The dive
Large plate and boulder coral formations are hunting grounds for coral trout and home to crowds of damselfish. Along the reef edge, caves shelter large brown sweetlips, and there are several giant clams.
Photographers love the cuttlefish here. There are nearly always a few, and they usually stay put when you come close, so you can photograph the colour changes pulsing through their bodies. Green turtles and white-tip and black-tip reef sharks turn up on occasion.
Conditions and tips
Depending on the tide, the dive is static or a drift. The best diving is from 12 metres up to the surface. Visibility is 10 to 25 metres, averaging about 15 metres.
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
- Green turtleThe turtle you’ll meet most on the reef: grazing on the shallows, resting under ledges, surfacing to breathe beside the boat.
- Coral troutThe reef’s most handsome predator: bright red with a scatter of blue spots, lurking by the bommies.
- SweetlipsStriped, spotted and thick-lipped, hanging in patient schools under the overhangs by day.
- Giant clamMetre-wide shells with mantles of electric blue, green and purple, some of them a century old.
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
