Scuba Diving The Great Barrier Reef

How A Scuba Diver Can Experience Australia’s Great Barrier Reef

Oct 2, 2008

The Great Barrier Reef is renowned as a world's best scuba diving destination. A scuba diver can experience this World Heritage listed environment in different ways.

There are three main ways a recreational scuba diver can experience a scuba dive holiday on Australia's Great Barrier Reef:

Coral Cays

With over 900 islands and 3,000 individual reefs in the entire Great Barrier Reef, there are only three true coral cays with commercial accommodation for scuba divers.

Most of the many island resorts are on mainland islands formed around solid rock. True coral cays are part of the reef itself and have a distinctive shape and features. They are low, barely a few metres above sea level, and are usually covered in thick vegetation. The characteristic white coral beach and protecting reef offer some of the best coral reef scuba diving in the world.

Mainland islands are usually closer to the Australian landmass than coral cays. While some islands have surrounding coral reefs, the quality of the scuba diving is not the same as the true coral cays. The most popular mainland islands are in the Whitsunday group near Mackay.

Coral cays are in consistent currents that provide a cleansing and renewing benefit for the reef and dive sites. The waters around mainland islands can have low visibility due to the island's proximity to the mainland. Visibility on the outer reefs can sometimes be over 40 metres, while the visibility on the mainland islands is usually a lot less.

Heron Island is a coral cay located about 72 kilometres off the coast from Gladstone in central Queensland. Access is either a fast catamaran or a scenic helicopter flight over the reef.

Scuba diving on Heron Island is done off purpose-built dive boats with the majority of dive sites 10 minutes away.

Associated with the Heron Island resort is the smaller coral cay of Wilson Island. This offers an exclusive get-away with only 12 guests.

Lady Elliot Island is the southern most coral cay with accommodation. This island has an airstrip down the centre. Diving on Lady Elliot is a combination of shore and boat diving. On the northern side of the island a short walk over the reef flat takes divers to the reef drop-off. Remote spots on the surrounding reef like The Blowhole and Hiro’s Cave are accessed by boat.

Other Coral Cays

The other coral cay with significant accommodation is Green Island off Cairns. Also, camping can be arranged on some coral cays; the most popular being Lady Musgrave Island.

Live Aboard Dive Boats

Live aboard dive boats provide another way to experience a scuba dive holiday. Divers live, eat, sleep and dive off these boats. Depending on the boat’s size, there can be a small group of ten or less divers; or 20 or more. With this type of diving, the boat can get to some tremendous dive sites, such as the shipwreck of the Yongala out from Townsville. They can usually find a sheltered spot near a reef regardless of the weather.

Day Trips

Day trips from mainland resorts provide a short diving experience. A fast boat collects divers from the mainland islands, such as the Whitsundays group, or from mainland towns like Cairns and Townsville. Many of these dives sites have permanent pontoons on the reef providing a stable platform for divers and snorklers. A diver can expect two dives on these day trips.

No matter what method of visiting the reef, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has a lot to offer a scuba diver seeking a great diving experience.

The copyright of the article Scuba Diving The Great Barrier Reef in Scuba Diving is owned by Bruce Iliff. Permission to republish Scuba Diving The Great Barrier Reef in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.