Australia Diving Destinations

The Dive Sites of the Outer Barrier Reef

Starting at a distance of 80km off shore and forming the further reaches of the Great Barrier Reef, diving the Outer Barrier Reef is characterised by wall dives, swim throughs and endless fields of corals in clear blue waters, all accessed only by Australia liveaboards.

This in turn attracts a multitude of marine life and interesting critters and turtles, white tip reef sharks and, in some areas, even dolphins, are nothing unusual when it comes to the best in Australia diving.

Bommies interspersed with sandy gullies and staghorn thickets make up the landscape of the Outer Barrier Reef and the dive sites feature excellent positions from where to observe life on the reef. Surprises from the blue are also common with schooling action an ever constant.

Highlights

Flynn Reef offers an abundance of diverse marine life with several resident turtles, one of which is huge. Excellent coral coverage of the reef features hard coral such as staghorn, table coral, plate coral and boulder coral heads. The reef also showcases a large variety of soft coral species.

Milln Reef also features resident turtles as well as white tip reef sharks that cruise the large bommies that rise up from the sand floor. Coral trout and peacock groupers regularly intersperse the turtle and shark scene. Good coverage of hard and soft corals ensure that Milln Reef attracts an abundance of marine life. Milln Reef is also favoured among dolphins, often seen around arriving or departing boats.

• Send your diving holidays enquiry

How to Dive the Outer Barrier Reef

The Outer Barrier Reef is a must of you're diving in Cairns, although it starts some distance from shore and thus requires a substantial amount of travel time. Although day trips are possible, Dive The World recommends a short liveaboard or a longer liveaboard safari to maximise your dive time on the Outer Barrier Reef.

Various options of different lengths of liveaboard are available for your Great Barrier Reef dive and with diving possible all year round, it's easy to work your schedule around a departure date and time that suits you.

Diving Season

As with the rest of the Great Barrier Reef, any time is a good time to dive. The tropical weather ensures that the water temperature is always between 22 - 29°C.

Extra special times of the year on the Great Barrier Reef is from June - November when humpback whales are commonly spotted, and in October / November during the coral spawning. This is in addition to the usual magical spectacle which characterises the reef all year round.

The Great Barrier Reef is blessed with perpetual great visibility and during September to November it goes from great to excellent.

The summer season sees a little more rain than the dry winter seasons, although rainfall is still moderate and showers generally occur in the early mornings and late afternoons.

Sea conditions are calm, except during the winter months when they can become moderate.

Reef Summary

Great for: Underwater photography, wall diving, reef life and health
Not so great for: Non-diving activities
Depth: 5 - 30m
Visibility: 10 - 30m
Currents: Gentle
Surface Conditions: Generally calm but can be choppy
Water Temperature: 25 - 30°C
Experience Level: Beginner - intermediate
Number of dive sites: 16
Access: Australian Liveaboard
Recommended length of stay: 3 - 5 days

Dive Site Descriptions

More detailed information on the Great Barrier Reef's Outer Barrier Reef dive sites:

• Cairns tourist information

View a map of:
• Great Barrier Reef  -  Australia

• Scuba diving vacation enquiries

Back to diving in Australia index