One day in Cairns (October), please help

[MitjaP]

Hi guys,

I'm visiting Australia for the first time. In the first days of October I want to make a daytrip (boat, 3 dives) from Cairns.

Is this month of the year OK for diving? What trip or provider do you recommend? Any other suggestions?

I'm certified advanced CMAS diver.


Thanks for your help and best regards!

 

[bracko]

yeah, Spring is good. low risk of a cyclone.

any of the operators are OK. depends on how fast you want to get out there, how nice a lunch you want and how pampered you want to be. they all go out to Thetford, Pellowe, Milln and Flynn reefs.

large boats with snorkellers will segregate divers and surface dwelling creatures when preping for dives so you won't be trampled while trying to get your gear on.

 

[DanMont]

If you are just doing a day trip I would highly recommend going from port douglas instead of cairns. I went out with Poseidon at the end of July and the service plus diving was great (a lot better than some of.the sites we visited on the liveaboard from cairns). All the dives are guided by a divemaster and the boat was a lot smaller than most of the others so there was plenty of room to gear up and down.

 

[Aquapro Dive Services]

See here for a list of the better day trips out of Cairns and here for details of climate etc. I would look at Tusa or Silverswift as the 2 better dedicated dive boats.

 

[knucklebusted]

See here for a list of the better day trips out of Cairns and here for details of climate etc. I would look at Tusa or Silverswift as the 2 better dedicated dive boats.

BTW, the link for the Tusa diving day trips doesn't work for me. Just goes to a blank page. The others work fine, just not that one.

 

[bracko]

Cairns Snorkelling and Cairns Diving - Tusa Dive

direct link. I think however aquapro offer a discount.

 

[knucklebusted]

Cairns Snorkelling and Cairns Diving - Tusa Dive

direct link. I think however aquapro offer a discount.

Thanks, that shows me what I probably should see but don't. Did the Aquapro link work for you?

 

[bracko]

nope. page is dead.

 

[knucklebusted]

OK, thanks for the double check. I've checked from home, work and phone so I was hoping it wasn't me.

 

[mscherzer]

If you can manage it any way at all do a live aboard trip to the coral sea, if you can't and have to do a daytrip I would opt to only do two dives. If you do three you will be rushing to get in and out of the water as the boats tend to shift site, you will also most likely miss out on a relaxing lunch instead fighting for left overs with the snorklers.

Agreed with the previous post that the poseidon out of port douglas is a good trip, however its a 75km drive so you may have to get up very early if you are staying in cairns.

Out of cairns I tend to go with deep sea divers den, however the boat does get crowded and they "waste" a bit of time transfering guests to their live aboard boat. Reef Magic offer diving from a pontoon, but also run a tender out away from the snorklers also a good trip that can get crowded but at least there is a bit of room on the pontoon.

The day dive sites are very easy and the briefings excellent, the reason I like divers den is that you can go WITHOUT a guide just with a buddy so I can take my time. That may or may not suit you, guides are charged extra per dive so be ready for that.

but yeah, the real barrier reef on the videos and promo stuff is out on the coral sea very expensive trips but very awesome!

cheers

marcel