Cairns Great Barrier Reef sites,

Great Barrier Reef sites provide crystal clear waters, fantastic coral and lots of marine life.

There are some unique items when discussing dive reef sites of the Great Barrier Reef in general and around the Cairns area.

Great Barrier Reef Sites
Lionfish

While some very famous dive sites, such as Cod hole, Steve’s Bommie, and Pixie Pinnacles in the Ribbon Reefs, most of the dive reef site names are not that commonly known.

The other dive sites are not well known, which means they are inferior in quality.
Outer Reef Liveaboards

The outer Reef Liveaboards have a vast range of spectacular reef sites.

 

 

Both day boats and Liveaboards use the dive sites of the Outer Reef.  Liveaboards offer the advantage of more dives and at times when the reef is at its best.  Early morning dives provide the best conditions and are well worth waking up for.  While night often dives the thrill of the unknown and sharks.

Many of the Cairns Liveaboards operate so visitors can join any day, as a day boat will meet the Liveaboard to transfer guests.

Dive site names are not as well known in the outer reef partly because of the vast number and partially because not all of them have a name.

While scuba divers from other areas find this strange, how the Greater Barrier Reef Park Administration manages the reef has led to the number of dive reef sites.
Policies designed to protect the reef have created a system where mooring buoys must be used in most places.

There are both public and private moorings.

Each mooring has a restriction on what size a boat can use and weather-based restrictions.

Each reef for diving has one or maybe two public moorings and several private moorings.

The number is based on several factors, but the protection of the Reef is of primary concern.

Cairns Reef Sites

The Liveaboards visit seventeen reefs in the outer Reef from Cairns.

At Miln Reef is a dive site named Three Sisters, which is visited by Prodive Cairns and sometimes by Coral Sea Dreaming.

The dive site sits just off the reef and consists of three Bommies. The most significant rises from 30 metres to near the surface.

Its two sisters sit about 40 meters away in 20 meters of water and only a couple of meters apart.

Three sisters is a dive site accessed by a private mooring, only the company that owns the mooring or those it gives written permission to can use it and dive the site.

While an important site, it is only one of the 15 private moorings on Milln Reef.

On Thetford Reef, there are 14 private moorings on dive sites, including Canyons, Blue Lagoon, Stepping stones and three-sixty.

Hastings Reef has a total of 21 private moorings. One of the sites is also called Blue Lagoon.

Out of the 17 reefs in the outer reefs, these three have 50 dive sites.

Great Barrier Reef Sites
Scuba Diving With a Maori Wrasse

The private mooring system creates a condition where the number of divers at any given time is limited.

Cod Hole and the Coral Sea

Ribbon Reefs Cairns To Lizard Island

Most of the Liveaboards that sail to and from Cairns to Lizard island follow a route that takes them along the Ribbon Reefs.

These trips are best for advanced scuba divers and offer exceptional visibility.

There are 38 mooring sites around Lizard island alone.

They say a rose by any other name will still smell as sweet. In this case, a no-name dive site can always be world-class.

Take a Liveaboard from Cairns and enjoy a selection of dive reef sites that are truly world-class.