Marine World Wall is the house reef for divers on the Reef Magic pontoon at Moore Reef. Diveplanit describes it as a horseshoe-shaped wall and calls it a comeback story: the reef was badly damaged by Tropical Cyclone Yasi in 2011, and has since recovered to around 80 per cent coral cover, with plating corals now competing for space with branching corals. Seeing a reef in that state of regrowth is one of the more encouraging experiences on the Cairns reefs, and the layers of plate coral stacked down the wall are photogenic.

The fish list is good for a pontoon site: drummer and rainbow runners in the open water, coral trout, lizardfish, whitetip reef sharks and tawny nurse sharks on the reef, and occasional manta rays passing along the edge. Nudibranchs and feather stars add macro interest. Reef Magic offers certified divers up to three guided dives a day with around five hours on the reef, described as private drift, wall and channel dives, so Marine World Wall may be combined with other nearby sites on the same trip; introductory divers stay in the sheltered coral lagoon at 4-5 m (to a maximum of 12 m) after practising in a moon pool on the pontoon.

The site suits Open Water divers and is a comfortable option for those who want several dives in a day without a long boat ride between them. Reef Magic installed a new pontoon, Marine World, in recent years, reported by Divernet. For divers who last saw Moore Reef in the years after Yasi, the regrowth is striking.

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 47 km out through Trinity Inlet and across the lagoon to Moore Reef takes around 90 minutes on a fast catamaran and noticeably longer on slower dive boats or into a south-easterly chop.

Reef Magic Cruises runs daily from the Reef Fleet Terminal to its Marine World pontoon; certified divers get up to three guided dives (drift, wall and channel) during about five hours on the reef. Entry is from the pontoon dive 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. Moore's horseshoe shape shelters its western side in south-easterlies, so the pontoons run in most weather short of a gale or cyclone. The wall is on the sheltered side and is dived daily; drift dives along it are run when a gentle current is present.

Enter from the pontoon, descend to 12-15 m on the wall and follow the horseshoe with the reef on one side, drifting gently if the current allows. Rise to the plating corals at 6-8 m for the return and complete the safety stop near the pontoon.

Reef Magic Cruises – daily pontoon trips; certified divers get up to three guided dives (drift, wall and channel) per day