Sandra's on Norman Reef is a Divers Den site that accommodates every skill level in one place. The operator describes a beautiful shallow shelf for snorkellers and novices and a deep wall for experienced divers, with coral-covered bommies sitting amid white sand and hosting numerous damselfish. It is a site where a mixed group can split up by ability and still share the same mooring, and the transition between shelf and wall makes for an interesting multi-level dive.

The shelf is bright and colourful, the white sand reflecting light onto the bommies and making them glow, and the damselfish, chromis and anthias over the coral are thick enough to form clouds. Schools of humphead parrotfish, large, bulbous-headed fish that crunch coral audibly as they feed, frequent the site, as does Wally, a Maori wrasse well known to Divers Den crews. Maori wrasse are large, slow and curious, and this one often follows groups.

On the wall, hard and soft corals give way to fans and whips at depth, and reef sharks, trevally and fusiliers patrol the edge. Norman Reef as a whole is known for clear water and diverse corals, and Cairns Dive Adventures lists giant clams, anemonefish, coral trout, cuttlefish, moray eels and turtles among its residents; epaulette sharks can even be seen in the shallows at very low tide. The site suits all levels and is a good introduction to Norman.

Saxon Reef has an unrelated site called Sandra's with its own entry. Visibility is typically 15-25 m, and the shelf is at its most colourful on a sunny day near high tide.

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 58 km out through Trinity Inlet and across the lagoon to Norman Reef takes around 82 minutes on a fast catamaran and noticeably longer on slower dive boats or into a south-easterly chop.

Sandra's is a Divers Den mooring on Norman Reef (Saxon Reef has a separate site of the same name). Enter from the stern platform onto the shelf.

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. Most Norman moorings lie on its protected western side. Sandra's is on the sheltered side and is dived in most trade-wind conditions; humphead parrotfish are most often seen in the morning.

Novices and snorkellers stay on the shallow shelf among the bommies at 3-8 m. Experienced divers drop over the shelf edge to the wall and follow it at 15-22 m, then return up onto the shelf for the second half of the dive and a safety stop among the bommies.

Divers Den (Reef Quest, Ocean Quest) – regular; other Norman operators occasionally; Norman is also worked by Divers Den (Ocean Quest liveaboard), Reef Experience, Aqua Quest, Down Under Cruise & Dive, Reef Encounter and Passions of Paradise; the mooring used on any day is chosen by the skipper according to wind, tide and other boats