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If you have dived in Australia before, please share your experiences: Dive spots you would recommend, which Dive Center you used, Fishes & Diving, Visibility, Currents, etc. Please post your comments in the section below, by doing so you will help fellow divers to plan their next trip
Australia offers some of the best diving in the world, famous primarily for the amazing Great Barrier Reef in Queensland. This is THE biggest Reef on Earth which stretches over 2000km! It is home to a whole array of amazing biodiversity and here you can spot various species of Sharks, Sea Turtles, Giant Groupers, Whales and Dolphins.
As the Great Barrier Reef is so huge, there are endless places to discover. The most popular is the beautiful city of Cairns where most of the liveaboard trips to the Great Barrier Reef start from.
Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ciamabue/1333524711/
Port Douglas, a bit further North, is another great gateway to the Reef with its upmarket accommodation and resorts if that takes your fancy.
You can also start further South in Townsville, famous for one of the best dive sites in the World, the Yongala Wreck! Another option is to explore the Whitsunday Islands and take a liveaboard tour to the Great Barrier Reef.
A less famous but very good diving destination is the Ningaloo Reef on the Australian West Coast where you can swim with Whale Sharks and Manta Rays! The main gateway to this hidden gem is the town of Exmouth. There is a famous dive site in Exmouth called the Navy Pier, featuring astonishing biodiversity.
Most of the dives sites are easy and suitable for Padi Open Water divers but exploring the more remote areas on liveaboard is more suitable for experienced divers.
In this page you will find more detailed information about scuba diving in Australia.
Table of contents
Best Dive Review
Where to dive?
The best and main scuba diving destinations in Australia are:
The Best dive sites of Australia are:
Macro diving
Australia is not particularly special for macro creatures and other critters. It features more of the big fishes, shark action and Whales! However one dive site which does offer an amazing diversity of macro life is at one of the best shore dives in the world in Exmouth, called the Navy Pier, where you can spot Frog fishes, Scorpion fishes and various Nudibranchs.
If you prefer incredible Macro Diving Destinations, try Lembeh Strait in Indonesia or Mabul Island in Malaysia.
Wreck diving
Australia has some of the best Wreck Diving in the World! There are many wrecks worth exploring throughout the country. The Yongala Wreck offers quite possibly some of the best diving in Australia! Moreover, the Australian Navy have scuttled its former battle ships to create artificial reef and diveable Wrecks! The most famous ones are:
How to dive Australia?
The Great Barrier Reef is quite far away from the mainland. You can dive on a day trip to the closest part of the Reef from Cairns, Port Douglas, Townsville or from the Whitsunday Islands. Diving there is good but not as spectacular as if you go a little further out from the coast.
If you want to dive the best of the Great Barrier Reef, you will have to take a liveaboard tour for at least 3 to 4 days or longer if you want to dive the excellent Osprey Reef.
I usually use this website to book in advance my liveaboards in Australia as they usually have the lowest rates I find. I like it because they have an easy booking system.
You will have the chance to visit some of the best dive sites of Australia such as Cod Hole and North Horn where you can see all the sharks of the Great Barrier Reef!
If you dive on the Ningaloo Reef, the dive sites are close to the shore so day trips are entirely possible. It is also possible to go on a liveaboard cruise to explore more remote parts of the Ningaloo Reef.
Hot tip
- In Australia, it is essential that you have a Recreational Scuba Diving Medical Certificate before starting your Padi Open Water course and sometimes even for Liveaboards. Many doctors especially in Cairns can do that for you very quickly.
- Don’t forget your certification card! Dive operators will ask for it.
Where to stay?
I usually use this website to book in advance my hotels in Australia as they usually have the lowest rates I find. I like it because it's free to cancel and change the dates.
Best time to dive in Australia
It is possible to dive all year round in Queensland and in most part of Australia. On the Southern part, the bad weather can sometimes prevent any diving at all at certain times between May to October. The hot season runs roughly from November to April and the Warm to Cold season runs from November to April.
If you want detailed information about the diving seasons, the Whale Sharks, Minke and the Humpback Whales season and the Coral Spawning, please visit the specific destination pages.
