Booking day trips

[hypnotix]

Heyoooooo! California boy checking in. Very soon I will be in Australia (Dec. 4th - 18th) to be exact. I'll be in Sydney, Cairns, and Melbourne. I know this has been asked a bunch of times but for some reason my searching capabilities are lacking.

Should I book day trips ahead of time or just go down there and check them out the day of? And yes, I know liveaboards are so much better but my friend insists that we do daytrips.. oh well.

I cannot wait! I want to go dive the GBR and probably do a little diving in Melbourne as well. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[Sas]

Heyoooooo! California boy checking in. Very soon I will be in Australia (Dec. 4th - 18th) to be exact. I'll be in Sydney, Cairns, and Melbourne. I know this has been asked a bunch of times but for some reason my searching capabilities are lacking.

Should I book day trips ahead of time or just go down there and check them out the day of? And yes, I know liveaboards are so much better but my friend insists that we do daytrips.. oh well.

I cannot wait! I want to go dive the GBR and probably do a little diving in Melbourne as well. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Hi,

I can help with Melbourne recommendations I use a dive charter called Dive Victoria Welcome to Dive Victoria | Dive Victoria. They have their itinerary on the website and I recommend for weekend dives to book in advance as many sites fill quickly. The weekday dives are less busy so you should be able to book on the day. There are no liveaboards in Melbourne so you will have to do daytrips here. Basically it is mainly single dives rather than double dives so you go out, do your dive, and then come back to shore for fills before the next boat dive. There are also plenty of shore dives, including one right where the boat leaves from Portsea (it does pickups from both sides of Port Phillip Bay).

What types of diving are you into and what kinds of things do you like to see? There are plenty of wrecks, wall dives, pier dives, shore dives and reef dives here. So I can recommend some sites based on what type of stuff you are interested in looking at.

 

[almitywife]

in sydney we dont run day trips but your choices are either shop guided shore dives or boat dives and if youre planning on diving, sydney can be tough to get around without transport so where you are staying and what you want to see will determine your dive site. ie, weedy seadragons Kurnell, seahorses are the nets at either manly, balmoral or clifton gardens. grey nurse sharks is a boat dive at Magic Point/Maruobra

i have no expereiences with cairns diving but i cant imagine you having any dramas catching a day trip

hope this helps!

 

[hypnotix]

Cool! Thanks everyone. We actually just decided today to book a liveabroad trip in Cairns for four days. We will definitely take both of your recommendations in account for Sydney and Melbourne. Sounds great.

Now I just need to do my research on the liveaboards. I was recommended to Pro Dive but I will definitely have to do my due diligence.

Also, isn't there someone on this board who I can purchase these trips through? I remember seeing someone's name but I cannot remember who it is.

 

[El Orans]

Now I just need to do my research on the liveaboards. I was recommended to Pro Dive but I will definitely have to do my due diligence.

Also, isn't there someone on this board who I can purchase these trips through? I remember seeing someone's name but I cannot remember who it is.

Well, there's this [user]Andrew Jones[/user] guy...

 

[hypnotix]

Well, there's this [user]Andrew Jones[/user] guy...

Bingo thanks!

 

[rzk4sb]

in sydney we dont run day trips but your choices are either shop guided shore dives or boat dives and if youre planning on diving, sydney can be tough to get around without transport so where you are staying and what you want to see will determine your dive site. ie, weedy seadragons Kurnell, seahorses are the nets at either manly, balmoral or clifton gardens. grey nurse sharks is a boat dive at Magic Point/Maruobra

i have no expereiences with cairns diving but i cant imagine you having any dramas catching a day trip

hope this helps!

Hi, can you elaborate on not running day trips from Sydney? I'm tentatively planning business in Sydney mid Feb and wanted to take a day or two of personal time to dive the GBR. Is this going to be a hassle for me?

 

[thanksforallthefish]

I think what almitywife meant was there are no liveaboards in Sydney ... you can book boat dives with almost any dive shop which depending on the shop may be 1 or 2 dives before returning to shore.

A day trip from sydney to Cairns, including a days diving would take at least three days, wether driving or flying

Sydney to Cairns is about 1500 miles and 28hours driving

 

[rzk4sb]

Gotcha, sorry I'm clueless. What I gather then, is that GBR is not really accessible from Sydney. To dive the GBR, it's easiest to be in Cairns?

 

[thanksforallthefish]

No worries ... happy to point you in the right direction