Re: Great Barrier Reef - Which Operator?

On Fri, 22 Aug 2003 01:28:59 -0700, Old Codger wrote:

> My wife and I are intending to spend a week in Cairns to dive the
> Great Barrier Reef in December. We are not interested in live aboards
> and would be quite happy to dive the inner reef on day trips (two
> dives per day) with maybe a night dive as well. Can anyone recommend a
> dive operator there?

I'd recommend diving somewhere else. I did a liveaboard last year which
went up to the Cod Hole and then did the Ribbon Reefs on the way down.
By the time we got as far south as Port Douglas, the viz dropped to 10m
and a lot of the staghorn coral was dead and covered in algae. Since my
previous visit in 1998, the reef had got a lot worse.

Are you thinking of going north of Cairns? If so you could dive out of
Cape Tribulation. The reef is nearer the shore there, so day trips are
more feasible. Or if you're going south you could dive the wreck of the
Yongala out of Townsville, and you'll see far more fish life there than
any reef, or the reefs out of Airlie Beach seemed in better shape.

Jason

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