Diving in Perth and Cairns

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

They are a long way apart! Cairns will be on a cattle boat for day trips. Perth has some nice diving, including in the river and at Rottnest Island. Better places to dive in Australia than both these places in my view.
 
Cains is the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef so a lot of day and over night trips to choose from, and running every day (apart from the Ribbon Reef and Coral Sea trip like Mike Ball and Spirit of Freedom that run twice a week, and arguably the best trips the GBR has to offer).

What are you looking to do and around what date as there is a lot of variation e.g. here in Cairns it's the Minke whale migration June to September so great experiences, and over west around April (Exmouth though not Perth) there are the whale sharks.
 
For Perth; Ningaloreef & Exmouth
For Cairns: What Aquapro said + if you can make it look at the Yongala wreck a couple hrs south. And Port Douglas an hour north.
 
Cains is the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef so a lot of day and over night trips to choose from, and running every day (apart from the Ribbon Reef and Coral Sea trip like Mike Ball and Spirit of Freedom that run twice a week, and arguably the best trips the GBR has to offer).

What are you looking to do and around what date as there is a lot of variation e.g. here in Cairns it's the Minke whale migration June to September so great experiences, and over west around April (Exmouth though not Perth) there are the whale sharks.

+1 on the Minke whale liveaboards
 
I would go with Spirit of Freedom personally. It is a wonderful trip. I cannot recommend Mike Ball Dive Expeditions (and I am a local). They have just refused to refund all their customers (even though we are local) and we are out of pocket $3,800+ ! for one trip.
 
I would go with Spirit of Freedom personally. It is a wonderful trip. I cannot recommend Mike Ball Dive Expeditions (and I am a local). They have just refused to refund all their customers (even though we are local) and we are out of pocket $3,800+ ! for one trip.

And you still recommend them despite being ripped off?

The Cattle Boats out of Cairns are fine if you want to see dead coral. SS Yongala dives our of Ayr just south of Townsville are worth doing, just be sure you are a good sailor or you'll be feeding the fish. I saw more live coral on the Yongala than I did on three days on the Cairns Cattle Boat.
 
And you still recommend them despite being ripped off?

The Cattle Boats out of Cairns are fine if you want to see dead coral. SS Yongala dives our of Ayr just south of Townsville are worth doing, just be sure you are a good sailor or you'll be feeding the fish. I saw more live coral on the Yongala than I did on three days on the Cairns Cattle Boat.

Spirit of Freedom and Spoilsport (Mike Ball) out of Cairns are not cattle boats. I loved Yongala but I still saw more coral in the Ribbon Reefs with Mike Ball.
 

Back
Top Bottom