Queensland is home to Australia's Great Barrier Reef. The World Heritage listed Great Barrier Reef is the worlds largest expanse of living coral reef, and extends along Queensland's coastline for more than 2,000 km (1,243 miles) from Cape York at the very tip of mainland Australia, to Gladstone in the South. It comprises 2,900 individual reefs and 71 coral islands.
The Great Barrier Reef was formed around 10,000 years ago and flourished in the warmer waters of Queensland' s tropical coast. Like an underwater jungle, it supports an incredibly diverse and dense population of 10,000 species of sponge, 350 different species of coral, 4,000 species of molluscs, 350 species of echinoderm and more than 1,500 species of fish. The 345,000 square km (215,000 square miles) of coastal waters that incorporates the Great Barrier Reef is managed by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
Many of the most exotic dives sites along the Great Barrier Reef are within 20 to 35 km (12 to 22 miles) north and south of Cairns. Thretford Reef is one of the most popular with sand cays, walls, coral gardens and small caves in 20 to 30 metres of water. Hastings and Milne Reef offer good vertical walls and pelagic fish, Michaelmas Cay, a sand cay with fringing reef, is a breeding ground for sea birds and a popular snorkeling and dive spot.
Port Douglas, a resort town 75 km (47 miles) north of Cairns, is a popular destination because of its proximity to the Great Barrier Reef and Daintree Rainforests. Day trips to Agincourt Reef, located at the bottom of Ribbon Reefs on the edge of the Continental Shelf, offers great diving all year round in a number of locations including the wreck of a Taiwanese fishing trawler and Nursery Bommie with its thousands of Clownfish, schooling Barracuda and pet Moray eel. St Crispin and Opal Reefs are other popular destinations.
Lizard Island, 270 km (168 miles) or an hours flying time north of Cairns, is ideally located close to the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef. The island is surrounded by excellent reefs and is very close to the top end of Ribbon Reefs.
The Ribbon Reefs are one of the best diving locations on the Great Barrier Reef. The top end of the Ribbon Reefs is a 20 minute boat ride from Lizard Island. The Ribbon Reefs comprise a string of ten coral ramparts covering a huge expanse running southward almost to Cape Tribulation. Some well known highlights of the Ribbon Reef are the Cod Hole, Pixie Pinnacle and Dynamite Pass.
The world renowned Cod Hole is located at the northern tip of Ribbon Reef Number 10. Here you are able to hand feed the giant Potato Cod. Pixie Pinnacle is a coral bommie on the Southern end of Ribbon Reef No. 10 and boasts a spectacular species of pelagic fish, sheer wall diving with many corals and is great for night diving.
Dynamite Pass is a narrow area of water just north of Ribbon Reef Number 10 and has a depth range of 4 to 40 metres at Dynamite Pass Wall. Visibility is about 30 metres.
The northern and southern detached reefs are located in the Coral Sea half way between Cooktown and Cape York. Both detached reefs extend from about a metre under the surface to some 500 metres at the seabed. They offer sheer wall diving with visibility extending more than 40 metres and a range of marine life.
One of the best wreck dives in Queensland, the 'RMS Quetta', lies off the tip of Cape York between the mainland and Thursday Island. This historical shipwreck lies on her side in good condition and is home to millions of fish.
The Central Barrier Reef, which covers Mission Beach, 1,602 km (995 miles) north of Brisbane, Townsville, 1,371 km (852 miles) north of Brisbane, and Bowen, 1,165 km (724 miles) north of Brisbane, offers some great diving experiences along the outer edge of the reef.
Magnetic Island, 8 km (5 miles) offshore from Townsville, is fringed with beaches and is home to a variety of wildlife including a koala colony. There are a number of good dive spots on the islands eastern and southern shores with tropical fish and soft and hard corals.
The most popular reefs in this section of the Reef are the Bowl Reef Number 1, John Brewer Reef, Coil Reef, Davies Reef, Chicken Reef and Myrmidon Reef.
Bowen, on the northern end of the Whitsundays, has good offshore diving at Nares Rock, Holbourne Island and the reefs between Wallaby and Fairy. The coral reefs of the coast boast a number of shipwrecks.
The historical wreck of the 'SS Yongala' is submerged in 30 metres of water off Cape Bowling Green, with its funnel only 15 metres below the surface. Many consider the Yongala to be amongst the best dives in Australia, and some even see it as one of the best dives in the world.
The Whitsunday Islands, located off the mainland at Airlie Beach, 1,000 km (621 miles) north from Brisbane, are popular destinations for divers because of their proximity to the central and outer sections of the Great Barrier Reef. Mackay, located some 140 km (87 miles) south of Airlie Beach, is also popular for this reason.
There are many diving locations around the Whitsundays with the most popular being located at the Northern End of Hook Island sheltered from the southerly weather currents and winds.
Of the diving destinations on the outer reef, the more popular ones are Sea Fan Drop Off, located near Hook and Hardy Reefs, Bait Reef and its famous Stepping Stones and Black Reef, just south west of Hardy Reef.
The most popular dive site off Mackay is Credlin Reef, north of Mackay past Brampton Island. The Pompey Complex, located 150 km (93 miles) offshore south east of Mackay is a reef system that extends south for 200 km (124 miles). One of the most spectacular parts of the Great Barrier Reef and one of the most rarely visited, it boast deep circular lagoons called Blue Holes which drop into coral like wells.
Mystery Cay, located in the far North in the far northern section of Swain Reefs, south of the Pompey complex, is famous for its Manta Ray Bommie.
Gladstone, the gateway to the Swain Reefs, is located 534 km (332 miles) north of Brisbane. The Swain Reefs, located at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef, about 200 km (125 miles) offshore, is a network of coral gardens and lagoons that are renowned as some of the most spectacular diving in the world. Most of the area is unexplored and offers towers, terraces, swim-throughs, spirals of coral, and marine life including sea snakes, sharks, Manta Rays and schools of migrating fish.
Bundaberg, 368 km (229 miles) north of Brisbane, is a gateway to the Southern reef. This is one of the few places you can actually dive the reef from the mainland.
Great Keppel Island, 16 km (10 miles) from the mainland offers access to diving destinations such as Clam Bay, Shelving Beach, Monkey Point, sites on Capricorn Reef, Man and Wife island, Bald Rock, Halfway Island, Middle Reef Garden, Barren Island, Parkers Bommie sea gardens and Child Rock.
Heron Island lies in the Tropic Of Capricorn, 70 km (43 miles) east of Gladstone, and is actually a coral cay formed as part of the Great Barrier Reef. Rated as one of the best diving locations on earth, the Reef is practically at your doorstep. The island supports the greatest diversity of tropical fish to be seen anywhere in the world, and 70 percent of the worlds coral types can be seen here. There are dozens of dive sites to choose from.
Lady Elliott island, the most southerly island within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, lies 85 km (53 miles) north East of Bundaberg. Lady Elliott is an unspoilt coral cay that is also part of the reef. The island boasts 10 dives sites including Lighthouse Bommie, Coral Gardens, Moiri, and Shark Pool. There are shipwrecks in the waters off the island, and visibility is excellent, ranging from 25 to 50 metres.
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