Dive from Cairns

You will most certainly have no trouble finding any type of accommodation in Cairns (most hostels even offer to pick you up from the airport for free). There are many restaurants, bars, galleries, etc. In the centre of the town, at the edge of the bay you can go for a safe swim in the Esplanade. You also cannot miss the Marlin Marina, with it many beautiful ships. If you love diving in colorful reefs and you want to have some fun on the side, Cairns is the place to go!

Heaven for divers

Since there are so many dive schools in Cairns, it might be hard to take your pick. Most of these dive schools are used to people that are shopping around though, so you should not hesitate to walk into various dive shops and to take your time asking a lot of questions in order to decide what you think of them.

Cairns Dive Centre

We went diving here with Cairns Dive Centre (better known as CDC), which is the largest and most influential SSI dive school in the world. They also offer PADI courses though, and you can choose from a large variety of trips, from inner barrier reef to outer barrier reef and various live-a-board options. Anything you wish is possible here, adjusted to your special needs.

CDC has quality boats, crew, gear, cameras and knowledge. We went diving with them in September 2004 on a boat called the Sunkist, which was at the same time used to bring supplies and fresh food and water to the live-a-board boats.

Great Barrier Reef

No matter which dive site you visit, any dive will be amazing since you are at the heart of the legendary Great Barrier Reef. The reefs are nowadays better protected in order to prevent them from decline and to make sure they will still be there for future generations to enjoy.

Therefore there are a couple of simple rules and regulations to follow in order to help protecting the reef. Those are extensively discussed in the dive briefings and you are expected to listen carefully and behave accordingly. The waters here are warm year round (25-26 degrees) and the visibility is a good 15 metres or more.

Outer Barrier Reef

We went with CDC so the outer barrier reef, to a place called Thetford Reef. The first dive site there was called Horseshoe. Since the site is named after its shape, navigation is very easy and you can dive here without a guide.

The site is about 20 metres deep and is perfect to see many types of coral and smaller marine species. The waters are very clear and bright, so underwater photography is a good option here.

You can spot Napoleon Maori wrasse, regal angelfish, unicorn fish, six bar wrasse, various types of anemone fish, transparent shrimps and countless other species. During the surface interval you can see some inquisitive turtles.

Lagoon

The second dive site in the Thetford Reef was called Lagoon. This site is shallower than the Horseshoe, only 12-15 metres deep. Again very easy navigation and perfect for underwater photography.

You can find pink anemone fish, jewel damsels, chocolate chip damsels, blue-green damsels, humbug damsels, orange lined triggerfish, white damsels, black and white snappers, bridled parrotfish and regal angelfish here, among many other small species.