Barracuda Bommie is exactly what its name promises on a good day: a steep coral pinnacle on Agincourt Reef No. 2 with a school of barracuda circling it. Silverseries calls it a fantastic pinnacle, and it is one of the sites the Port Douglas crews use to show visitors how much life a single bommie can hold. The pinnacle rises from sand at around 22 m to within a few metres of the surface.

Its sides are covered with hard corals, sea fans and soft corals, with ledges and holes where lionfish hover and moray eels lurk. The barracuda – usually chevron or blackfin – hang in a slowly rotating column off the up-current side, and dogtooth tuna occasionally sweep in from the blue to hunt the fusiliers and fairy basslets that swarm over the upper slopes. Drummers patrol in groups and feather stars cling to every high point to feed in the flow.

Around the pinnacle the reef opens into sandy shallows studded with boulder corals, where goatfish dig, garden eels poke from the sand and small reef fish crowd each coral head. This shallow zone makes the site ideal for snorkellers, who can look down on the top of the bommie and often see the barracuda from the surface. The classic profile is to start at the base, circle once or twice watching for the school and any pelagic visitors, then spiral upward so that the shallow part of the dive is spent exploring the top and the surrounding garden.

The structure makes navigation very easy – you simply keep the bommie on one side – which is why instructors like it for newer divers. Visibility is often 20 m or better. The site lies in the protected Agincourt zoning, so fish are numerous and relaxed around divers.

It is a short, satisfying dive that suits every level and gives photographers the chance to frame a silhouetted school above a coral-covered pinnacle.

Agincourt day boats leave Crystalbrook Superyacht Marina (formerly the Reef Marina) on Wharf Street, Port Douglas, between about 8:00 and 8:30 am. Park in the marina car park or the free all-day street parking around Wharf and Dixie streets; Quicksilver, Poseidon and Calypso also run coach pick-ups from Port Douglas, Palm Cove and northern Cairns beaches. The run to the Agincourt ribbon reefs on the edge of the continental shelf is about 65–70 km north-east and takes roughly 75–90 minutes on the large catamarans (Silversonic is the fastest), longer on small-group boats such as Scuba IQ/Blue Dive.

You gear up on board and giant-stride from the dive deck at a permanent mooring; the skipper picks the sites on the day to suit wind and tide, so a named site is never guaranteed. Boats are back at the marina around 4:30 pm.

Agincourt is an outer ribbon reef on the shelf edge, so it is fully exposed to the south-east trade winds that blow from about April to September. Moorings on the protected western (back-reef) side remain diveable in 15–20 knots, but anything over 25 knots or a 2.5 m+ sea makes the crossing rough and operators may cancel or switch to more sheltered moorings. Calm spells in October–December give the glassiest days and 30 m+ visibility.

The wet season (December–April) brings northerlies, afternoon storms, cyclone risk and occasional reduced visibility after big rain events, although the outer reef is far less affected by run-off than inshore reefs. Marine stingers are present November–May. Tidal currents run along the reef edges and through the gaps between the Agincourt reefs; spring tides strengthen them, so exposed corners are usually dived on the neaps or near slack water.

Descend to the base of the bommie at 18–22 m on the up-current side, spend the first part of the dive circling slowly and looking up for the barracuda school, then spiral up the pinnacle to 10–12 m. Finish over the sandy shallows and boulder corals near the mooring and do the safety stop on the top of the bommie.

Quicksilver Silversonic – daily, 3 dives across Agincourt 1–4; Poseidon (Quicksilver Group) – daily, 3 sites at Agincourt; Calypso Reef Cruises – regular Agincourt days; Scuba IQ / Blue Dive and Tech Dive Academy – small-group day trips several days a week.