Getting around the East Coast
Australia
Asia & Pacific
Three nights living on the Ribbon Reefs with up to 11 dives: dense healthy coral, giant clams, schooling pelagics, and the Cod Hole, home to a resident family of giant potato cod who come to meet the divers.
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$2,509 AUD
per person · twin share
4.8 from 125 Google reviews
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The Ribbon Reefs run along the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef like a string of pearls, remote enough that day boats can't touch them, which is exactly why liveaboard divers speak about them in a reverent tone. Three nights out here buys you up to eleven dives, and the diving justifies the arithmetic. The sites deliver the full reef portfolio: clouds of tropical fish over vibrant, healthy coral, giant clams and anemones, and huge schools of cruising pelagics out in the blue. The headline act is the Cod Hole, one of the most famous dive sites in Australia, where a resident family of giant potato cod, genuinely enormous, genuinely curious, approach divers with the confidence of animals who've never had a bad meeting. It's a small-group trip capped at ten. Full and individual gear hire is available onboard if you're travelling light. Bring your certification card and spare log book pages.
1 Up to 11 dives, three nights
2 The famous Cod Hole
3 Giant potato cod encounters
4 Remote Ribbon Reef sites
5 Schooling pelagics in the blue
6 Max ten divers
The Spirit of Freedom courtesy bus will pick you up from your Cairns hotel around 11:00 am to transfer you to Trinity Wharf. There you will be greeted by the Spirit of Freedom crew, who will give you an orientation of the vessel before on you depart on your 3-night liveaboard dive trip at 12 noon. Enjoy lunch on board while we cruise to the outer Great Barrier Reef for an afternoon check-out dive and a twilight dive. After dinner we cruise north to dive the Ribbon Reefs.
These two days are spent diving along the Ribbon Reefs, from Number 3 to Number 10 Ribbon Reefs. Dive sites and sequence may vary depending on the weather conditions, but will always include at least one dive at the Cod Hole, where you encounter a family of massive and very friendly Potato Cod. Other sites may include Wonder-wall, Pixie Pinnacle, Challenger Bay, Two Towers, Lighthouse Bommie, and the Snake Pit, just to name a few. If the current is right, you may also take a drift dive at Dynamite Pass, well know as a channel for sharks to pass through. See the Ribbon Reef page for site selection of some of our dive sites on the Ribbon Reefs. 4 to 5 dives will be available each day, including a night dive on Friday. On Saturday evening we overnight at Watson’s Bay, Lizard Island, and enjoy a sunset BBQ dinner on the top deck.
These two days are spent diving along the Ribbon Reefs, from Number 3 to Number 10 Ribbon Reefs. Dive sites and sequence may vary depending on the weather conditions, but will always include at least one dive at the Cod Hole, where you encounter a family of massive and very friendly Potato Cod. Other sites may include Wonder-wall, Pixie Pinnacle, Challenger Bay, Two Towers, Lighthouse Bommie, and the Snake Pit, just to name a few. If the current is right, you may also take a drift dive at Dynamite Pass, well know as a channel for sharks to pass through. See the Ribbon Reef page for site selection of some of our dive sites on the Ribbon Reefs. 4 to 5 dives will be available each day, including a night dive on Friday. On Saturday evening we overnight at Watson’s Bay, Lizard Island, and enjoy a sunset BBQ dinner on the top deck.
This morning after breakfast you will disembark and say farewell to Spirit of Freedom. On shore, at Lizard Island, you can take the guided walk from Watson’s Beach to Mary Watson’s cottage over Chinaman’s Ridge and back to the air-strip. Following a picnic of a Breakfast Roll and drinks you will board a light aircraft for your flight back to Cairns. The one-hour flight arrives at Hinterland Aviation, Cairns General Aviation Airport around 11.15 to 11:45 am, where the Spirit of Freedom courtesy coach will meet you for your transfer back to your Cairns city hotel at the end of your liveaboard dive trip.
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Verified reviews of the vetted operator who runs this tour on the ground.
The operator's track record
"The two night dives are disorienting due to the activity of the wildlife: the best of my life. We see sharks at every dive without feeding. The wildlife is respected. We saw Minke whales at least three times, twice while snorkeling and once while descending to the dive site."
Berengere B.
Verified traveller
Verified traveller reviews · shown as excerpts.
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Two days and a night on Reef Encounter, Cairns' floating reef hotel: up to six dives across the outer Great Barrier Reef including a night dive, with all meals, gear and reef levies included. Certified divers only.
From
$2509
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