Brisbane

[captainandy]

Dove Heron Island 30 years ago and will be in Brisbane with family of 4 certified divers in January. Checked prices at Heron and quite expensive. Any recommendations for affordable diving in great barrier reef?

Thanks,

Andy

 

[cseeber]

I think you will find everything in Australia is expensive these days, especially with the exchange rate (good for us :celeb3

Anywhere from Heron Island right up to the cape has awesome diving, but make sure you get out on the "outer reef:
Anything inside of that will be nowhere near the quality of those reefs.
I have dived off Port Douglas and out from Airlie Beach (Hook Reef/Hardy Reef) and both were awesome.

As much as I don't want to turn you away from Australia, if your looking to save money then head up to Thailand/Phillippines/Malaysia/Indonesia/Fiji. Food and accommodation is so cheap and diving is quite reasonable and the reefs can be better than those on the GBR.

 

[Hexagon Mop]

Check divethereef.com. They have many packages avail from different spots and operators on the reef. I used them 2 years ago and went with CDC out of Cairns. CDC was very cheap-it was like $368 per person (I chose budget package). It was a 4d/3n liveaboard with 11 dives including all gear and food.

 

[captainandy]

I think you will find everything in Australia is expensive these days, especially with the exchange rate (good for us :celeb3

Anywhere from Heron Island right up to the cape has awesome diving, but make sure you get out on the "outer reef:
Anything inside of that will be nowhere near the quality of those reefs.
I have dived off Port Douglas and out from Airlie Beach (Hook Reef/Hardy Reef) and both were awesome.

Can you recommend a nice place to stay in Port Douglass and a good outfit to dive with?

 

[captainandy]

Check divethereef.com. They have many packages avail from different spots and operators on the reef. I used them 2 years ago and went with CDC out of Cairns. CDC was very cheap-it was like $368 per person (I chose budget package). It was a 4d/3n liveaboard with 11 dives including all gear and food.

Gonna check them out. Thanks.

 

[somosomo]

If you are in Brisbane and want something local check out Stradbroke Island..its not the GBR but it has some decent sites and some Brisbane dive shops take boat trips out there. There also was a shop on the island when I was there a few years ago.

I also did a 3 day /11 dive trip out of Cairns with Pro Dive a while back and was not disappointed.

 

[evokevin]

we went snorkling/diving with a trip off hamilton island, and snorkling off green island last year. hamiton island was further on the reef then green island. green island was near cairns. the trip off hamiton island was far more reef to see, even though it was quite murky (typhoon the week before). green island was especially awsome because of the different fish we saw. although its shallow so not "scuba" diving.

 

[cseeber]

Can you recommend a nice place to stay in Port Douglass and a good outfit to dive with?

Really depends on your budget.
When I last went there we stayed in this really cheap one bedroom apartment.
It had aircon, a balcony, bed and bathroom, and that was about it.
We didn't care as we were just there to dive.
The room was about $60 a night and although old was clean and tidy.

Lots of places are geared at family entertainment in Port Douglas.
You can't really swim in the water. Too many crocs and too many stingers, so the hotels have big pools to swim in. I am more of a traveller than a holidayer, so I don't go to a place to spend the days at the resort of the room.

I dived with Quicksilver when I went to Port Douglas. They are pretty big in Cairns/Port Douglas, and take out maybe 1000 people each day on 2-3 boats, so you will be out there with 300 odd snorkelers and divers. I only went with them as a friend was an engineer on the boat so I got the staff rates. If I was to do it again I would pick a smaller boat.

I am actually heading up to Cairns at Christmas and will be going out on Tusa 6. It is apparently the newest boat in Cairns (as of 2 months ago anyway), and the rates were quite good. ($200 p/p for 3 dives with tanks and weights with lunch).

 

[cseeber]

If you are in Brisbane and want something local check out Stradbroke Island..its not the GBR but it has some decent sites and some Brisbane dive shops take boat trips out there. There also was a shop on the island when I was there a few years ago.

Stradbroke island is my favourite place to dive.
I can day trip it from my house, and it has some awesome, although small, reefs that can be dived.

I would skip most of the companies in Brisbane. They all leave from Redcliffe (I think) which makes it a 1 hour drive from Brisbane + 2 hour boat ride to the reefs. That adds 6 hours of transport for 2 hours diving.
Best option is to drive to the ferry and drive over to straddy. If you dive with a boat from Straddy you are only on the water for your dives + maybe 30 minutes. I would much rather pay for the ferry instead of paying to sit on a boat all day.

Also the dive shop is very expensive. PM me if you want a contact for a guy who runs out of his house. He is all legal and that (properly certified and licensed), but he only runs by appointment if that makes sense. Basically I get the 7am ferry over, we gear up and hit the water around 9, usually back on land about 12 and can get the 1pm ferry home.