Cairns
82 site records refer to this town or area.
Look for operators around Cairns →AUSTRALIAN DESTINATIONS
Diving in Queensland
Explore 594 listed dive sites and find the local knowledge to help plan your visit.
Custom YouDive mascot art inspired by Queensland. An imaginative illustration, not a photograph or map of this destination.
Your bearings, in a minute
Queensland at a glance
Start with the local site mix, explore the map and find people to ask about your trip.
- Explore
- 594 site records
- Recorded settings
- Reef · Pinnacle/Bommie · Wall
- Map coverage
- 594 locations to explore
- Plan with local help
- Meet the listed operators
Directory counts describe published records, not bookable trips. Location confidence is shown separately in the map list. How we check information →
Sources, authorship and review status
Prepared by YouDive editorial with AI assistance. No firsthand visit, equipment test or instructor review is implied.
Independent specialist review: pending. We publish a reviewer’s name, qualifications, date and exact review scope only after the review has actually happened.
Who can contribute and how reviews work →Find your bearings
Explore Queensland on the map
Compare where the recorded sites sit, then open a site to read its access and source notes. Locations are for orientation, not marine navigation or entry instructions.
594 matching records · 594 with a map location · 0 without a usable position.
1770 (Hastings Reef)
Reef · 2–20 m
Approximate area
360 (Thetford Reef)
Reef · 2–18 m
Approximate area
5 Ways (Moore Reef)
Pinnacle/Bommie · 3–18 m
Approximate area
80 Foot Reef
Reef · 22–25 m
Approximate area
A-Bay Reef
Reef · Not recorded
Approximate area
Aarhus Wreck
Wreck · 18–25 m
Approximate area
Acropolis (Opal Reef)
Reef · Not recorded
Approximate area
Acropolis (Ribbon Reefs)
Reef · Not recorded
Approximate area
Advanced Bommie (Agincourt Reef)
Pinnacle/Bommie · 10–40 m
Approximate area
Aladdin's Cave (Far Northern GBR)
Reef · 5–40 m
Approximate area
Alan's Wall (Norman Reef)
Wall · 2–20 m
Approximate area
Alcyonaria Point (Hook Island)
Wall · 3–18 m
Approximate area
The local notebook
Where should you start in Queensland?
Use the actual places attached to the local records to narrow your research. These are recorded nearby towns and areas, not verified departure points or accommodation recommendations.
Port Douglas
60 site records refer to this town or area.
Look for operators around Port Douglas →Airlie Beach
37 site records refer to this town or area.
Look for operators around Airlie Beach →Heron Island (via Gladstone)
27 site records refer to this town or area.
Look for operators around Heron Island (via Gladstone) →Lady Elliot Island (fly-in from Bundaberg, Hervey Bay, Brisbane or Gold Coast)
27 site records refer to this town or area.
Look for operators around Lady Elliot Island (fly-in from Bundaberg, Hervey Bay, Brisbane or Gold Coast) →Mooloolaba
27 site records refer to this town or area.
Look for operators around Mooloolaba →Different outings to look into
| Local example | Recorded nearby place | Recorded access | Follow the evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beaufort Bomber A9-322 Wreck | Burnett Heads | Boat | Recorded source ↗ |
| Cochrane Artificial Reef | Burnett Heads | Boat | Recorded source ↗ |
| Alden's Cave (Flinders Reef) | Brisbane (Scarborough / Manly); Bulwer, Moreton Island | Boat (day trip) | Recorded source ↗ |
| Comboyuro Point | Bulwer, Moreton Island | Boat (day trip) | Recorded source ↗ |
How to use this shortlist
Choose the named outing that interests you first. Compare its recorded place and access with your accommodation plans, then obtain the actual meeting address and schedule from the provider. The site links show the underlying depth, location confidence and source notes. Similar town names or map positions do not establish that two outings can be combined in a day.
