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
ReefCairns
East Meets West (Thetford Reef)
A wall that dissolves into small bommies, sheltered in summer northerlies.
ReefMission Beach & Cassowary Coast
Eddy Reef
Eddy currents feed dense coral and bring Napoleon wrasse, eagle rays and barracuda to terraced walls and swim-throughs.
WallCapricorn Coast & Keppel Islands
Egg Rock
The Keppels' signature advanced dive: walls, crevices and swim-throughs to 30 m inside a long-standing green zone, so the fish…
ReefMission Beach & Cassowary Coast
Ellison Reef
A calm, shallow green-zone coral garden with abundant turtles – ideal for first-time reef divers and families.
DriftLady Elliot Island
Encounters (Lady Elliot Island)
A current-swept southern reef edge beyond the airstrip where mantas come to feed.
ReefFar Northern Reef & Torres Strait
Endeavour Reef
The reef where Cook's Endeavour ran aground in 1770 – a remote, historic mid-shelf reef off Cooktown.
ReefLady Musgrave & Bunker Group
Fairfax Islands Reef
Coral pinnacles off the sheltered northern edge of a two-cay reef, 15 minutes from Lady Musgrave, with giant morays and leopard…
Pinnacle/BommieCairns
Fish Bowl (Moore Reef)
Four bommies on a shallow reef edge – reef fish in the shallows and whitetip sharks at 18 m.
Shore/Rock PlatformCairns
Fitzroy Island
The only easy walk-in reef shore dive near Cairns, beside a resort, dive shop and turtle rehabilitation centre.
ReefLady Musgrave & Bunker Group
Fitzroy Reef Lagoon
The Bunker Group's biggest reef: a navigable 6-10 m lagoon with a dozen sites, seahorses and more than a thousand resident…
Shore/Rock PlatformTownsville & Magnetic Island
Florence Bay (Magnetic Island)
One of Magnetic Island's deeper bays, with lettuce-coral patches, caverns at the southern end and the 1917 ferry Magnet in the…
ReefPort Douglas
Flower Gardens (St Crispin Reef)
Soft-coral 'flower garden' near St Crispin's southern gap with rabbitfish pairs and nudibranchs.
Shore/Rock PlatformHervey Bay & K'gari
Gatakers Reef (Point Vernon)
Hervey Bay's easiest shore dive and snorkel: a shallow, coral-rich fringing reef minutes from town.
Shore/Rock PlatformTownsville & Magnetic Island
Geoffrey Bay Snorkel Trail (Magnetic Island)
Marked trail with translocated giant clams right beside the Arcadia foreshore, linking to the Moltke wreck.
ReefRibbon Reefs & Lizard Island
Goggle Gardens
A maze of shallow coral canyons and some of the healthiest coral gardens on the Ribbons, with displaying cuttlefish.
Shore/Rock PlatformGold Coast
Gold Coast Seaway – North Wall
The quieter, boat-only side of the Seaway with more pelagic action – barracuda, mulloway and mangrove jack.
Shore/Rock PlatformGold Coast
Gold Coast Seaway – Short Pipe
The Seaway's second pipe, an artificial reef close to the stairs that is easily combined with the sand bypass pipe.
ReefCairns
Golf Clubs (Hastings Reef)
A wrap-around hard-coral reef right beside the boat, sheltered from rare strong westerlies.
WallFar Northern Reef & Torres Strait
Great Detached Reef
Remote 46 km shelf-edge reef system with steep gorgonian walls, pinnacles from 60 m and pristine coral.
ReefGold Coast
Gretas Reef
Parallel boulder lines and colourful bommies at 16-20 m, with dolphins and sharks sometimes feeding on baitfish.
WreckFar Northern Reef & Torres Strait
HMAS Warrnambool wreck
Intact 1947 WWII corvette on its port side in 25 m – the only RAN ship lost to a mine.
ReefCapricorn Coast & Keppel Islands
Halfway Island (Keppels)
A sheltered staghorn coral garden in 7 m, busy with small fish, feather stars and sea snakes.
Artificial ReefHervey Bay & K'gari
Hardie Artificial Reef
Concrete habitat modules near Little Woody Island and K'gari, with schooling fish and resident cod in 10-16 m.
ReefWhitsundays & Bowen
Hardy Reef South
Steep, gully-cut outer face of Hardy Reef in clear water, with pelagics along the slope.