Top liveaboards in Australia according to divers reviews
Scuba Diving conditions
Australia is such a huge country that it makes it hard to give accurate overall information about the conditions since it changes drastically from one destination to the other. A general idea of conditions has been included below, but go to the dedicated destination pages for more specific information on the dive spot you plan on visiting.
The conditions are mostly very good all year round on the Ningaloo and the Great Barrier Reef.
Air temperature: 20°C to 35°C depending on the location and the season.
Average Water temperature: ranges from 20°C to 31°C year round. In the South, during Winter, the water can get chilly!
Average Visibility: You can expect 15 to 20 meters on the local dive sites and up to 50 meters if you go on the offshore dive sites.
Current: Depends a lot on tide and location, ranges from none to very strong.
Depth: From 5m to 40m. The coral reefs are shallow and most of the dive sites are between 10 to 20 meters deep.
Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/richardfisher/2987266133/
Snorkelling in Australia
We have some great news for snorkellers – Australia has terrific snorkelling possibilities! The most popular place is in Queensland where you can go on a snorkelling tour of the Great Barrier Reef. The Whitsundays Islands also have great snorkelling opportunities. Please visit the specific dive site pages for more information.
Diving Safety
If you are planning an upcoming dive trip or travelling to Australia, it is a really good idea to invest in travel insurance for scuba diving, because you never know what could happen and when you might need it (because accidents do happen!). I recommend this diving insurance as they offer worldwide coverage and focus on providing scuba divers a quality insurance and medical assistance service.
Photos Australia
Travel Guide
Now that you know all about the underwater world, you might want to start planning your scuba holiday! Check out our Australia Travel Review for information about how to get there, activities and excursions, where to stay, and more.
Diving Reviews for this region
Townsville
Explore the Yongala Wreck, one of the best dive sites in Australia! Access to the Great Barrier Reef.
Cairns
Excellent Place for scuba diving courses and to get your Padi Open Water. Main gateway to the Great Barrier Reef and Liveaboard starting point.
Great Barrier Reef
Excellent Diving and liveaboard destination. Amazing spot for Big fishes, Sharks, superb coral and underwater photography. Most popular place in the World to learn scuba diving in Cairns. One of the best dive sites in the World with the Yongala Wreck!
Ningaloo Reef
Excellent scuba diving with the chance to spot Whale Sharks or Manta Rays during the right season.
Port Douglas
Perfect gateway to the Great Barrier Reef with possibility of snorkelling tours and diving day trips. Many Liveaboard cruises start from Port Douglas.
Whitsunday Islands
Good Diving on the local reef dive sites and easy access to excellent diving on the Great Barrier Reef!
Deep Glen Bay – Dragon Cove near Eaglehawk Neck Tasmania. Weedy Sea Dragons and 10m vis. Good to get local knowledge.
Jervis Bay NSW – Crest Diving. Dent Rock, Murray Reef, Bowen Island. Nuibranchs, Groper, fields of sponges. Vis 15m.
Both diving operators professional excellent local knowledge. Crest Diving took me from a scared beginner to confidant diver Most enjoyable.
Merete
South west rocks outside of Kempsey (eastcoast between Coffs harbour and Port McGuire) is so worth it! The cave dive is amazing and the shark-dive mind-blowing. Would do it again anytime.
You can dive all year round in Sydney. In winter, the coldest water in my experience is 15 Celsius. I’m comfortable wearing a 5mm wettie with an insulated hood and gloves, although very skinny people tend to like a 7mm suit or drysuit in the winter.
Sydney has many good dive sites, including Bare Island at La Perouse, Harbord/Freshwater, Shelly Beach/Cabbage Tree Aquatic Reserve, Fairy Bower, and North Bondi. I’ve seen octopus, cuttlefish, very friendly blue gropers, red Indian fish, pipefish, and loads of other amazing creatures.
Went on a liveaboard to the Great Barrier Reef with Divers Den out of Cairns – very professional outfit, with excellent safety focus and superb crew (Serrio, Sylvester, May and Alice spring to mind among many). Did 7 dives on Norman and Hastings reefs in December 2014. 15-20m vis, plenty of colourful critters and the water was warm enough to dive in togs only – a luxury for me! Cheers, Dave
A great dive in Australia is Fish Rock Cave off South West Rocks, New South Wales.
