Diving in Australia

Cairns is the main gateway to the reef, with fast catamarans leaving the Reef Fleet Terminal every morning for outer reefs 60 to 90 minutes away. Most day trips include two or three dives or snorkels on sheltered reef walls and bommies, with turtles, giant clams, reef sharks and Maori wrasse common. Many boats also stop at Green Island or Fitzroy Island closer to shore, which suit beginners and snorkellers.

From Port Douglas, an hour north, boats run to the Agincourt Reefs on the edge of the continental shelf, where visibility is often better than closer in. Cairns is also one of the busiest places in the world to learn: many Open Water courses combine pool and theory days in town with two or three nights on a liveaboard on the outer reef.

The northern reefs are where Australian diving gets serious. Liveaboards from Cairns and Port Douglas run three to seven nights to the Ribbon Reefs, a chain of narrow reefs on the outer edge, and to the Cod Hole near Lizard Island, where huge potato cod approach divers. In June and July, licensed boats on the Ribbon Reefs run in-water encounters with dwarf minke whales, which migrate through and often circle snorkellers holding a surface line.

Further out, Osprey Reef rises from deep water in the Coral Sea. The walls drop hundreds of metres, visibility often exceeds 30 m, and North Horn is known for grey reef sharks and silvertips. These trips suit divers with Advanced certification and some experience in current.

Heron Island and Lady Elliot Island are coral cays with resorts where you walk off the beach onto the reef. Heron has some of the easiest shore diving on the reef, and turtles nest there in summer. Lady Elliot, reached by light aircraft from Bundaberg and other coastal towns, is a reliable place for manta rays, especially in the cooler months.

In the Whitsunday Islands, diving is gentler and more sheltered, mixed with sailing trips and the beaches covered in our Australia beaches guide. Visibility is usually lower than on the outer reef.

The SS Yongala, a passenger steamer lost in a cyclone in 1911, lies on open sand at about 30 m off the coast south of Townsville. Because it is the only structure for miles, marine life gathers in remarkable numbers: giant groupers, sea snakes, eagle rays, turtles, trevally and the occasional bull shark. Boats run from Townsville (about two and a half hours) or from Alva Beach near Ayr (about 30 minutes). Currents can be strong and penetration of the wreck is prohibited, so it suits Advanced divers. Magnetic Island, across the bay from Townsville, has easy snorkelling trails over fringing reef.

On the Ningaloo Coast in Western Australia, the reef sits so close to shore that you can snorkel straight off the beach at Turquoise Bay in Cape Range National Park. Each year from about mid-March to July, sometimes into August, whale sharks feed along the outer reef, and licensed boats from Exmouth and Coral Bay put snorkellers in the water beside them. A full-day whale shark swim costs about AUD 600 to 625 (about 390 to 410 USD), and humpback whale swims run from about August to October. Manta rays feed near Coral Bay much of the year, and the Navy Pier at Exmouth is one of the country’s best shore-access dives, booked through a single licensed operator.

Julian Rocks, a marine reserve a short boat ride off Byron Bay, is one of the best dives on the east coast. Warm and cool currents meet here, so you see tropical and temperate fish together: leopard sharks in summer, grey nurse sharks in winter, turtles and rays year round. Further south, Fish Rock off South West Rocks has a swim-through cave and resident grey nurse sharks, and boats from Coffs Harbour dive the Solitary Islands.

Around Sydney, shore divers look for weedy seadragons in Botany Bay and snorkel with blue groper at Shelly Beach near Manly. Lord Howe Island, two hours’ flight from Sydney, has the world’s southernmost coral reef, with clear water and fish found nowhere else.

Port Phillip Bay near Melbourne has pier dives with weedy seadragons and the scuttled warship ex-HMAS Canberra off Barwon Heads. In South Australia, the jetties at Rapid Bay and Edithburgh are the best places in the world to see leafy seadragons, and each winter giant cuttlefish gather to breed near Whyalla. Great white shark cage diving runs from Port Lincoln to the Neptune Islands.

Tasmania’s east coast and the Tasman Peninsula have kelp forests, sea caves and cold, clear water, so bring a 7 mm wetsuit or drysuit. In Western Australia, Rottnest Island off Perth has shallow reefs and wrecks, and the 1.8 km Busselton Jetty has an underwater observatory and coral-covered pylons.

The Great Barrier Reef can be dived all year. June to October brings the calmest, clearest conditions and minke whales in June and July, though water drops to about 23°C. November to May is warmer (up to 29°C) but is also the stinger season, when box jellyfish and Irukandji are present along tropical Queensland, so wear the stinger suits the boats supply. Cyclones are possible from December to April. Ningaloo’s whale shark season runs about mid-March to July. In the south, summer and autumn (December to May) bring the warmest water. Our best time to visit Australia guide has more on seasons.

Reef fees are collected by the operator and usually included in the fare. Book Coral Sea liveaboards and whale shark swims weeks or months ahead for peak months; reef day trips can be booked a day or two before. See our Australia costs guide for the wider budget.

Queensland operators ask every diver to complete a medical declaration, and some conditions require a doctor’s sign-off before you dive, so bring any certificate you have. Do not fly within 18 to 24 hours of diving. Touching coral, feeding fish and collecting shells are banned in marine parks, and some zones are no-take or closed to anchoring. Make sure your travel insurance covers scuba. For more on jellyfish, sharks and sun, read our Australia safety guide, and see the wildlife guide for whale-watching seasons.

For the wider region, see diving in Oceania and the best diving in the world.