A Local Dive Instructors Favourite Great Barrier Reef Dive Sites Off Cairns
Cairns, Australia is a popular scuba dive tourism destination with some of the best Great Barrier Reef diving and snorkeling possible .Hundreds of visitors are ferried out daily by the large catamarans to snorkel and scuba dive the abundant offshore reefs and join in the various marine activities offered.
Agincourt Reefs.
A pair of permanent platforms, operated by Quicksilver Cruises, are moored on the Agincourt Ribbon Reefs, allowing access to numerous excellent scuba sites.The platforms are very well maintained and safety proceedures for snorkeling and scuba diving are some of the highest in the world. The Channels offer breathtaking swim-thru’s and caverns, while The Gardens are renowned for their exceptional abundance of brightly-coloured reef fish.Blue Wonder is an amazing drift dive to more than 40 m, while Nursery Bommie is a spectacular pinnacle where pelagic species gather to feed.
Saxon Reef.
Saxon Reef has many great diving and snorkelling sites. The shallows shelter a host of the ever-present reef fish; typical are anemonefish, squirrelfish, damsels and butterflyfish. Dropping to 30 m are lots of walls, home to lots of caves and gutters, which are covered with an incredible variety of coral and other undersea invertebrates. These are great places to see turtles, reef sharks and schools of spanish mackeral.
Broken Patches.
The bommies of Broken Patches, varying in depth from 10 to 25 m are covered with colourful corals and masses of reef fish. A location known as Paradise Reef is an excellent place to view large pelagic fish and reef sharks.
Michaelmas Reef.
Similar to many reefs in the area, Michaelmas Reef has healthy coral gardens and a number ofpinnacles. The pinnacles, regularly frequented by pelagic fish and crowded with soft corals and gorgonians, offer the best diving.
Thetford Reef.
Underwater-photographers will find plenty of nudibranchs, shrimps, crabs, brightly-coloured reef fish and interesting corals as subject matter in the coral gardens on this location.
Briggs Reef.
The reef wall along the northern side of Briggs Reef drops into 30 m of water, and is covered in an excellent selection of corals. Along the wall swim batfish, parrotfish and the occasional pelagic fish. On top of the reef is a coral garden where angelfish, stingrays, wrasse and many other varieties can be found in good numbers.
Sudbury Reef.
Shallow coral gardens and walls to 35 m can be found on Sudbury Reef. Reef fish are prolific. It is also possible to see green turtles and large gropers.
This is just a selection of what Cairns has available, to learn more you’ll just have to visit yourself.