The Fish Bowl is Hastings Reef's most famous site and one of the best shallow dives off Cairns. A circular wall of coral encloses a bowl roughly 5 m deep, and inside it the coral growth is healthy and strong; Cairns Dive Adventures describes it as a safe haven for hundreds of smaller reef fish, and that is exactly how it feels, with clouds of damselfish, chromis and anthias over the coral and schools of fusiliers wheeling overhead. Tusa Reef Tours, which uses the site as a regular mooring, highlights giant clam beds and staghorn corals in the shallows, damsels, anemones and clownfish, spangled emperor, and a resident Maori wrasse the crew call Wally, who is accustomed to divers and often follows groups around.

Large schools of humphead (bumphead) parrotfish congregate here in the early morning, grazing noisily on the coral, and turtles are frequently seen. Dolphins and manta rays have been reported passing through. Because the bowl is so shallow and enclosed, it is sheltered, bright and easy, and is equally good for snorkellers, introductory divers and certified divers who want a long, relaxed dive; bottom times of an hour are common.

Photographers get excellent natural light and very approachable fish. For certified divers wanting more depth, the outer slope beyond the rim drops to about 15 m. The site's popularity means it can be busy when several boats are on Hastings, but the bowl is large enough to absorb a few groups.

It sets a benchmark for how much life a shallow Great Barrier Reef site can hold.

Boat access only. Cairns day boats leave from the Reef Fleet Terminal (1 Spence Street) and the neighbouring Marlin Marina on the city waterfront, with check-in between about 7:00 and 8:00 am; most operators run transfers from city and northern-beaches accommodation, and there is paid parking near the terminal. The run of about 50 km out through Trinity Inlet and across the lagoon to Hastings Reef takes around 75 minutes on a fast catamaran and noticeably longer on slower dive boats or into a south-easterly chop.

Fish Bowl is a signature mooring for Tusa Reef Tours and is also used by other Hastings operators. Enter from the stern platform into the shallow bowl.

The prevailing south-east trade winds (typically 15-25 knots from April to September) are what limit Cairns outer-reef diving: above about 25 knots trips may be cancelled, and exposed eastern moorings are used only in light winds. Summer northerlies are gentler but make north-facing moorings choppy. Box jellyfish and Irukandji are present from about November to May (stinger suits on every dive), and the cyclone season runs November to April, when a system in the Coral Sea can close the reef for days.

Visibility drops after heavy rain and strong winds; spring is usually calmest and clearest. Hastings has moorings on all sides, so there is almost always a sheltered option. The bowl is well protected and is dived in most conditions; bumphead parrotfish schools are most reliable in the early morning, and visibility in the bowl drops on big spring tides.

Enter and descend to the sandy floor of the bowl at about 5 m, then circle the inside of the coral wall slowly, visiting the giant clam beds and staghorn patches. Experienced divers can exit over the rim to the outer slope (to about 15 m) before returning into the bowl for a long, shallow finish.

Reef Experience – daily day trips (Hastings is a core reef); Passions of Paradise – day trips to 1770, Golf Clubs, Pirates Cove, Split Bommie and Stepping Stones; Divers Den (Reef Quest day boat, Ocean Quest liveaboard) – Angel Bommie, Blue Lagoon, Turtle Bommie; Tusa Reef Tours – Fish Bowl; Aqua Quest, Down Under Cruise & Dive and Reef Encounter (liveaboard) – regular