A closer look at Queensland
Get a feel for the diving
Our Queensland directory currently includes 594 published site records. The largest recorded category is reef (290 records). Use the mix below to decide what you would like to read about first.
Queensland: what’s in the directory?
A visual guide to recorded site types. Counts show coverage, not popularity or current availability.
Source: published YouDive directory records for Queensland. Bars use the same scale within this graphic; the longest is the largest category, not 100% of the destination.
A few local records to compare
Start with Beaufort Bomber A9-322 Wreck, Cochrane Artificial Reef, Alden's Cave (Flinders Reef). These are examples from different recorded categories, not a recommended route or a list of the best sites. Open each record for its sources, map and review notes.
| Site | Recorded type | Access | Depth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beaufort Bomber A9-322 Wreck Details need confirmation | Aircraft Wreck | Boat | Depth not recorded |
| Cochrane Artificial Reef | Artificial Reef | Boat | 10–20 m |
| Alden's Cave (Flinders Reef) Details need confirmation | Cave/Cavern | Boat (day trip) | Depth not recorded |
| Comboyuro Point Details need confirmation | Drift | Boat (day trip) | 15–40 m |
How the recorded depths compare
A dot shows a recorded maximum. A line joins the recorded minimum and maximum when both are available. These are site descriptions, not target depths or certification limits.
The table above contains the same depth values. Depth alone cannot establish suitability, and records may require correction. Source: the linked site records.
Find your little corner of Queensland
A Queensland dive holiday starts with a more useful question than “Which reef?”: where will your actual day begin? Use the local records below to explore the setting, then connect that idea with a departure and the time you have available.
Choose the outing before the room
A mainland departure, an island stay and a multi-day boat trip have different rhythms. Write down the exact activity you want, who is joining and whether everyone plans to dive. Ask about meeting and return times before building accommodation and transfers around a promotional reef name. On a mixed trip, find out what non-divers can actually book on the same departure.
Give each day a job
Keep arrival, equipment fitting and your main diving outing visible as separate parts of the plan. If you hope to complete training during the trip, put the course schedule alongside the travel schedule. A free morning on a holiday calendar does not establish that a course session or reef departure will fit into it. Leave the unanswered details in your notes until the provider confirms them.
Make room for the unexpected
Compare the value of the whole outing, including guiding, equipment, meals and transfers. Ask what happens if the itinerary changes and which alternatives might be offered. That gives you something practical to compare between quotes. Seasonal research helps you choose dates; the actual departure still depends on current arrangements and the people operating the trip.
Three conversations worth having before you book
Mainland boat day
Which meeting point and return time apply?
Match transport to the actual departure.
Island-based stay
Which transfers and diving are separate bookings?
Keep each booking and payee visible.
Multi-day trip
Which sites are possibilities rather than promises?
Read the itinerary-change terms.
From “that looks lovely” to a plan
Make Queensland your kind of dive trip
Find your starting point, meet the local options and keep your ideas together. You do not need to have the whole trip worked out yet.
Where are you on your diving journey?
I’m just getting started
Find out how a first course works, compare your options and get comfortable asking questions.
I’m ready to explore more
Connect your next outing with useful reading and a conversation about the right training and support.
I’m thinking about teaching
Explore the professional pathway and prepare better questions for a training centre.
These are learning paths to explore, not prerequisites for every local site. Confirm the actual course, instructor and your readiness with the provider.
People to talk to about Queensland
A few operator profiles from this state or territory to start exploring. Shown alphabetically, not as a quality ranking. Ask about the specific trip or course you want.
Listed in this state or territory
1770 Reef
Seventeen Seventy
An operation running trips from the Town of 1770 to Lady Musgrave Island and the southern Great Barrier Reef.
Meet this operator →Listed in this state or territory
ABC Reef Safaris
Port Douglas
Open the profile for contact details and recorded services, then ask about current arrangements.
Meet this operator →Listed in this state or territory
Adrenalin Snorkel & Dive
South Townsville
A Townsville operation running SS Yongala trips alongside reef diving and training.
