Cairns Outer Reef Diving

Cairns’ Outer Great Barrier Reef dive tours offer excellent diving conditions. Cairns operators are highly regarded in the dive industry, with a stack of records and accreditations to back-up their professionalism. Some have over 25 years experience and divers can be assured of safe diving with professional crew, boats and equipment.

VIEW SELECTED TOURS BELOW:

Lady enjoying the water-slide at Moore Reef.

Sunlover Cruises

Great day tour for people of all ages. Visit Outer Reef Pontoon at Moore Reef, with lots of inclusions: snorkelling, glass bottom boat and semi-sub tours, underwater observatory and more.
Silverswift At The Reef

Silverswift Dive & Snorkel

Only Cairns Great Barrier Reef day tour to visit 3 different reef sites in one day! Part of the Quicksilver Cruises fleet. Comfortable, high speed catamaran. Up to 5 hours at the reef.

Silversonic Dive & Snorkel

Silversonic provides daily reef tours departing from Port Douglas and visiting the ribbon reefs at Agincourt Reef. 5 hours at reef and up to 3 dives.
Reef Magic Outer Reef Scuba Diving

Reef Magic Cruises

Up to 5 hours at the reef. Outer Great Barrier Reef pontoon with fabulous coral gardens. Meet Wally! Lots of inclusions: snorkelling, glass bottom boat, semi-sub, underwater observatory and more.

Do you need help choosing?

Can't decide? We have personally been on every Cairns reef and diving trip. We can help you choose the best tour, to suit your experience and budget.

All of these Cairns Outer Reef Diving trips are open water diving. This means you are scuba diving on reef sites in the open ocean. Conditions (current etc) will be dependent on the weather and time of day. Cairns Outer Reef Diving sites are generally around 60km offshore, which means good visibility year round (varies anywhere from 5m on a bad day, to 35m).

Travel time to and from Cairns to the Outer Great Barrier Reef is anywhere between 90-minutes to 2-hours. During this time, certified divers complete their safety paperwork and are issued equipment. You will be required to show your dive certification / license, so should have this with you. Dive site and safety briefings are always provided by the dive crew.

Outer Great Barrier Reef dive site depth varies, but is usually no more than 30m. These trips are suitable for divers of all experience levels. Some operators give the choice between guided and unguided dives: others insist upon guided dives with a Divemaster.

The number of dives and time spent on the reef varies between the different tour options / boats. Most visit at least two reef sites each day and the maximum number of dives you can take on a day tour is three (3). No reverse profile diving is allowed and there is no solo diving on any of the Cairns dive day tours: nitrox can be requested on some boats, but needs to be booked in advance.

Over 2,900 individual coral reefs comprise the Great Barrier Reef and there are several excellent dive sites on Cairns’ Outer Great Barrier Reef. Diving operators are licensed to visit specific reefs including, but not limited to: Saxon, Hastings, Paradise, Milln, Moore, Flynn, Thetford, Sudbury, Channel and more.

Cairns day dive boats vary from sailing ships to modern catamarans and capable monohulls. Water entry from each is generally giant stride. Each boat provides scuba divers with a choice of lycra suits (summer) or wet suits (winter) and are fully equipped with masks, fins, tanks and everything else you need to enjoy your day.

For Cairns’ Outer Great Barrier Reef dive day tours, you can choose between a day boat tour or a pontoon tour. What’s the difference? Boat tours visit at least two different reef sites, you can choose between guided and unguided diving on most boats and maximum depths reach up to 30m at some sites (although usually no deeper than 25m). Guided dives will never be deeper than 18m.

Pontoon dive trips are not the cheapest Cairns diving but are a good option if you are travelling with non-diving companions who will enjoy the extra inclusions (glass-bottom boat and semi-submersible tours and underwater observatory). The scuba diving from Cairns’ Outer Great Barrier Reef pontoons is always guided and usually no deeper than 18m. You can still explore a few different reef sites, which are usually “sheltered” by surrounding fringing reefs, which means you are less likely to experience current.

There are 11 Cairns diving day tours to the Outer Great Barrier Reef, all departing daily. We have been on all of them and can provide advice on the best trip to suit your needs.

Please note: We are not affiliated with any of the boats. We are Cairns locals, trying to help visitors have the best time they can, on the amazing Great Barrier Reef. This website is funded and built by us: we make commission from your tour bookings. We hope the information is of some assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact us for more advice on +61 7 4041 1638 | reservations@cairnsdiveadventures.com

Lady enjoying the water-slide at Moore Reef.

