AUSTRALIAN DESTINATIONS
Diving in Queensland
Explore 594 listed dive sites and find the local knowledge to help plan your visit.
THE LOCAL PLANNING BRIEF
Choose your reef gateway before your accommodation
Queensland research starts with the departure region. Cairns and Port Douglas, the southern reef islands, Townsville and the south-east coast appear in different parts of this directory. Treat them as separate trip choices: being in Queensland does not put every reef or wreck within reach of the same boat. Work from a proposed operator itinerary back to your accommodation and transfers.
Choose the setting, then the trip Counts describe published records, not bookable trips or confirmed open sites.
There are 594 published site records across Queensland. The recorded categories include reef (290), pinnacle/bommie (73), wall (70), wreck (52). These categories reflect the database; they are not a ranking, a conditions report or an assessment of your suitability.
Start with one of the regional pages below. State-wide totals are useful for browsing, but the actual choice should be made at the level of an operator, a site and a proposed itinerary.
Research operators in Queensland →Ask before booking
- Which port and vessel will run our trip?
- Is the named reef a likely itinerary or a confirmed destination?
- What changes if our island transfer or boat departure moves?
Save the answers with the contact name and date. Separate confirmed arrangements from items still waiting for a reply.
Record your trip questions →Northern reef gateways
Compare Cairns and Port Douglas by the actual departure, return time and proposed trip. Ask which sites are possibilities rather than fixed promises.
Islands and southern reef
For island-based trips, confirm how arrival transfers connect with the diving schedule and what equipment must be reserved.
South-east Queensland
Use the Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and island region pages to distinguish boat departures, shore access and wreck-related records.
Questions, answered
How do I choose a dive in Queensland?
Begin with the individual site and its source notes, then discuss the proposed trip with a local provider. The 594 published records are research options, not a list of trips available today. Match the plan to your training, recent experience and the operator’s current requirements.
When should I visit Queensland for diving?
Choose dates with a provider who runs the activity you want, then discuss seasonal patterns, recent conditions and alternative itineraries. A generic best-month claim cannot establish the conditions at your exact site or guarantee a wildlife encounter.
Can I use these maps to enter or navigate a dive site?
No. Recorded and approximate map positions support orientation only. Confirm the exact access, permissions, meeting point and route with the responsible local provider or manager.
Regional planning context: Tourism and Events Queensland — accessing the Great Barrier Reef ↗. Directory counts come from published YouDive records. Individual site claims remain subject to their source and review notes.
Find your region
Dive sites to explore
WallWhitsundays & Bowen
Little Fairey Inlet (Fairey Reef)
Sheltered inlet wall with canyons and small lagoons, excellent for snorkelling along the wall.
ReefCairns
Little Tracey (Flynn Reef)
Shallow walls and crevices that suit snorkellers and divers together, with turtles and passing pelagics.
Pinnacle/BommieCairns
Long Bommie (Breaking Patches)
A 200 m coral ridge split by a swim-through, with big hard corals on its western drop.
IslandPort Douglas
Low Isles
Snorkel straight off a coral cay beach with a high chance of turtles, 30 minutes from Port Douglas; historic 1878 lighthouse.
WreckMackay
MV Cremer Wreck (St Bees Island)
Two 8 m engines and a propeller shaft from a 1943 wartime grounding, in shallow water off Grimston Point.
ReefRibbon Reefs & Lizard Island
MacGillivray Reef
Coral cay reef 20 minutes from Lizard with macro life, reef sharks and a seabird-nesting cay.
Shore/Rock PlatformMackay
Mackay Harbour North Wall
Mackay's convenient shore dive – a coral-grown breakwater with turtles, sea snakes and lionfish, used by dive schools.
ReefPort Douglas
Mackay Reef
Giant clam gardens, big turtles and a white-sand cay on a quiet, exclusive reef.
ReefWhitsundays & Bowen
Mackerel Bay (Hook Island)
Shallow coral terrace dropping to bommies and canyons – the go-to Hook Island bay in northerly weather.
ReefSunshine Coast
Magic Mountain
The Sunshine Coast's most complex reef topography: a maze of gullies, ravines, swim-throughs and pinnacles to 25 m on the Outer…
WallCairns
Magic Wall (Saxon Reef)
A calm-day reef-edge dive to the untouched north end of Saxon, or a sheltered critter-filled bay when the current runs.
ReefCapricorn Coast & Keppel Islands
Man & Wife Rocks
The Keppels' most dependable site: a 6-8 m plateau and wall to 18-25 m with wobbegongs, turtles and good macro life.
WreckBrisbane & Moreton Bay
Marietta Dal Wreck
Tractors and machinery from a 1950 wreck scattered around a 50 m propeller shaft in only 13 m.
IslandHeron Island & Capricorn Group
Masthead Island Reef
A quiet camping cay with a closed lagoon and fringing reef, close to the Polmaise Bommies and Tambaroora wreck.
ReefRibbon Reefs & Lizard Island
Mermaid Cove (Lizard Island)
Sheltered cove with coral bommies, cuttlefish and swarms of fusiliers close to the resort.
ReefCapricorn Coast & Keppel Islands
Middle Island Underwater Observatory Site
Shallow coral patches and the remains of a former underwater observatory – an easy training site with plenty of sea snakes.
Pinnacle/BommieNorth Stradbroke Island
Middle Reef (Straddie)
An 'underwater Ayers Rock' rising from 32 m to 9 m, home to two resident Queensland groupers.
ReefGold Coast
Migaloo Reef
A reef discovered only in 2017, named after the white whale Migaloo – two sections of boulders and bommies near the Seaway.
WallRibbon Reefs & Lizard Island
Monolith
A wall of cascading fist coral with a chance of hammerheads cruising past.
Shore/Rock PlatformWhitsundays & Bowen
Murray Bay (Bowen)
Hidden bay with Solitary Rock, big cracks and gutters, blue-tipped staghorn and regular olive sea snakes.
ReefTownsville & Magnetic Island
Myrmidon Reef
Outer-edge reef facing the Coral Sea with caves, canyons, walls and swim-throughs in 20–30 m visibility.
WreckBundaberg & Agnes Water
Nautilus Wreck (Bustard Head)
An 1880 iron hopper barge, intact and penetrable in 27 m, with fish life local divers compare to the Yongala.
Pinnacle/BommieHeron Island & Capricorn Group
Ned's Bommie (Heron Island)
A glassfish-filled bommie where trout and cod hunt and turtles and reef sharks rest.
Shore/Rock PlatformTownsville & Magnetic Island
Nelly Bay – Coconut Reef (Rocky Bay)
Convenient fringing reef with lettuce-coral patches and a giant-clam snorkel trail, a short walk from the Nelly Bay ferry…