Our liveaboard vessels dive four Outer Great Barrier Reef systems off Cairns — Flynn, Milln, Thetford and Pellowe Reefs. Each reef offers something different, from easy coral gardens to walls, pinnacles and swim throughs, and the sites we visit each trip are chosen to suit the prevailing weather and conditions.
Pellowe Reef is a small, isolated reef sitting close to the edge of the continental shelf, which makes access weather dependent — it's a reef we save for the fine weather days, and it rewards the wait. In places the reef wall plunges to 30 metres remarkably quickly, delivering some truly spectacular diving.
Expect an exciting wall dive with swim throughs, with most diving between 5 and 30 metres. Its position near the shelf boosts the chances of encountering large pelagic species, alongside regular sightings of chevron barracuda and a healthy population of nudibranchs.
Milln Reef is packed with exciting dive sites. Petaj is home to resident turtles and white tip reef sharks, while the Swimming Pools deliver schools of diagonally banded sweetlips and plenty of nudibranchs. Whale Bommie offers excellent diving with depths beyond 20 metres.
The reef features superb walls, pinnacles and swim throughs — and it truly comes alive after dark. Milln is one of our favourite night diving spots: walls dotted with parrotfish sleeping in their mucus sacks, turtles, barracuda and the occasional bull ray, plus reef crabs, painted lobsters, soft corals and gorgonian fans on the bommie.
Thetford Reef is a maze of coral bommies delivering exciting wall dives and countless swim throughs. Its depth and exposure make it a reef we visit in milder weather conditions — and Cathedral and Blue Lagoon are two of our absolute favourites.
The reef is home to a rich mix of soft and hard corals, including boulder and plate formations, with marine life in abundance. Keep an eye out for giant clams, butterflyfish, damsels and angelfish among the bommies.
Flynn Reef is one of our most popular reefs and offers excellent diving for everyone from novices to very experienced divers, across sites including Tracy's Bommie, Gordon's Mooring, Tennis Court and the Coral Gardens.
These sites deliver excellent wall dives, swim throughs, overhangs and maze-like coral structures, with an abundance of marine life amongst thriving finger, table, plate and boulder corals and many species of soft coral.
Dive sites are selected each trip based on prevailing weather and conditions.