Sunlover Cruises

Great day tour for people of all ages. Visit Outer Reef Pontoon at Moore Reef, with lots of inclusions: snorkelling, glass bottom boat and semi-sub tours, underwater observatory and more.
Silverswift At The Reef

Silverswift Dive & Snorkel

Only Cairns Great Barrier Reef day tour to visit 3 different reef sites in one day! Part of the Quicksilver Cruises fleet. Comfortable, high speed catamaran. Up to 5 hours at the reef.

Silversonic Dive & Snorkel

Silversonic provides daily reef tours departing from Port Douglas and visiting the ribbon reefs at Agincourt Reef. 5 hours at reef and up to 3 dives.
Reef Magic Outer Reef Scuba Diving

Reef Magic Cruises

Up to 5 hours at the reef. Outer Great Barrier Reef pontoon with fabulous coral gardens. Meet Wally! Lots of inclusions: snorkelling, glass bottom boat, semi-sub, underwater observatory and more.
Fully inclusive Great Barrier Reef day tours with Reef Experience

Reef Experience

Cairns' only fully inclusive day tour, including: city hotel transfers, trip to Great Barrier Reef, 6 hours on reef, 2 reef locations, meals, free scuba dive, marine biologist presentation & equipment.
Poseidon Dive Boat with Divers

Poseidon Snorkel and Dive

Poseidon provides daily tours from Port Douglas to the Agincourt Ribbon Reefs, visiting three (3) separate reef sites. Suitable for scuba divers and snorkelers. Great passenger to crew ratio.
The Passions of Paradise boat Cairns Australia

Passions Of Paradise

Australian Tourism Award Winner. Daily dive/snorkel trips to Paradise Reef, Hastings reef, and more on 25m sailing catamaran. Free scuba demonstration & guided snorkel tour. Hot / cold buffet lunch.

Ocean Spirit Cruises

Ocean Spirit Cruises provide a luxury sailing catamaran to Michaelmas Cay. This trip is suited to swimmers, snorkelers and families. Often Sea Turtles are seen from the beach. All meals included.
Great Adventures Day Boat

Great Adventures: Outer Reef Pontoon

Leaves later than most (10am) and provides up to 3 hours at their outer reef pontoon. Enjoy the sun deck, underwater observatory, semi-submersible and many optional extras.
Great Adventures Outer Reef Pontoon Cairns Australia

Great Adventures: Green Island & Great Barrier Reef

This is the only Cairns day tour to combine time on Green Island with a visit to a Great Barrier Reef pontoon. Best of both worlds. Suitable for snorkellers and divers.
Dreamtime Dive & Snorkel Reef Boat

Dreamtime Dive & Snorkel Cruises

Dreamtime Dive & Snorkel offers a great value for money option that spends 5 hours at a beautiful reef location. Free guided snorkel tour, glass bottom boat tour and marine presentation.
Evolution Dive Boat Cairns

Down Under Dive: Evolution

Well priced Great Barrier Reef day tour, including BBQ lunch. 5 hours on the reef at 2 reef sites. Introductory and certified diving are available at extra cost. Brand new boat.
Aqua Quest Dive Boat Cairns

Deep Sea Divers Den: Aqua Quest

Value for money Great Barrier Reef dive tour. Visits 2 reef sites. Perfect for snorkellers, certified divers and those wanting to try an introductory dive. Buffet lunch included.
Calypso Dive Snorkel Boat Port Douglas

Calypso Dive & Snorkel

Calypso Dive & Snorkel operate a beautiful dive boat from Port Douglas. This boat was built with divers and snorkelers in mind. A large hydraulic step is located at the back of the boat, this makes it extremely easy to get in and out of the water.

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Cairns Day Diving Information

Click the links below to find out more.

Do you need help choosing a trip?

Can't decide? We have personally been on every Cairns reef and diving trip. We can help you choose the best tour, to suit your experience and budget.

Special

FREE UNDERWATER CAMERA HIRE*

Cairns Underwater Camera Hire Service

Spend over $550.00 AUD on your Great Barrier Reef tour with us and receive the latest Digital Underwater Camera Hire. Take amazing High-Resolution images and 1080 HD Video. Only when you book online thru our website. 

Not available for any tours to the Islands as fine white sand damages the seals on the cameras and makes them leak!

You need to come into our shop located on the Cairns Esplanade the day before departure to pick up the camera before 5:30 pm. You also need to supply your own SD Camera Card and drop the camera off back at our shop before 5:30pm.

 

Please Remember there is no other way to collect our cameras! All passengers must come into our shop the day before departure day before 5:30 pm.