Australian Scuba and Snorkelling Dive Cruises, Tours, Holidays, Schools, Live-Aboard Diving Charters, Locations

Diving Locations and Operators in Australia

Australia has a truly unbelievable array of dive spots, dive tour, holiday and Scuba and Snorkelling trip operators, diving schools, day-trip cruises, live-aboard diving cruises, charters, resort diving and holiday packages. This encompasses the magnificent Great Barrier Reef World Heritage area, which is certainly one of the most renowned and most magnificent diving destinations in the world. With over 30,000 km of magnificent and unspoiled coastline, Australia has some of the bestnd most varied snorkeing and scuba sites in the world including a large number of wreck and cave sites. There is a broad variety of information available to select your ideal dive site, dive trip operators. There are a wide range of and dive shops that cater for a broad range of knowledge and experience from novice to expert. There is equally superb diving in the tropical waters of the famous reefs along the coast of Western Australia as well.

There is brilliant diving in the temperate waters as well off the coast of New South Wales (NSW), Victoria (VIC), Western Australia(WA), South-East Queensland (QLD) South Australia (SA) Northern Territory (NT) and Tasmania (TAS). The reefs of the offshore islands of Torres Strait, Bass Strait, Norfolk Island, Chitsmas Island and Lord How Island. There is stunning diving and in the monster kelp stands and reefs in the cooler waters of Tasmania and the isles of Bass Strait. The Solitary Islands off the to the north coast area of New South Wales, the well renowned Julian Rocks off Byron Bay close to the Queensland borer. There is also truly unbelievable diving at the Abrolhos Islands on the coast of Western Australian near Geraldton . There are lots of option to suit every individual taste along the huge Australian coastline. Snorkelling does not require any qualifications and you can hire the equipment you need from the many dive shops, and most trip operators supply the diving gear included with the cruise package. There are day-trips, sail and cruise diving packages, extended live-aboard cruises at the Whitsunday Islands and numerous other locations around the coast.

Diving on the Great Barrier Reef is a exclusive and memorable experience, with over 2,000 km (one fifth of the World's total reef area) of sparkling reef just teeming with wildlife (2800 species of fish). TheWorld Heritage reef extends from famous Lizard Island north-east of Port Douglas south down the coast to the Whitsunday Islands, near Bowen, and further south to include Masthead Island, North West Island, Lady Musgrave Island, Tryon Island, Lady Elliott Island, Heron Island and Wilson Island off Bundaberg. All of these island have pristine coral reefs. Why not learn how to dive by signing up for a diving course and enjoy a stunning ocean or reef dive as the last open water dive for the course, after training in a local pool.

Diving Options include:

• Diving schools including Resort Dive Training
• Diving with Whales Sharks - off the coast of Western Australia
• Shark Diving - with brave divers protected by cages, Victoria and South Australia
• Dolphin Dives
• Diving cruises
• Live-aboard Adventures of 5 days or more - a fantastic experience including night dives
• Dive and Sail Options - combine two fantastic experiences on a day cruise or 5-14 day adventure
• Wreck Dives - large range of options available
• Cave Dive - only for experienced and trained divers

Some of the Best Diving Experiences are shown below (see the table for a longer list):

The Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia - stretches about 250 km along the Northwest Cape midway up the coast of Western Australia. Ningaloo Reef is unique in being a fringing reefs and is very easy to access form the shore. It has a huge variety of marine life, including the huge but gentle giants of the sea - the Whale Shark. These sharks reach up to 18 m in length (60ft), and divers can cruise along with them when they visit the Ningaloo Reef from about March to June each year. Visitors can also see Humpback Whales that visit the area from June until November. Manta Rays, Green, Hawksbill and Loggerhead Turtles can also be seen in the area.

Heron Island, Queensland - One of the most beautiful and easily accessible sites for divers is the famous Heron Island (World Heritage listed). It is one of the few places on the reef where you can quite literally step off the island and go snorkelling or scuba diving. There are a range of about 22 dive sites including the Blue Pools, featuring by turtles, octopus and sharks; the Coral Cascades, with sea trout and anemones;  the renowned Heron Bommie, which features eels, outstanding corals rays, Spanish dancers, eels; and much more with about 70%  of the reef's species occuring in this site alone. You can dive with White Tip Reef Sharks, Wobbegong Sharks, Moray Eels, Parrotfish, Eagle and Manta Rays, Sweetlip and Hussars.

Lizard Island, Queensland - this is an outstanding location for divers to explore the beautiful reefs in the far north area of the Barrier Reef, north Cooktown. The island offers an excellent range of inner and outer reef dive sites offered by local tour operators. One of the world-famous diving spots in this area is the Cod Hole. This divie site has a range of huge friendly fish that you can dive with including: the huge Potato Cods, the Emperor, the Maori Wrasse,  the Red Bass, and many other species. Other marine life found in the Cod Hole area are the Giant Clams, White Tip Reef Sharks, anemones, Solomon's Sweetlip, feather stars and Reef Sharks.

The Whitsunday Islands, Queensland - The total of 74 spectacular islands of the Whitsundays group offer a superb range dive sites both among the continental islands and on the ribbon reefs eastward from the islands. Various operators take tourists to the ribbon reefs on the outer edge, and there are excellent facilities for divers of widely varying experience and capabilities. The reefs are suitable for snorkelling and scuba diving. Popular dive sites in this area include Hayman Island, Manta Ray Bay, Fairy Reef, Blue Pearl Bay, Maureen's Cove, Hook Island and Hardy Reef. The stunning and majestic Manta Rays can be seen near the southern tip of the famous Bait Reef at a place called `Manta Ray Drop-Off` during the winter months. The Stepping Stones site, also located in Bait Reef, is a great place to see fish species such as the Gropers, Lion Fish, Moray Eels, Sweetlips, Coral Trouts and many more as well as wonderful corals.

Rottnest Island, Western Australia  - is located about 20 km offshore from Perth, and has excellent snorkelling and more than 100 scuba diving sites of various grades. The diversity of coral species and fish, and the many fabulous shipwrecks found around the Island. The island is a wonderful and much admired site for both scuba divers and snorkelers in Western Australia. The Rottnest Island Marine Reserve has more than 20 species of coral and 400 species of fish. Fish include: Harlequin Fish, Cobbler, Dhufish, Baldchin Groper, Flathead, Samson Fish, Tailor, Leatherjacket, Butterfly Fish and Moon Wrasse.

A list of some of the more popular dive sites in various states is sown in the table.