Great Barrier Reef dive recommendations
 

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to plan a trip to Australia later this year and wanted to see if anyone had any recommendations for a dive shop. I've never dove the GBR and figured it would be a once in a lifetime opportunity. Thanks in advance!

It's a big reef (runs the whole coast), so lots of different places to dive. I'd say the most common is out of Cairns. You can do day dives from shore, but I think you might be disappointed. The best diving is doing a several day liveaboard. I've dove Mike Ball liveaboards out of Cairns and highly recommend them.

I was there last april and most of corals where we went (off cairns) were dead. I think there is a documentary that shows the extent of the damage. Its summer there now, so maybe they started to recover/regrow. There are several companies that can take you out to pontoons off cairns for diving. I wish we had taken the helicopter ride over GBR when we were there, so you may want to look into that. For me, I like the Kuranda rainforest tour better than looking at dead corals.

thanks for the info guys. We also plan to go to Bali; I've read some personal accounts that people say diving in Bali is better and more affordable? Anyone dive in Bali before?

+1. My experience is from many years ago, so take it with a grain of salt. I did a liveaboard out of Cairns, Pro Dive Cairns. We went to the Coral Sea and GBR. The seas were very rough going out, but once at the Coral Sea it was amazing. They guaranteed 100 feet of visability or our money back. It was way beyond that. The Coral Sea was some of the best diving I've ever done. Cairns is also a fun town.

Bali has some nice diving. Much more accessible. There's even very good shore diving in a few locations.

That's great to know. In terms of difficulty, is either different for a novice diver? I haven't had much dive experienced (only 3 so far).

Definitely Bali. Dive sites of all different skill levels. The Coral Sea is hundreds of miles in the open ocean. Bali has seen a lot of tourist development over the years, so make sure to research the area that you're looking to stay in. It's a fairly big island. If you want to go to Bali, you could also look at the Gili Islands.

Thanks Ace. Have you dove in Fiji or Bora Bora? If so, what are your thoughts on those locations?

Fiji yes. Awesome. I would definitely go back. Bora Bora no. Tahiti is on my bucket list.

+1 on Fiji. My second favorite only to Palau. But I think Australia is cheaper to get to than both of those.

Bonaire is a great island for diving. Not much else to do there, but the diving is great. Dozens of sites accessible from shore, waters are usually warm and calm. Grand Cayman also has good diving with the benefits of having shopping and a night life as well. I'd avoid getting a hotel near the cruise ships docks - too crowded and noisy IMO.

I dove Bonaire and it was amazing . I also did a few on the great barrier reef off Cairns it was nice... look up Wakatobi in Indonesia. It looks amazing also. Many types of diving there muck diving, reef diving etc. It's on my bucket list.

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thanks so much everyone!

We have been to
Australia (Liveaboard to GBR out of Cairns)
Papua New Guinea
Fiji
Bali
Raja Ampat
Komodo
Wakatobi
Maledives
Philippines
Micronesia
Hawaii
All over the Caribbean...
Ask away if you want some more info....