Cairns Diving Packages – A list of all Cairns Dive Tours to the Great Barrier Reef

If you would like to visit the Great Barrier Reef in Australia from the mainland, there really are only two locations: the city of Cairns or the Whitsundays. There is a reason that Cairns is a standout destination for visiting the Great Barrier Reef from the mainland of Australia. Do you know what it is? It's how close the Great Barrier Reef is to the city of Cairns. Have a look at our Cairns dive sites map to really see how close the outer edge wall of the reef is to the city of Cairns.

The inside edge of the reef is only located 26 km offshore from Cairns. The outside edge of the reef is located only 65 km offshore from Cairns. Because it is so close, this allows Cairns reef tour operators the chance to take you out to the reef in a short amount of time; most dive & snorkel boats take 1 hour 15 minutes to arrive at an outer reef site.

You can then spend a good part of your day at the reef, and many boats will move two or three times throughout the day, allowing you to see multiple reef sites. Generally, all reef tour operators provide lunch with all snorkelling gear like snorkel, fins, mask, lycra suit, pool noodle, and life jackets.