We offer the best value diving and snorkelling on one-day trips to the Outer Great Barrier Reef. See spectacular coral gardens, great drop-offs, exciting swim-throughs, all teaming with a vast array of marine life. Day tours are available from Cairns, all year around as follows:
3 dives USD 253 (for certified divers)
Introductory: 1 /2 / 3 dives - USD 233 / USD 266 / USD 298 per person
Snorkelling only - USD 178 per person
Daytrip prices normally include: dives, use of all required scuba equipment (including dive computer), lunch, coffee/tea, drinking water, and taxes.
Prices exclude (mandatory, unless customer provides own): none.
Optional extras: dive guide (USD 13 per person per dive) , dive insurance, drinks from the bar. Note: prices of items purchased on site are subject to change.
Trips run Wednesday-Sunday, meet at 'B' Finger/Gate, Marlin Marina at 8 am. Departing at 8:30 am, the Aqua Quest boat travels first to the Outer Great Barrier Reef, about 1.5 hours, (approximately 40 nautical miles (70 kilometres)) off the coast of Cairns. The first dive takes place at 10 am, the second dive at starts at 12 pm, whilst a generous buffet lunch is served at 1 pm, with a range of hot and cold foods, salads, rolls and tropical fruit to refuel for the afternoon. The third dive is at 2 pm, then the boat leaves the reef at 3 pm, returning back to the marina at 4:30 pm.
Your day trip is aboard the Aqua Quest, a purpose-built dive vessel, with a large sun decks, air conditioned indoor lounge, hot fresh water showers, and state of the art diving equipment. Of course, it complies with the stringent Australian nautical safety standards. Their experienced reef team - selected for their local knowledge and love of the Cairns region and the ocean - will help you discover the best snorkel and dive sites available from Cairns. You'll spend a full 5 hours on the Great Barrier Reef and see a variety of marine animals, such as clownfish, surgeonfish, stingrays, even Maori wrasse, reef sharks and turtles.
Diving the Outer Barrier Reef from Cairns means healthier corals, bigger marine life, and fewer crowds compared to the inner reefs. Whitetip and blacktip reef sharks patrol the area, and divers frequently encounter trevallies, barracuda, tuna, as well as green and hawksbill turtles grazing on the corals, giant clams, and parrotfish. The reefs here suffer less bleaching damage than near-shore reefs due to deeper, cooler water. The sites exhibit denser coral coverage (staghorn, brain, plate) with vibrant hard and soft corals, and there are protected outer reef walls with drop-offs into the Coral Sea.
Plenty of the sites are shallow, calm reefs that are suitable for less-experienced divers, with a few sites being deep walls for the advanced. The visibility is usually 15–30m / 50–100 ft — far clearer than inshore - and the warm waters ( (24–30°C / 75–86°F)) are perfect for year round scuba diving.
Read more about diving at the Cairns Outer Barrier Reef. You might also enjoy viewing our video library which shows some of the marine life you will encounter when diving on tours of the Outer Great Barrier Reef.
Through our partners we can also help you with hotel bookings and travel & diving insurance.
Oor, you are the best part of the service since you are the link (in my case) and you are very helpful and courteous. Your responses are also very prompt, which is important especially considering the time difference to Europe. The information about the resort was clear and more importantly about the transfer to and from the resort
