Coral Sea Safari Great Barrier Reef

Highlights

Crystal Plateau – Bougainville Reef – Coral Sea
This reef top drops down to a spectacular terrace of masses of hard coral at 20-30 meters depth before dropping into the abyss hundreds of meters deep. Gorgonians and soft corals adorn the reef wall where sharks also often patrol.

Dungeons & Dragons – Bougainville Reef – Coral Sea
The top of this reef here is cut and broken up, forming an incredible maze of caves, tunnels and swimthroughs. A great dive site to swim around and discover different fish and other animals. You can also swim a bit out from the shallow reef to a wall that drops down to about 100 meters and watch sharks and barracudas.

Admiralty Anchor – Osprey Reef – Coral Sea
The dive site is named after an anchor located in the middle of a tunnel that provides an exciting swim right through the reef. Here you will experience a maze of large tall bommies that are home to lots of fish. Under these bommies you have the option of hanging on to a wall where there are often sharks and sometimes manta rays.

North Horn – Osprey Reef – Coral Sea
Welcome to Shark Central! Here you dive and experience controlled shark feeding. Up to 10-30 gray and whitetip reef sharks and silvertips are not uncommon.

False Entrance – Osprey Reef – Coral Sea
This dive site never disappoints. Lots of action with lots of fish and big shoals along with colorful gorgonians and soft corals. Barracuda tuna are found here in large shoals and the dive site offers fantastic photo opportunities. Out of the blue, hammerhead sharks can sometimes cruise by, so keep an eye out.

Half-way

Lizard island
In the middle of the expedition, the liveaboard moors off Lizard Island. Here we say goodbye to the guests who chose to do the 4-night Fly Dive Coral Sea tour At the same time, we welcome the new guests who chose to do the Fly Dive Cod Hole in three days. You'll have a few hours here during the day to relax on the beach, swim, or climb up the hill to Chinaman's Ridge for views. One of our crew members will show you around.

Cod Hole - Ribbon Reefs - Great Barrier Reef
Cod Hole is widely known and talked about over the years for its large potato groupers. These fish are curious and don't care about divers and can become worldly close. A unique and fantastic opportunity to take pictures of these magnificent fish that have become real characters here over the years.

Pixie Pinnacle - Ribbon Reefs - Great Barrier Reef
An exciting dive on a reef top draped in soft coral and teeming with fish and marine life. Swim slowly up around the reef and look for interesting animals like electric clam or disco clam.

Coral Kingdom - Ribbon Reefs - Great Barrier Reef
A fantastic coral dive with large meadows of staghorn coral and other types of coral. Often encrusted with colorful giant clams. Parrot fish and curious barracuda cruise around the site along with loads of other fish on the reef.

Steve's Bommie - Ribbon Reefs - Great Barrier Reef
Steve's Bommie is a UV photographer's dream. Here you experience very rich marine life. Here you can find, for example, rockfish, scorpionfish, octopuses, clownfish and turtles. Not to mention the many shoals of different species that call this dive site their home.

Coral Sea Safari Expedition dates:
2024 Departure Date: 30 May | 25 July | 15 August | 5 September | 10, 17 October

Programme

Thursday:
Check-in at our office (3 Abbott St, Cairns) between 8am and 30pm.
From 16:30: You will walk yourself to Hemingway's Brewery Cairns Wharf (200 meters from the MBDE office) to meet your fellow passengers. Please note that dinner is not provided on the first night so you may want to eat before boarding.
17.50pm: Our crew will guide you from Hemingway's Brewery Cairns Wharf to the board Spoilsport. Enjoy a glass of champagne and light snacks while your tour director gives a full briefing.
18:00: Spoilsport departs Cairns.
Time to arrange rental equipment and assemble the diving equipment on the diving deck.

Friday:
(4 dives + night dive) This is a sample of a 'typical day', but exact times may vary to optimize the prevailing weather conditions on the day.

06:30: Wake up, light breakfast available in the dining room
7:00 a.m.: Briefing and diving begins
9:00: Full breakfast
10:30: Dive briefing & diving. "Open deck" accommodates 1-2 dives either in the morning or in the afternoon
14:00: Lunch
15:30: Briefing & diving
16:30: Afternoon tea
18:30: Briefing before night dives & Night dives
20:00: Dinner

Saturday:
(4 dives + night dive)
As above.

Sunday:
(4 dives)
As above. However, all diving is finished at 17.00.
The liveaboard moors off Lizard Island for the evening.
As the sun goes down we pour the champagne, lay out the bites and get ready for an Aussie BBQ party night. Don't forget to wear your favorite tropical shirt or dress and sing along to music played by our talented team.

Half-way

Monday:
(2 dives + night dive)
07:00: light breakfast
8:00am: Farewell to the passengers doing the 4-night Fly Dive Coral Sea Expedition who will disembark here.
8:00 a.m.: Stay on board or take a shore excursion to Lizard Island to stretch your legs and explore a bit of this beautiful island.
11:00am: New passengers join us here. Drinks and light snacks are provided.
12:45: Dive briefing and diving
14:00: Lunch
15:45: Dive briefing and diving
16.45: Afternoon tea
18:00: Dive briefing and night dive
20.00: Dinner

Tuesday:
(4 dives + night dive)
Like Friday as above.

Wednesday:
(4 dives)
As above. The last dive must be finished by 17.00.
When the sun goes down, we pour the champagne, lay out the snacks and get ready for the farewell party!
Overnight cruise back to Cairns

Thursday:
07:00: light breakfast
8:00am: Disembark and transfer to your hotel in Cairns, the airport or to the liveaboard office in Cairns where you can store your luggage until 17:00pm if you have a later flight.

important:
We recommend that you allow 24 hours between your last dive and your onward flight (all diving is completed by 17.00pm Monday).

Please note!
Our solid program is a plan that is modified based on the external conditions that the weather gods reward us with. This means that we can move activities to other days and, in the worst case, replace planned activities with alternatives if necessary.