Meet this operator →Listed in this state or territory
ADRENO Brisbane
Brisbane
A large equipment retailer with a strong spearfishing and freediving emphasis alongside scuba equipment. This is primarily a retail business rather than a training centre.
Meet this operator →Let’s put the pieces together
Start with the place and your questions. Add dates and prices once you have spoken with the people running the trip.
Open my trips
Creates a new trip with this destination, useful reading and starter questions. Saved on this browser; export a backup from My trips.
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
Atherton Tablelands2 sitesBrisbane & Moreton Bay34 sitesBundaberg & Agnes Water20 sitesCairns82 sitesCapricorn Coast & Keppel Islands24 sitesFar Northern Reef & Torres Strait24 sitesGold Coast27 sitesHeron Island & Capricorn Group38 sitesHervey Bay & K'gari14 sitesLady Elliot Island27 sitesLady Musgrave & Bunker Group19 sitesMackay9 sitesMission Beach & Cassowary Coast10 sitesNorth Stradbroke Island14 sitesPort Douglas62 sitesRainbow Beach4 sitesRibbon Reefs & Lizard Island43 sitesSunshine Coast41 sitesSwain Reefs16 sitesTownsville & Magnetic Island42 sitesWhitsundays & Bowen42 sites
Dive sites to explore
Search within Queensland, or narrow the list to a recorded dive type. Open a site for its map, sources and access notes.
594 matching site records. Listings do not confirm current access or availability.
QLD
Reef
ReefCairns
East Meets West (Thetford Reef)
A wall that dissolves into small bommies, sheltered in summer northerlies.
QLDReef
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.
QLDWall
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…
QLDReef
ReefMission Beach & Cassowary Coast
Ellison Reef
A calm, shallow green-zone coral garden with abundant turtles – ideal for first-time reef divers and families.
QLDDrift
DriftLady Elliot Island
Encounters (Lady Elliot Island)
A current-swept southern reef edge beyond the airstrip where mantas come to feed.
QLDReef
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.
QLDReef
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…
QLDPinnacle/Bommie
Pinnacle/BommieCairns
Fish Bowl (Moore Reef)
Four bommies on a shallow reef edge – reef fish in the shallows and whitetip sharks at 18 m.
QLDShore/Rock Platform
Shore/Rock PlatformCairns
Fitzroy Island
The only easy walk-in reef shore dive near Cairns, beside a resort, dive shop and turtle rehabilitation centre.
QLDReef
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…
QLDShore/Rock Platform
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…
QLDReef
ReefPort Douglas
Flower Gardens (St Crispin Reef)
Soft-coral 'flower garden' near St Crispin's southern gap with rabbitfish pairs and nudibranchs.
QLDShore/Rock Platform
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.
QLDShore/Rock Platform
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.
QLDReef
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.
QLDShore/Rock Platform
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.
QLDShore/Rock Platform
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.
QLDReef
ReefCairns
Golf Clubs (Hastings Reef)
A wrap-around hard-coral reef right beside the boat, sheltered from rare strong westerlies.
QLDWall
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.
QLDReef
ReefGold Coast
Gretas Reef
Parallel boulder lines and colourful bommies at 16-20 m, with dolphins and sharks sometimes feeding on baitfish.
QLDReef
ReefCapricorn Coast & Keppel Islands
Halfway Island (Keppels)
A sheltered staghorn coral garden in 7 m, busy with small fish, feather stars and sea snakes.
QLDArtificial Reef
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.
QLDReef
ReefWhitsundays & Bowen
Hardy Reef South
Steep, gully-cut outer face of Hardy Reef in clear water, with pelagics along the slope.
QLDArtificial Reef
Artificial ReefBrisbane & Moreton Bay
Harry Atkinson Artificial Reef
One of Australia's oldest artificial reefs (1975), with the 24 m Tiwi Pearl scuttled in 2010 – but diving is currently prohibited.