The name is used elsewhere on the northern Great Barrier Reef: Opal Reef, off Port Douglas, has a well-known site called Acropolis, which is listed separately in this database. The Ribbon Reefs site should not be confused with it.

If the site is a tiered coral formation on the lagoon side of the Ribbons, divers can expect the usual fauna of the area: anthias and chromis over the coral, fusiliers and trevally schooling in the blue, sweetlips and groupers under ledges, whitetip reef sharks on the sand, turtles, cuttlefish and a range of nudibranchs and small crustaceans. In winter dwarf minke whales range through the Ribbons.

This record should be treated as provisional. Divers on a Spirit of Freedom trip should ask the crew whether Acropolis is still used and where it lies, and the entry should be revised with confirmed details. Until then it is best considered an occasional alternative mooring, used when weather or crowding rules out the better-documented sites nearby.

Liveaboard only (or fly-dive via Lizard Island). Mike Ball Dive Expeditions' Spoilsport and Spirit of Freedom depart Cairns (Trinity Wharf / Marlin Marina) in the evening and steam north overnight, roughly 12–14 hours and 200–250 km, to reach the Ribbon Reefs by morning; some itineraries fly Cairns–Lizard Island (about one hour, scenic flight along the coast) and board or disembark there. Trips run 3–7 nights and include Acropolis on some Spirit of Freedom itineraries.

Divers enter by giant stride from the dive deck at the mooring and descend the mooring line. The site has been listed on Spirit of Freedom's 7-night itinerary; its exact mooring is not published.

The Ribbon Reefs sit on the edge of the continental shelf and take the full south-east trade wind from April to October. Lagoon-side moorings stay diveable in 20–25 knot SE winds, but reef-front sites and passes need lighter winds; liveaboards shelter behind the reefs overnight. September to December is usually calmest.

Tidal flow through the gaps between the Ribbons is strong on springs, so exposed pinnacles are timed for slack water. December to April brings rain, lower visibility and cyclone risk; box jellyfish and Irukandji are possible November to May.

No published dive plan. Expect a moored reef or bommie dive: descend the line, follow the crew's route around the coral structures, turn at half gas and do the safety stop on the reef top.

Spirit of Freedom – occasional on longer Ribbon Reef/Coral Sea itineraries (per third-party itinerary listing).