A 100m plus cave swim through with amazing shoals of fish and an abundance of Ragged tooth sharks, (Grey Nurse) if you are an Aussie or (Sand Tiger) if you are a yank. Loads of Wobbegongs and turtles. Lots of Humpbacks on the way out – one of my best dives ever. Need to be advanced, experienced and not suffer from claustrophobia.
Went on a live aboard with CDC out of Cairns a few years ago. 3 Days, 2 nights and 10 dives. Went to Milln’s and Moore’s reefs. Very disappointing – 8 litre tanks, insisted on diving rules that were draconian and kept blaming Queensland laws – I later found out that everything they said was nonsense. Up on 70 bar and out on 50 bar, checked your air on return and penalised you a days diving if you didn’t have 50 bar back on boat after starting with only 8 litres. Most dives were unsupervised and you had to pay extra to have a DM – there were a lot of beginners from Scandinavia doing dive #5 etc. Being a DM at the time – I ended up looking after them as they started to stick by me – CDC seemed more concerned about the paperwork. As for the reefs – definitely not the best on the GBR – I later learned that there were a lot better places to dive in Queensland
I’m trying to find a dive trip for two (PADI Advanced Open Water Certified) divers that will be arriving in Phegans Bay Aus around December 18th. It’s a surprise Xmas present for them, do you have a place or something to recommend?
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Is this site an advert for padi padi divef this padi diver that , there are many more diver training institutions that do better job at education padi is just the most commercial , I have been an instructor since 1983 trained thousands of divers I am a paramedic 25 years and diver medical technician as well
Now about the diving we do have the most ridiculous overly legislation in the world mainly in queensland , note the rarity of dive shops in queensland , most dive instructors now couldn t be bothered dealing with the bureaucrats and the ridiculous amounts of paperwork to keep the bureaucrats in a job our safety record is no better than the rest of the world .
Unless you use the example you made most dive shops close down
Now for the diving try the southern great barrier reef lady musgrave capricorn bunker group outstanding
But if you never get to australia don t panic I have found diving squalky as goid in other parts of the workd as goid or better without the bureaucrtaic bullshit of our qovernment who states that the ISO STANDARDS ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH lets make our own confusing rules
Sorrry I did not fix spelling errors on a moving boat
I am one of the First to EVER Dive the HMAS Tobruk the latest dive wreck in Australia it is HUGE
Top of deck in about 12 metres of water then the bottom at about 30 metres
This vessel lays on its starboard side , many swim throughs not to mention the gigantic propellers
Bookings will be open about late August all going well
Tobruk Dive Centre Hervey Bay will be conducting dive tours from Hervey Bay this is about a 25 nautical mile trip two dives 2 cylinders and weight belts included with the trip
Put this on your itinerary if you are travelling to Australia
lots of different animals and plants. water vision isn’t the best in Sydney and can get cold in winter but absolutely beautiful.
I love you australia dive for me is a funy work
Lady Musgrave Island and Fairfax Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia.
I was diving Lady Musgrave Island booked with “Come Dive with Us” on Saturday 5th October 2019.
We caught the big Lady Musgrave Experience catamaran “Reef Empress” to the islands (very comfortable boat), then divers transfer to a smaller boat “Seacat” for the days diving.
We went to Fairfax Island for the first dive. A couple of reef sharks, lovely plate coral, some brain coral, fans, etc, viz that was amazing and a strong current made this a very lazy drift dive… I think I actually had to kick twice. Very relaxing, with lots to see.
The 2nd dive only had a mild current, with deep canyons, turtles, massive crays, a white tipped reef shark, as well as most of the usual suspects such as clown fish, parrot fish and trigger fish just to name a few.
Both dives were awesome, the trip and service on the boats great, included food and drink.
I have dreamed in my life that I want to dive in Australia once.I have explored under water with Gomantak scuba only PADI scuba diving in malvan,maharashtra,india.They have multiple dive sites. LINK REMOVED
i was attacked by a junkie on ice named herbert, he took my shoes then my family. diving was ok but 7/10.