How do I dive the best of Australia?

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Do; it's a lot of fun and there's some great stuff to see. However, if you're off the beaten track you need to be totally self sufficient. This isn't impossible (I've done a few remote trips) but you'll need some gear. You should also have off road driving experience; the middle of Australia is a bad place to learn things the hard way because medical care may be many hours away, and that's after waiting until someone finds your upturned vehicle and calls out the cavalry.

Also, general hire car companies get very snaky if you take their vehicles off-road, even if you've hired an off-road vehicle.
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There are specialist mobs around who'll hire you a fully kitted up off road 4WD, but they are quite expensive. Anyway, this is a good forum with lots of information about driving in Australia.
ExplorOz - 4WDing, Camping & Caravanning around Australia

A nice trip if you'd like to see some of the Outback (without having to spend too much on survival gear and car spares) is the drive from Townsville to Winton in Queensland, which is a fully sealed road. The drive from Brisbane is also good but it takes longer, and you may already be in Townsville to dive the Yongala (it's a great dive). You can do that drive in a standard car (though you can see more stuff on the way if you have a 4WD) and it's a reasonably well populated road so you shouldn't need a sat-phone and a three day supply of food and water. However, you'll still see kangaroos, red dirt and all the other Outbacky stuff. The Stockman's Hall of Fame in Longreach is on the way and it's great.
Likewise Sydney to Broken Hill if you're staying in NSW; very similar.

Anyway, all the best with your trip!

Thanks. This is exactly what I was dreaming to do and this gives me a lot of information. Thanks.
 
No worries. Feel free to PM me if you want driving trip details, though it's been a few years since I've been out that way :depressed:. I'm getting itchy wheels thinking about it...probably time I payed a call to the red dirt and dinosaurs again :D.
 
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When You talk about the best diving in Australia the answer is that it depends on what you want to see. I know I am a bit biased but I think Sydneyis grossly under estimated for diving. There is some brilliant diving here and some very unique critters. Lots of tourist activities but really seriously consider diving here as well. I also personally loved diving in Melbourne, then there is Ningaloo and the Whale sharks.

It is possible to flyinto Melbourne.. see some of the interesting stuff in Victoria and hop to Sydney via plane, train or rent a Caravan then work your way up the coast diving as the places Clownfishsydney and others have suggested and then doing MIke Ball or Taka. You may also want to search Lady Elliotte Island if you are there the right season you could see turtle nesting or hatching and it is a bird santuary and then there are the resident Manta Rays:)

You may want to Start on the Reef and work down or start lower and work your way to the reef. That would be my choice... going from Temperate to Tropical diving. *Sigh* but nobody has mentioned the Kelp forsts and Weedies of Tasmania and the incredible scenery there!

People have said Australia is a big country which it is and it as a huge amount to offer too! I suggest the best idea is to start working our just what you want to do/see and plan accordingly. For many this is a trip of a lifetimes and you want to get the most out of it. If you decide to dive Sydney pop me a PM and maybe I can helparrange buddies or even dive with you depending what I am up to.
 
Everyone wants to see the GBR. My advice though is to do yourself a favour and go on a liveaboard trip. 1st time I went to Cairns I was disappointed, the reef off there is seriously overdived and damaged in places. Went on a trip with Mike Ball the next trip and it was absolutely amazing. Your other alternative would be to go out to one of the more "prisitne" islands such as Heron and dive the reef from there. Diving's probably better from the liveaboard but you get to see a whole lot of other animals if on the island.

Haven't been to Ningaloo. Apparently is beautiful with high chance of seeing whale sharks, however be aware northern western australia can get seriously expensive compared to the East coast.

Interesting stuff off Victoria, Lots of interesting stuff such as seals, sea dragons, brightly coloured soft corals and wrecks Be aware that it can be a bit weather dependent and gets cold in the winter months (12C water last weekend). On the other hand if you're here in Summer, northern australia is prone to cyclones so further south could be a better option for you.

Depending on the time of year you're here, may want to see some whales, humpbacks migrate up the east coast. Right whales are often off southern victoria.

For something different, in South Australia they do Great white shark diving (Haven't done it my self, so can't comment on the operators).

Unless you have large amounts of time, it may be better to either see a section of Australia or hop via aircraft/train. It is possible to Drive from Melbourne to Brisbane in less than 2 days if you barely stop and have rotating drivers but you won't really see anything, you'll probably go through a fair bit of money in car hire and petrol, I wouldn't recommend it- only done it once. If you've got a month or more to travel with, sure go for it if that's what you want to do. Not so bad down the Eastern coast (Although there are still areas with no one for miles where you could get into trouble). Would be much more careful driving across the centre of Australia or going off the beaten track as easy to get into trouble and phone reception can be very patchy.

Edit: Another underestimated place for diving is around Eden. Some of the best dives I've ever seen were there. The way the currents work you can end up with huge amounts of marine life, everything from huge schools of fish, sharks, eels etc.
 

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