Magic Wall, listed by Divers Den as Reef Magic, is a Saxon Reef mooring with two personalities depending on conditions. In calm weather, Divers Den runs what it calls a challenging dive around the reef edge to the untouched northern end of Saxon Reef; when current is running, the sheltered bay beside the mooring becomes the dive site, providing refuge for anemonefish, turtles, cleaner shrimp, nudibranchs and rays. Humpback snapper, giant trevally, wild-band fusiliers, Moorish idols and paddletail snapper populate the shallow inner areas.

The reef-edge option is the more exciting: the wall carries healthy hard and soft corals, fish schools gather along the edge where water movement is strongest, and the northern end of Saxon, reached only on this kind of dive or from the North Horn mooring, is lightly visited and in excellent condition. Divers need to be comfortable finning some distance and managing gas, which is why Divers Den describes it as challenging. The bay alternative is a relaxed, sheltered dive with plenty of small life, suitable for any level, where cleaner shrimp stations and anemonefish colonies reward a slow pace.

Saxon as a whole is a small reef between Norman and Hastings with calm lagoons, reef sharks, trevally and big cod, and night dives here reveal whitetip, blacktip and grey reef sharks, free-swimming morays, red bass and giant trevally, according to Cairns Dive Adventures. The site suits confident Open Water divers for the edge dive and all levels in the bay. Visibility is usually 12-20 m, better on the edge than in the bay.

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 55 km out through Trinity Inlet and across the lagoon to Saxon Reef takes around 75 minutes on a fast catamaran and noticeably longer on slower dive boats or into a south-easterly chop.

Magic Wall (the 'Reef Magic' mooring) is used by Divers Den and listed by Cairns Dive Adventures and Australian Traveller. Enter from the stern platform.

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. Saxon's western lagoons are sheltered; its weather side is dived only in calm conditions. The reef-edge option is only dived in calm conditions; when current is running the dive stays in the sheltered bay beside the mooring.

Calm conditions: descend to the edge and follow it north at 12-18 m towards the untouched northern end (North Horn), turning at a third of your gas. With current running: stay in the sheltered bay at 5-12 m looking for anemonefish, cleaner shrimp and rays. Safety stop in the bay.

Divers Den (Reef Quest, Ocean Quest) – regular; Reef Experience and Aqua Quest – occasional; Saxon is also worked by Divers Den, Reef Experience, Down Under Cruise & Dive, Tusa Reef Tours, Aqua Quest and Reef Encounter; the mooring used on any day is chosen by the skipper according to wind, tide and other boats