and i hope you have a great trip!!

 

[Aussie scuba chick]

I am a Queensland diver...

Port Douglas is quite nice and does have some great dives. Port Douglas is small but laid-back. Some cute cafes and regular markets. About an hour or so away from Port Douglas is the Daintree Rainforest, which is beautiful but no diving!

Cairns is a lot more tourist-orientated, which means a larger number of up-market shops, restaurants, hotels etc. Personally, I prefer diving the Great Barrier Reef from Cairns. Unless you go to the outer reef, the dives aren't that deep (down to 20 metres or so). However, the inner reef dives are well worth doing.

If you're going to do a live-aboard, then I can recommend Cairns Dive Centre - I've been with them a few times and they're very professional. They offer double-bed and single bed cabins.
If your hubby wouldn't mind trying a dive, I believe that they also offer introductory dives. In between dives in the inner reef, you're allowed to snorkel around the boat (but not overly encouraged - makes the paperwork a little harder!)

If you did want to go further down the Queensland coast, there are a few main dive spots you can try. At Mooloolaba (1.5 hours drive north of Brisbane), there is the HMAS Brisbane. It's quite a good penetrable wreck dive. Most dive companies offer a day trip with double dive. You could leave your hubby at Mooloolaba which is really quite nice.

There's also Wolf Rock at Tin-Can Bay (2-3 hours drive north of Brisbane). A lot of research is undertaken their by universities, and it's rated as an excellent shark dive. If you're not that adventurous, try Julian Rocks at Byron Bay. It's 1.5 hours south of Brisbane (Northern NSW coast) and is a really good dive.

I'm aiming to do the Yongala wreck at Townsville in June. I hear it's a really good dive. Townville is around 600 ks south of Cairns.

Anyway, good luck. I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself!