Scuba Diving in Great Barrier Reef
General Info
Diving Info
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When to Visit
Diving Conditions
Water temperatures at the Great Barrier Reef range from 24° C/75° F in the winter to 30° C/86° F in the summer.
There’s usually a mild current close to the shore but it can get strong in areas such as the Ribbon and Osprey Reefs.
The visibility ranges from 5 to 25 meters (16-82 feet) year-round. To experience the best visibility, come during summer when it often exceeds 50 meters (164 feet).
Types of Diving
Highlights
Ribbon Reefs
The Ribbon Reefs are thin strips of reef off the northern Queensland shore. They are covered in colorful corals, separated by sandy gullies. There’s great diversity when it comes to the marine life; from critters to turtles, schooling fish, and large animals such as whales, there’s something for everyone here. The dive sites along the reefs have great visibility and mostly calm sea conditions. It’s a good region for both novice and experienced divers. But keep in mind that the Ribbon Reefs area is only accessible by liveaboards.
Heron Island
This coral cay is located in the southern Great Barrier Reef near the Tropic of Capricorn. Heron Island features over 20 excellent dive sites and it’s mostly renowned for the notable turtle population that nests here. The island is home to about 4,000 green and loggerhead turtles.
The dive sites feature grottos, canyons, peaks, points, cascades, lairs, holes, pools, gullies, and gardens. The signature dive here is Heron Bommie, a haven for marine life where divers can admire wobbegong and white-tip reef sharks, groupers, stingrays, snappers, emperors, trevallies, barracudas, batfish, emperors, and plenty of other species of fish of all shapes, sizes, and colors.
Osprey Reef
Osprey Reef is a submerged atoll that’s famous for its reef shark sightings. Its underwater amphitheater is a great place to spot white-tip, silver-tip, and grey reef sharks. Another incredible creature that you can spot here is the ancient chambered nautilus which has remained almost unchanged for about 500 million years. The reef is vast and features vertical walls, drop-offs, and swim-throughs. To top it all off, the visibility is between 30 to 60 meters (98 to 197 feet).
Escape Reef
Escape Reef is a barrier reef with two sides: a lagoon facing one and an ocean-facing one. It’s among the most pristine reefs in the area, with healthy coral presenting minimal signs of bleaching. There’s a variety of hard corals, branching corals, boulder corals, just to name a few. You can also see coral towers and small coral valleys that create spectacular underwater scenery. As for marine life, stingrays, goatfish, surgeonfish, wrasses, and hawksbill turtles are just some of the animals inhabiting these waters.
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