Beautiful diving, enthusiastic crew, comfortable vessel

I travelled with Poseidon Dive and Snorkel in late September for a lovely day of 3 certified dives on the Agincourt Ribbon Reefs. The dive crew were friendly, professional, and excited to explore the underwater world with me!

I started my morning with a bus transfer out of Cairns City, organized with Poseidon and the Quicksilver crew. The driver was at my pick-up location on time, and I boarded with no issues. The drive up to Port Douglas was very pleasant – as we drove along Captain Cook Highway and enjoyed the scenic views, I was frothing for the day ahead.

Upon arrival at the Port Douglas Marina, the check-in process was easy and efficient with friendly reservations staff to start my day. I completed check-in with about 10 minutes to spare before boarding began.
Aboard the vessel, I enjoyed some hot coffee and bite size Focaccia sandwiches that were surprisingly good! As the staff began their safety briefings and vessel orientation, I was happy to have my fingers full and settle into the day.
Their boat is one of the smaller vessels I’ve been on to dive the Great Barrier Reef, an underlying element that was much appreciated. With a maximum of 65 guests, communication was clear, comfortable, and staff remained easily accessible to answer any questions.

My dive master for the day was Moni, a very energetic and professional guide with whom I was happy to share the day. We had three buddy teams to a group, making underwater navigation easy and well organized. I was solo and easily paired up with another traveler who was a great dive buddy for the day. We communicated well underwater and enjoyed the dive at a comfortable pace.

Dive Site #1: Three Sisters

Diving three sisters was a great start to the day. We found some maroon clownfish early into the dive and enjoyed the colorful and diverse shallow coral gardens for most of the dive. My dive buddy described this dive as a “birthday cake explosion” of coral reef – and I think that holds true. We saw a handful of larger reef fish like coral trout hiding in the coral overhangs which are always fun to see.

Dive Site #2: Phil’s Reef

This dive was full of action! We saw three white tip reef sharks, a really large blue spotted sting ray, and it was overall a fishy dive. I was happy to find a few colorful sea feathers fully expressing in between coral structures, making for a pleasant visual mosaic.

Lunch on Board

The buffet lunch was hearty, much-needed, tasty, and full of variety making for the perfect mid-day surface interval between dives two and three. They had some great tandoori chicken breast that I was happy to take a good serving of. I topped my plate off with potato salad, and fresh green. I had time and space to come back for seconds after everyone was served, where I enjoyed some rice, beef curry, and some fresh tropical fruit to cleanse my palate.

Dive Site #3: Turtle Bommie

At Turtle Bommie, we saw lots of cool creatures hanging out on their own. We saw one of the larger puffer fish I’ve ever seen, we saw lovely blue spotted stingray that was enjoying a meal in the sandy bottom, we found a sleeping shark under one of the coral overhangs, and I found a huge banana nudibranch (~10cm) that was the highlight of my day!

Closing Up:

After our dives were finished for the day, I enjoyed a quick hot-water rinse on the dive deck to freshen up before changing into my dry clothes. The crew were once again delightful in debriefing the customers for the day, including completing dive logs and sharing stories about their highlights from the trip.

When we disembarked Poseidon, the Quicksilver crew were ready to greet me and helpful in finding which transfer bus to get on for my travels home. Overall, it was an excellent day with memorable sights and interactions, and I’d be happy to return to dive with them again.