Cairns in June

[Steve Miller]

My family and I are planning a trip to Oz. in June. We plan on diving out of Cairns. Can anyone tell me what to expect as far as water temp. in mid June? Also after reading several post it seems that everyone agrees that it is best to go out on a liveaboard. Can anyone recommend one other than Mike Ball? Also any other advice on the diving or the area would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Mark Goodchild]

I've researched this quite a bit as I'll be out there that month too!

Actually depends on what you want from the holiday. I really want to visit the more northern reaches of the Coral Sea and hopefully Osprey Reef.

Basically I found 4 liveaboards to choose from. They all do different days and trip lengths.

Nimrod Explorer
Spirit of Freedom
Taka
Mike Ball

I have gone for the Spirit of Freedom.

Quite a large boat...*Good for my sea sickness hopefully) and they do a 4 days diving trip. This boat is also quite high end. I think if you're on a budget the Nimrod or Taka offer better value.

Hopefully this time of year the water temperature will be low to mid 20s and in the Coral sea the visibility should be great.

Also you can see Minke whales this time of year. Hope this reduces some of your research time!

 

[cdiver2]

Diversity out of Port Arthur...abou 1 hour up the road, they will pick you up at your hotel.

 

[UndrWatrDan]

My family and I are planning a trip to Oz. in June. We plan on diving out of Cairns. Can anyone tell me what to expect as far as water temp. in mid June? Also after reading several post it seems that everyone agrees that it is best to go out on a liveaboard. Can anyone recommend one other than Mike Ball? Also any other advice on the diving or the area would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Hi Steve,
We were on the Nimrod in October and had a fantastic time. I'm not sure when you say "family" what age levels you are talking about. I'm not sure that a liveaboard would be a good idea with children that do not dive. I will be posting a trip report and there are pics and will be more on my webpage.

The water temps in October were in the Mid 70's. Can't help with temps in June.

 

[Steve Miller]

Hi Steve,
We were on the Nimrod in October and had a fantastic time. I'm not sure when you say "family" what age levels you are talking about. I'm not sure that a liveaboard would be a good idea with children that do not dive. I will be posting a trip report and there are pics and will be more on my webpage.

The water temps in October were in the Mid 70's. Can't help with temps in June.

By family I mean my wife and 14 year old daughter. Both are divers and love the water and sun.

 

[caymaniac]

By family I mean my wife and 14 year old daughter. Both are divers and love the water and sun.

We took the Diversity out of Port Douglas not last summer (June) but the one before. We based in Cairns and you can take Quicksilvers taxi.... alarge boat up and back to Port Douglas. We dove on the Diversity, the trip went to the Coral Sea and then to Lizard Island area and then down to the Ribbons. The Coral Sea was most excellent, we encountered Minke whales and the Large Cod , did a shark dive at North Horn, and of course we very much enjoyed the reef life. The water temps the farthest north at Osprey were 82F and when we went back torwards Port Douglas it was 77F at the most southern point. I dove with a full 3mm and of last two night dives I had a 1m over the 3mm which was very comfortable. We had only 6 divers and 5 crew. The Diversity is a 70ft. cat that can cruise at 18 knots. The Coral Sea was very calm when were there, but the next week we heard it was really rough.
There's plenty to do in Cairns and Port Douglas.

 

[underwater]

There's plenty of choice in Cairns and Port Douglas, or even Townsville ... something for every budget. Generally the longer the trip the bigger the chnaces of seeing something not everyone sees and getting to the "better" spots.

If you are experienced divers make sure you chose a liveaboard where they DON'T teach Open Water students at the same time !

check out underwater.com.au for comprehensive info on all Liveaboards and Day Boat operators, great local info and diving recommendations .. and best of all, discounts for diving all around Oz

Looking forward to see you there !

Tim :10:

 

[Fredi]

My family and I are planning a trip to Oz. in June. We plan on diving out of Cairns. Can anyone tell me what to expect as far as water temp. in mid June? Also after reading several post it seems that everyone agrees that it is best to go out on a liveaboard. Can anyone recommend one other than Mike Ball? Also any other advice on the diving or the area would be appreciated.

Thanks.

I was in Cairns in last Nov.I too went on a 3days 2nites(11 dives altogether) liveaboard,using ProDive.They provide all gears for the dives.They have been around in Cairns for a while and is located very near the pier.They have 3 well equipped dive boats and they dive the Outer Great Barrier Reefs.Very high safety standard whereby you have to sign in and out on every dive. You can book it online or search"google' for them.They will pick you up from your hotel and drop you off after the trip.Very safe and professionally operated.Only thing is that all day dives are without divemaster guides,except the nite dives.Lots of marine life to see.But their pre dive briefing is pretty good and you have to use a compass.Most people don't have a problem with this although some divers got lost and could'nt find the dive sites,but still enjoy the dive anyway.Food is not bad at all.Personally I enjoyed all the 11 dives .Good luck.Fredi.

 

[slipslop]

when planning my trips to Cairns i found this site indispensable:

www.divingcairns.com

They list all the day trips and liveaboard trips from Cairns and Port Douglas

 

[Scubaroo]

Fredi,

How did you find the weather in Nov? My in-laws are looking at coming to Oz in Nov this year, and I haven't been to that part of the country at that time of year.

cheers