Deeper: the pinnacles
The deeper dive explores the narrow canyons between the Sisters, where you may find medium to large cod, coral trout, red bass and sweetlips. Queensland groper have been seen here.
Light, steady currents bring swarms of anthias, dense schools of fusiliers, feather stars and sea apples (a colourful red, white and blue sea cucumber). Look for anemones and their clownfish. Grey reef sharks are common throughout the dive.
Shallower: the coral garden
The shallow dive follows the coral gardens on the sheltered side of the patch reef: branching, shrub and plate corals, and large boulder corals over 300 years old. Several giant clams are close to full size. It’s a good place to find butterflyfish, wrasse and parrotfish.
Snorkellers can reach the very shallow reef flat here and get within arm’s length of mature giant clams. Visibility is rarely less than good.
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
- Grey reef sharkThe classic reef shark: a stocky grey patroller of walls, drop-offs and current points, often in groups.
- Māori wrasseThe reef’s gentle giant: two metres of blue-green fish with a hump on its head and a face full of tattoos, happy to follow divers around.
- Coral troutThe reef’s most handsome predator: bright red with a scatter of blue spots, lurking by the bommies.
- ParrotfishFrom the crunching schools of bumpheads to the sleeping bags of mucus at night, parrotfish are the reef’s builders and gardeners.
- AnemonefishThe clownfish of the reef, living in a sea anemone that would sting anything else. Nearly every site has a family.
- 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
