Great Barrier Reef: General Information
Great Barrier Reef Liveaboard sounds like a dream of every diver. There is no doubt that the Great Barrier Reef is a true wonder of nature with the highest recognition worldwide. Everybody on this planet have heard about it, have learnt about it at school, have seen it on pictures and TV programs. This is the largest ecosystem in the whole world that beautifully marks our planet from outer space view. So we all know how it looks and we can clearly picture its scenery in our minds. However, not everyone can imagine how it really feels! What this experience of Great Barrier Reef diving actually is? Of course, because it’s literally the biggest reef system in the whole world, it’s unbelievably rich and diverse! The whole system that we call The Great Barrier Reef is in fact a solid composition of 2,900 individual reef formations that all together cover an area of 344,044 sk which is equal to 34,000,000 ha.
Strategically there are different ways to dive the Great Barrier Reef on a liveaboard diving trip. If you had previously been looking on the most visited areas, or the most famous to visit, you should have already heard about Ribbon Reefs, Cod Hole, Coral Sea and Osprey Reef. Let’s have a closer look at the way how the Great Barrier Reef diving trips are organized.
Great Barrier Reef: Diving
Ribbon Reefs and Code Hole
Ribbon Reefs are a part of the Great Barrier built of 10 unique formations stretching 120 km to the North from Cairns up to the Eastern side of the Lizard Island. Ribbons make up to 200 km length alongside with the GBR. As you may see because of their remote location you can visit Ribbons only on a liveaboard. Diving in this area is relaxing and fun, most of the dives are at no deeper than 20 meters. Rich marine life and clear waters brighten your experience underwater. Vivid colors of shallow coral gardens, pretty caves and canyons, walls and channels that breath life - the concentration of eye catching sights is impressive!
The Cod Hole is the most speaking dive site, it is so famous because of magnificent encounters of giant groupers who live here. The site is home to Potato Cods that are so friendly not just to welcome divers without freaking out, but are even willing to pose for pictures while relaxing on a cleaning stations or just feeding. Groupers are literally the size of a diver, so you will be keeping this souvenir for the rest of your life. Apart from these fantastic hosts there is a beautiful coral reef to follow.
Lighthouse Bommie is a remarkable pinnacle that rises from a 30 meter bottom line and doesn’t touch the surface ending at 5 meters from it. It’s a must-visit site to catch up with unique Minke Whales who pass here during their migration to the south. Curious Minke Whale is one of the smallest of baleen whales, weights around 10 tons and reaches 6-7 meters in length. Minke Whales migration happens in June and July each year. Apart from that time Lighthouse Bommie is famous for a resident turtle that poses for photographs on a coral ‘sea bed’ and for massive schools of trevally and barracuda.
Steve’s Bommie won’t let your diving expectations down! Full of life, the pinnacle starts at 35 meters on the bottom ascending to 5 meters below the surface. You will be impressed by vivid and pristine corals, marine life action and schooling fish. There are also some unique creatures to spot like Wobbegong Shark and Leafy Scorpionfish, don’t miss them.
Many more beautiful encounters await at Two Towers and their resident snakes, Olive Sea Snakes are also the main attraction at The Snake Pit which name speaks for itself. Macro fans will find a piece of paradise patiently discovering both Pixie Pinnacle and Pixie Garden.
Osprey Reef and Coral Sea
The Coral Sea is touching the Great Barrier Reef basically from the other side of Australia. Isolated ancien reef system formed on the very edge of Australian Continent Shell is massive and features challenging diving conditions. Multiple unique reefs spread far from the coastline could be visited as a part of the Great Barrier Reef Liveaboard diving trip. These outer reefs are more exposed in the open sea and thus require more experience from divers, natural conditions could be severe here. The whole area covers up to 1,000,000 sk which is almost 3 times of a size of the GBR opposite side. Diving in the Coral Sea is famous for wild marine life encounters with sharks and manta rays.
Osprey is the northernmost reef in the Coral Sea and it is also considered to be the best great barrier reef liveaboard diving destination. There are at least 10 different dive sites to discover diving around Osprey’s, all offering up outstanding diving experiences.
North Horn is a famous shark spot. It’s not just the site where you can encounter numerous sharks and where the shark feeding dives take place. North Horn also plays an important role as a research base for university project that examines sharks behavior. The whole wall that cascades from the reef edge is wealthy covered by soft corals on the depth from 25 to 40 meters.
False Entrance had gotten its name not by chance, it is a natural break up in the reef that creates a gully. The whole space is built up with multiple pinnacles rising up from the bottom which makes the whole scenery look like an underwater city.
Halfway Wall spreads between the North Norn and the False Entrance. With a few pinnacles the main wall dramatically drops-off down to 1 km from the edge of the reef where the boat is moored usually.
North Horn Wall offers an amazing drift dive alongside with a sheer wall that falls down to 1,000 meters abundant of marine life.
Admiralty, called so because of an ancient anchor, is the best spot for a night dive here around Osprey. Many of marine creatures make this spot their home, lagoon entrance and numerous small caves and swims-through make them feel safe and thus are full of life.
Around the Bend is a drift dive where divers usually make a tour and come back to a starting point. What makes this site special is an isolated pinnacle where Manta Rays pass at a cleaning station.
Outer Reefs close to Cairns
This fragment of the Great Barrier Reef is just a few hours away from the mainland and is visited on daily tours as well as on overnight cruises. Easy access, clear waters and bright colors make this patchy reefs perfect for new divers. This is a perfect spot to start diving therefore certain liveaboards offer dive training packages here.
