Queensland, first time there

[Blitzster]

Hey guys,

Im going to australia for the first time ever, and I definately want to go diving at the Great Barrier Reef.

I'll be there for two weeks around the beginning of October, this year, and will be by myself.

I only have about 20 dives to my name, via SSI certification, but hope that wont be an issue.

I also like live aboards, and had a blast doing that in the Miami/bimini area.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Eric

 

[weidelk]

If you're looking to dive the GBR then Cairns is the best place to base yourself. Most diving is done on a live-aboard basis as the reef is a fair way off the coast - I think about 2 hours even in a reasonably fast boat.

There's plenty of different options in terms of level of comfort, number of days etc. I've dived with both the following operators:

Deep sea divers den. These guys offer a cheaper, 'no frills' live aboard experience. You'll travel out on a smaller boat to the reef and do a couple of dives on the way, then meet up with the larger vessel which is pretty much based out on the reef. This is not so much a 'dive cruise' as floating hotel in that the farthest you'll move is about 500 metres to visit the various dive sites in the immediate area. These sites, being relatively close to Cairns are amongst the most heavily dived and therefore are less well preserved - however they're still very good.

Spirit of Freedom. This is a nicer boat and will get you to the more remote, better preserved dive sites. This is a proper 'cruise' in that you travel a fair way north of Cairns and then move about the various sites on the outer reef.

You can research the prices yourself, but to give you a rough idea the Spirit of Freedom will cost you about twice what Deep Sea Divers will charge. I think that's a fair reflection of the quality of service in terms of food, accommodation etc. but not necessarily the diving. Personally even though the diving was better on the SOF, I enjoyed myself more on the cheaper boat. It was a younger more fun crowd - plenty of OW and AOW students (I did my AOW on board) who were interested in diving but also meeting people and having a laugh. The SOF was filled with the standard dive-nerd crowd - i.e. - people who spend their time obsessing over their incredibly expensive UW cameras, boasting about who got the most bottom time, that sort of thing. But there's no doubt it offered a superior dive experience.

There's plenty of other live-aboard operators in the area that offer a range of different options in terms of length of trip, comfort levels etc. but these are the only two Cairns-based operators I've travelled with. I would say that Queensland arguably now has the best regulated dive industry on the planet and so it's extremely unlikely that you'll come across any dodgy operators. All a bit of an overreaction because a couple of Americans decided to strand themselves out on the reef but that's another story...
Hope this perspective helps - whatever option you choose I'm sure you'll love it!

 

[bracko]

SSI is fine, there's a few dive shops in Cairns that are SSI schools, but all will recognise the certification.

for day trips i went with Tusa 5. nice big modern boat, the staff aren't too bad (although i had to tell the grumpy femme fetal to cheer up when we were doing my EAN %'age checks, which she took pretty well) but there is 5 snorklers to every diver, at least. the divers got first dibs to setup and get off the boat at each dive site, and it isn't open gate diving when you're at the 2 dive, dive site (3 dives for the day).

they ended up being cheaper than prodive, but divers aren't the focus... which is good and bad. good in that we didn't have 40 divers on the day, bad in that we weren't the target client. i think the sites we were at were on par with prodive (since we shared the morning site with them) and the service was better than i expected. I'd go with them again, mainly for georgous eye candy between the dives

I'm looking at doing a liveaboard there within this year too... at the moment Mike Ball is looking to be the one to take my money for a few reasons, cat boat, therefore (hopefully) better at night, service, over reef flight on the way home, only a few hundred more than the "budget" operator Taka.

other trips which are good are the Yongala which is more of a mission and the HMAS Brisbane off the gold coast which you can do while transiting to or from the GBR if you're keen... the gold coast is also full of feral nightlife if that's you thing

 

[Andyblue]

Port Douglas is a beautifull spot in queensland. Check it out, it's the closest town to the reef.

 

[Aquapro Dive Services]

Hi Eric, Like Bracko said certification type doesnt matter. Check out link to our site below to give an idea of some of the better live aboard trips to the Reef and you will also find links to day trips if you prefer (Port Douglas and Cairns).

This will give you an idea of what Weidelk and Bracko were talking about with levels of comfort etc.

Cairns Discount Diving Trips - Overnight Dive Boats

The trips to the Ribbon Reefs and Coral Sea (Mike Ball, Spirit of Freedom and Taka) are the best. If these are too pricey then look at the one mentioed above - Ocean Quest (Deep Sea Divers Den) http://www.aquaprodive.com/Cairns_dive_trip_OceanQuest.html as it visits Outer Reef areas from Cairns. But I strongly advise splurge a bit and do the best of the Reef with one of the latter 3 mentioned.

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Cairns Discount Dive Trips - Australia Diving - Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef

 

[OnTheSpot]

Hi Eric,

If you have two weeks, I would recommend a liveaboard trip out of Cairns diving the sites to the north.

Stunning diving can be found on the Ribbon Reefs (three night trips) and further north Osprey Reef (four night trips including Ribbon Reefs). These trips can be combined making seven night trips which cannot fail to impress.

Have a look at our trip report on Spoilsport to give you an idea of what you can expect.

Enjoy

 

[Ghanguss]

Hi,

If your doing the GBR make sure you get to the outer reef as mentioned by Aquapro and OnTheSpot. Lizard island (Cod Hole) is beautiful and osprey reef is as good as it gets IMO. There are also fabulous reefs further south like the Swain reefs but few boats go to this location.

Ive been on the Taka 5 day trip twice and can recommend them

 

[tangler]

Yeah I'd second the above. You MUST get top the outer reef and Coral Sea if you can. Also don't miss the wreck of the SS Yongala.

Dave

 

[bowlofpetunias]

I am partial to Lady Elliott Island.. great setting, diving Turtles and Manta Rays!