Watch the video · 1:45
Nursery Bommie dive site, Agincourt Reef, Port Douglas
Underwater footage is illustrative. Marine life varies by site, season and conditions.
The dive
The current brings a huge variety of fish. Schools of pickhandle barracuda hang in mid-water on the current side of the pinnacle, and the occasional white-tip or black-tip reef shark cruises by. On the sand around the base, look for blue-spotted lagoon rays and garden eels.
Close to the pinnacle are schools of drummer, several kinds of surgeonfish, unicornfish and pairs of foxface rabbitfish. On the pinnacle itself you’ll find clown and pink anemonefish, the odd moray eel, and feather stars waving their arms in the current near the top.
Conditions and tips
- Tide: the site is current-prone and is only dived on an incoming tide.
- Safety stop: finish in the shallows behind the ribbon reef, over boulder coral and large areas of staghorn.
- Photography: good for both wide-angle and macro.
How to dive it
You dive Agincourt Reef on a day trip from Port Douglas. Certified divers get up to three guided dives at three different sites, with a full briefing before each one. Sites are chosen on the day to suit the weather and tides, so we can’t promise a particular site.
Dive it with us
Port Douglas boat dives
Agincourt’s outer-reef bommies: walls, sharks and the big pelagics.
See the tripWhere it is
What you might see
- BarracudaSilver schools that hang in the blue off the bommies, sometimes hundreds thick, with a few solitary big ones.
- AnemonefishThe clownfish of the reef, living in a sea anemone that would sting anything else. Nearly every site has a family.
- Moray eelA head in a hole, mouth opening and closing: the moray is breathing, not threatening. Giants reach three metres.
Nearby sites
- Reef dive · Agincourt Reef Barracuda BommieA deep-water pinnacle on the sheltered side of a small ribbon reef at Agincourt Reef 2, right on the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef. It’s one of the most popular sites on the Agincourt trips.22 m
- Reef dive · Agincourt Reef Gary’s GutA wall on the outer edge of Agincourt Reef 4 that plunges from 5 metres to 40 metres. It averages about 20 metres, so it suits Open Water divers, and it’s a favourite with repeat divers.40 m
- Reef dive · Agincourt Reef Harry’s BommieA garden reef among the pinnacles and patch reefs west of Agincourt Reef 4. It’s a favourite with dive instructors.16 m
- Reef dive · Agincourt Reef Horse ShoeA patch reef between Agincourt Reefs 2 and 3, in an area of strong tidal movement. You can drift it or dive it from the mooring.20 m
