coral reefs

of the great barrier reef

Cairns is the gateway to many excellent coral reef locations where you will find coral gardens featuring tropical fish and a myriad of other ocean species of every imaginable shade and size.

THE NORTHERN REEFS

Well known locations such as Osprey Reef, Cod Hole, Raine Island and The Ribbon Reefs have become major attractions for Divers all over the world.

"Experienced is not a catagory we now see as " required " to visit these locations. Boat crew have accepted over recent times that many new divers have travelled long distances to visit the Great Barrier Reef and some ( not all ) catagorize divers experience to enable all to enjoy the spectical of these sites.

See our dive sites page to get a description of some of the lesser known, however magical dive locations such as Steve's Bommie, Challenger Bay, Archies Bunker

PORT DOUGLAS REEF LOCATIONS

Commonly accepted as the best quality coral for a one day trip to the Outer Barrier Reef.

I dont completely agree with this statement , believing that Boat Quality has become more competitive between Cairns and Port Douglas over just the last 6 months.

Weather plays an important role in where we recommend divers explore as well as experience when it comes to a one day expedition.

Agincourt Reef is a massive reef offering protection on windy days, St Crispin and Opal are beautiful bommie sites offering large schools of smaller fish species.

THE MIDDLE GROUNDS

It is a common statement when dealing with tourists ... whether snorkellers or divers

"is this the outer reef ? "

To clarify where I believe this question came from you have to look back at the history of Tourism involving the Great Barrier Reef. It use to take a monohull vessell in the late 70's early 80's over 2 hours to get to Green Island which is 17 miles off the coast. Boat technology has know reached the standard of average speeds of over 25 knts.

It is all the Outer Reef however the permits that were allocated early on in the piece, most were issued into this area.

Sites known here are Hastings, Saxon, Michealmus, Norman reefs, and Michaelmus and Upolu Cays.

LOWER REEFS OFF CAIRNS

These reef locations are very special to me. I would even suggest the closest to the Northern area when diving for one day. Massive drop off's with exposed current cater to the large pelagics and rays that thrive just off the continental shelf.

Milln, Flynn and Pellowe ( great specimen of Moray here ) are accessable only on a calm day because they are small exposed locations. Thetford is shallow but beautiful for color and clams, Moore Reef for its resident Maori wrasse.