Hi, My wife and I are heading over to Australia for 6 weeks
at the end of June. We are 30 somethings looking for a bit
of enjoyment and we will be going to Cairns and the
surrounding areas and we would be extremely grateful if
anyone could give us information on
1.The best places on the reef to dive.
2.The (not so) cheapest places to stay.
3.The availability of B.S.A.C Dive centres and courses.
4.The best Dive operators.
5.The water temperatures. Will we need full monty dive
suits at that time of year?.
Thanks to all of you who take the time to reply to this.
Best wishes,
Mike & Sharon.
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When I was in Oz in '95/'96, I dived with "Down under Dive"
from Cairns. They are a PADI centre but that is no problem
as they recognise all qualifications. The diving and
Tuition was excellent and they went to some awesome parts
of the reef.
We got to stay on a 140ft clipper that was such a laugh for
a couple of days.
Ideal trip-good people-good diving. Definately recomended.
Have a good one, Happy Trails...
My partner & I went on a dive trip to the Great Barrier Reef
last November and stayed in Port Douglas. We loved it, but
if we were to do it again, we'd arrange a live-aboard
because the best diving is several hours from land on the
outer reef. Live-aboards typically leave from Cairns or
Airlie Beach, which is a little south of Cairns.
There are several advertising on the web. Believe it or
not, our best diving was with "Outer Edge" out of Port
Douglas (the ones who left the Americans to die). Yes,
they're still in operation. If you're serious divers,
beware the big day-trip operations like SunSeeker who have
pontoons permanently stationed on the outer reef. Their
constant presence damages the reef and they tend to cater
more for snorkelers and beginning divers. Definitely agree
with big-M - the GBR is a great, relaxed place to dive.
I live in Cairns. There are good and not so good dive
companies. Down Under are very good. There are day or
live-aboard (various lengths of stay) dives. Not sure of
the water temperature, but land temperature June/July is
around 15 to 28. We call that cold! I also know of a few
families who often take in travellers for short periods of
time for reasonable rent. Please contact me if interested.
MAKE IT SURE YOU ARE UPGRADING YOUR WILL YOU MAY BE LEFT
OUT IN OPEN WATER OR A CRAZY CAPTAN OPEN FIRE WITH A FLARE
GUN AT YOU ON THE BOAT
IT HAS HAPPENED
I WOULD NOT DIVE IN gbr FOR QUIDS.