Where to dive? Sydney vs. Cairns?

[RonFrank]

My good buddy is going to be in Australia on business, and can dive only one day on Feb 6th. So he can dive off of Sydney, or Cairns. What to do?

All input is appreciated. But some general questions are which site has the best reefs? R there boats off both this time of year during the week? What type of diving can he do? Is this drift diving, R there currents? How deep? He is a very experienced diver (Certified Instructor), but has not dove in a while. He wants a great experience for the very short time he has to dive.

Any help with Dive Ops, conditions, what to expect, and anything else is very appreciated. Cost is really not a factor, but he will need to rent equipment, so good stuff is important.

Thanks,

 

[BlueSun]

Hi Ron,
I cant help with Sydney, but for a one day-er your friend might like to check out the Quicksilver boats from Cairns and Pt Douglas: http://www.silverseries.com.au. The rule of thumb is the further North, the better the diving - it's a shame he has so little time!
Cheers,
Caitlin

 

[DocVikingo]

By all means dive out of Cairns.

In Jan look for humid highs in the mid to upper 80s and massive amounts of rain. Water temps should be low to mid-80s. Jan-Apr is tropical cyclone season, so watch the forecasts.

The recommendation of Quicksilver is a good one. No worries about the quality of the rental gear.

Happy New year.

DocVikingo

 

[Doubles]

I have been making an annual trek down under for the past 4 years and dive as much as I can when there. Just wanted you to know my experience level so you can factor that into my comments below.

I agree, Cairns or Port Douglas would be the better locations for diving. Its a short trip out to the inner reefs. The diving is fairly shallow but there is a lot to see. I only had a strong current on one dive and that was out in the Coral Sea.

I can also recommend Tusa out of Cairns and the Calypso out of Port Douglas. They are smaller boats, with smaller groups of divers/snorklers. Quicksilver takes out a lot of divers on any given day so the reef that they visit gets more visitors per day than the reef sites visited by the smaller operators.

Tusa and Calypso are also locally owned operations.

Nothing against Quicksilver I have never heard a bad word about their operation - even from the other operators. I just prefer locally owned and smaller operators - personal preference

Tell your buddy to try some barramundi and a coopers pale ale while there.

Almost forgot, you didn't mention the age of your buddy. Australia does require medical certificates for divers over a certain age - I can't remember the specifics - all I can say is I'm 52 and I haven't hit that age yet, but I have seen other older divers get surprised when they couldn't dive as they didn't have that certificate

Cheers

Steve

 

[Peter Guy]

TSandM and I had a wonderful trip to Australia a year ago (that trip is why TSandM started diving!). We had planned to go to Cairns but, after talking with friends in Australia and generally asking around, we decided not to go there. What we were told was that unless you can go to the outer reef, it just isn't worth it.

Instead we went to Byron Bay which is an abstolutely delightful town on the easternmost point of the continent. Julian Rocks marine park is just minutes from the shore (by RIB) and is a fantastic place to dive.

If I had only one day to dive, I'd go there again in a heartbeat. If I had 20 days to dive I'd go there in a heartbeat -- AND spend a week on a liveaboard on the outer reef.

Byron Bay Pictures Here

 

[Lobbster]

i Live and dive in sydney, if your here for only a few days just go to cains. sydney is not that great.

 

[schminsk]

Hi-- looking at a map of AUS, is Byron Bay anywhere near Brisbane area?
Going to be there in July with kids, one just got cert.
If there is diving near Gold Coast area, would save a lot of travel.
THANKS!
Sandra Hayes
western NC mtns

 

[BlueSun]

Hey Sandra,
Byron is very close to the QLD border - less than an hour south of the Gold Coast. Look for the larger town of Ballina - Byron is just north of there. A beautiful part of the world!
Caitlin

 

[almitywife]

personally, i would choose Jullian Rocks/Byron Bay over the GBR (to avoid the tourist/over pricing/crowds/rush).
http://www.sundive.com.au/

if you are ok to travel, the HMAS Brisbane is about 2hrs fromt he Gold Coast
http://www.divingthegoldcoast.com.au/index.asp?PageID=hmasbris

cheers

 

[Zeeman]

given the choice - Cairns is a pretty easy winner.

If I could sugest checking out the smaller ops in Cairns/Port douglas - less crowded, you don't feel like you are par tof a cattle muster and the staff are able to give you more attention. the bigger boats are fine, but for something a little extra in a trip - try the likes of Poseiden, Aristocat or Haba (though there are other good ones too, I'm sure)

Sydney is.. well... OK if you live here, but not really a choice compared to Far North Queensland.

z...