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
ReefFar Northern Reef & Torres Strait
Creech Reef
Shelf-edge reef with upwellings drawing pelagics, sharks and mantas.
Details need confirmation
ReefSunshine Coast
Currimundi Reef
A little-known fishing reef off Currimundi – rarely dived and undocumented.
Details need confirmation
Artificial ReefGold Coast
Currumbin Desalination Outlet
A saucer-shaped desalination outlet on the seabed at 20 m – the Gold Coast's 'UFO' dive.
Details need confirmation
Aircraft WreckTownsville & Magnetic Island
Curtiss Falcon Aircraft Wreck (Nelly Bay)
Engine and propeller of a USAAF CW-22B Falcon that ditched in 1943 – a rare wartime aircraft relic off Magnetic Island.
Details need confirmation
ReefTownsville & Magnetic Island
Danger Marks (Orpheus–Pelorus Channel)
Shallow gutters with symmetrical walls and colourful low corals, protected in the Orpheus Marine National Park zone.
Details need confirmation
Pinnacle/BommieLady Elliot Island
Devils Marbles (Lady Elliot Island)
A cluster of 'marble' bommies at the southern mooring, in manta feeding territory.
Details need confirmation
Shore/Rock PlatformSunshine Coast
Dickies Reef
A Caloundra reef off Dicky Beach whose southern edge drops to about 10 m – a shore dive for flat days only.
Details need confirmation
ReefRainbow Beach
Double Island Point
The headland that anchors the Rainbow Beach dive area – its base reef is now part of the expanded Wolf Rock Marine National Park…
Details need confirmation
ReefSwain Reefs
East Cay (Swain Reefs)
A maze of bommies, gutters and staghorn thickets with sea snakes and big fish.
Details need confirmation
ReefBundaberg & Agnes Water
Evans Patch
A less-visited offshore reef in the low 20s with big schools of pelagic fish.
Details need confirmation
WreckCapricorn Coast & Keppel Islands
FV Linda Jane Wreck
A little-known 35 m trawler wreck whose unpublished position has kept its big groper, red emperor and jewfish intact.
Details need confirmation
WreckCapricorn Coast & Keppel Islands
FV Miss Shoalhaven Wreck
A decaying 1988 timber trawler at 33 m that has become a barracuda and ray magnet.
Details need confirmation
IslandMission Beach & Cassowary Coast
Family Islands
Quiet national-park islands with shallow fringing reefs for boat-based or kayak snorkelling and camping.
Details need confirmation
ReefRibbon Reefs & Lizard Island
Fish Market
A seldom-described southern Ribbon Reef mooring on Mike Ball's itinerary map.
Details need confirmation
ReefCairns
Fish Town (Milln Reef)
A fish-rich Milln mooring with schools, cleaning stations and turtles.
Details need confirmation
ReefLady Musgrave & Bunker Group
Fitzroy Reef – South-East Gardens
Shallow brain-coral gardens outside the Fitzroy lagoon, used as an easy second dive with a chance of mantas.
Details need confirmation
WallCapricorn Coast & Keppel Islands
Flat Rock (Keppels)
A rarely visited deep drop-off to 30 m with giant sea fans and black coral trees, two hours beyond Great Keppel.
Details need confirmation
Pinnacle/BommieLady Elliot Island
Forty Five (Lady Elliot Island)
A single western bommie south-west of the Lighthouse with regular manta visits.
Details need confirmation
ReefBundaberg & Agnes Water
Four Mile Reef (Bargara)
Clearer water than the coast and a chance of manta rays in winter on a low, easy reef 3 nm offshore.
Details need confirmation
Pinnacle/BommieSwain Reefs
Gannet Cay (Swain Reefs)
Fish-packed coral pinnacles to 35 m beneath a protected seabird rookery, with sharks and mantas.
Details need confirmation
IslandWhitsundays & Bowen
Gloucester Passage / Gloucester Island
Island fringing reefs in a current-swept passage beside Gloucester Island National Park, with sheltered anchorages.
Details need confirmation
WreckHervey Bay & K'gari
Goori Wreck (Roy Rufus Artificial Reef)
A single, well-encrusted hull at 16 m – a quieter alternative to the 3 Ships cluster.
Details need confirmation
WallRibbon Reefs & Lizard Island
Gorgonian Wall
A rarely visited Ribbon Reef wall on Mike Ball's Far Northern Reefs expedition.
Details need confirmation
WreckBrisbane & Moreton Bay
Grace Darling Wreck
An 1876 wooden schooner lost in 1894 with a cargo of coal and dynamite – ballast mound, galley oven and timbers in 10 m.
Details need confirmation