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Australia in a Nutshell
The Great Barrier Reef and the Coral Sea offer tremendous volume and diversity of marine life, well managed marine parks, professional dive operations and diving suitable for all experience levels. There is great diving at every depth and a variety of marine life including sharks, minke whales and large potato cod (potato grouper). In Adelaide, there is some exceptional diving off jetties, where you can see the leafy sea dragon.
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Marine Life & Environment - Top Dive Spots - Diving Conditions
How to Get There - How to Dive Australia - Best Time to Dive
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Diving Information
Marine Life
Australia doesn't hold the best macro opportunities. It is better known for its "big stuff" like sharks and whales, and some great wreck dives.
Ribbon Reef / Osprey Reef video
Potato cod at 2:20, minke whales at 2:46, sharks at 3:24
0:15 - Schooling fish; 0:23 - snappers; 0:30 - Minke whale; 1:14 - table corals; 2:14 - trevally; 3:42 - sea snake; 4:00 - snappers
Diving Conditions
- Water Temperatures: Can be anywhere between 70 - 87 degrees.
- Visibility: Visibility on day trips will be between 50 and 100 ft. while further sites reached via liveaboard can be up to 150 ft.
- Depth Range: Majority of dive sites will be relatively shallow, 30 - 60 feet.
Best Dive Sites
- North Horn - Located in the Coral Sea on a remote atoll called Osprey Reef. Grey Sharks, Silvertip, Great Hammerhead Sharks and the rare Tiger Shark.
- Cod Hole - Located on The Great Barrier Reef. Besides the large Potato Cods and Maori Wrasses, you can also spot whitetip reef sharks, emperor angelfishes and triggerfishes.
- The Yongala Wreck - One of the best dive sites in the world, located near Townsville in Queensland. You can spot giant groupers, eagles rays, Manta Rays, sea turtles, sea snakes, huge schools of Barracudas, giant trevallies, and various species of Sharks. Excellent hard and soft coral and gorgonians sea fans can also be found here.
- Navy Pier - Located in Exmouth, close to the Ningaloo Reef. Wobbegong Shark, the Grey Nurse, Whitetip Reef Shark, Nudibranch, Flat Worms, Frog Fishes, Scorpions Fishes and Stone fishes.
Travel Information
How to Get There
There are several airlines that fly non-stop between Australia and the US.
How to Dive Australia
Although you can take day trips out to dive - in general, the further you go the better the diving becomes. Due to this, liveaboards are typically better to properly experience what all Australia diving has to offer. In general, the Great Barrier Reef is the most popular, but the Coral Sea is better.
Best Time to Dive
Best time to dive fluctuates for what area of Australia you are diving. Numerous areas are accessible year round, but the south parts can have bad weather between May - Oct.
Topside & Non-Diving Activities
Due to Australia's size, it is near impossible to cover all the things you can do while visiting Australia. It is also dependent on what areas you are visiting. But to touch on a few; no trip can be complete without learning of Australia's Aboriginal culture, try taking a hike to the sacred site of Uluru to catch the sunrise or sunset. For you city lovers, climb the Sydney Harbor Bridge or see a show at the iconic Sydney Opera House. Or just take a drive along The Great Ocean Road - a scenic drive you won't forget.
Liveaboard availability
The rates shown below are per person in USD. The actual rates provided by the operators are based in Australian Dollar (AUD). The pricing at the time of booking may vary depending on the latest AUD/USD exchange rate.
Other Useful Information
Practical Information
- Currency: Australian Dollar (AUD)
- Electricity: 230V 50Hz
- Language: English
- Time Zone: Australia has 5 standard time zones: Australian Western Standard Time (AWST) - UTC+8; Australian Central Western Standard Time (ACWST) - UTC+8:45; Australian Central Standard Time (ACST) - UTC+9:30; Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) - UTC+10; Lord Howe Standard Time (LHST) - UTC+10:30
- Entry Requirements: You must have a valid U.S. passport and a visa to enter Australia. Most U.S. passport holders traveling to Australia for tourism or business purposes for less than 90 days can obtain an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA).
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