Whaler Point is the southern end of Agincourt Reef No. 1 and a good introduction to what the Agincourt complex does best: a hard-and-soft coral reef slope in clear shelf-edge water with a steady stream of larger fish passing along the point. Silverseries and Poseidon both describe it as rich in coral diversity, and that is the character of the dive – boulder corals, staghorn thickets, plate corals and a heavy cover of soft corals spread from the reef top at about 5 m down a gentle slope to sand at around 20 m. Because it is a point, the tidal stream wraps around it and brings food to the reef edge.

That is what draws the bigger animals the site is named for: reef sharks cruising along the bottom of the slope, eagle and blue-spotted rays on the sand, and roving schools of barracuda and oceanic sweetlips over the drop. Parrotfish and drummers work the reef top in noisy groups, and clouds of small shoaling fish – fusiliers, anthias and chromis – hang over the coral heads. The layout is simple, which makes it a common first or second dive of the day for newly certified divers and introductory divers alike: the mooring sits on the protected side, the reef gives an obvious handrail out and back, and the best colour is in the top 10 m where there is plenty of light.

More experienced divers can hang a little deeper off the point on the outward leg to watch for pelagics before coming back up the slope. Visibility on Agincourt 1 typically sits around 15 m and can exceed 30 m on calm, neap-tide days in spring. Like all Agincourt moorings it is part of a Great Barrier Reef Marine Park zone with strict no-take rules, and the coral cover reflects decades of careful mooring management by the Port Douglas operators.

It suits all levels, snorkellers included on the reef top, and rewards photographers with wide-angle coral scenes and schooling fish against blue water. If you want a relaxed dive with a real chance of sharks and a lot of healthy coral, Whaler Point is a reliable choice.

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 the mooring to the sand at 12–15 m, then work along the reef edge towards the tip with the reef on one shoulder. Hold 12–18 m on the outward leg looking into the blue for sharks and barracuda, turn on one-third of your gas and come back shallower over the top of the reef slope at 6–8 m where the soft corals and boulder corals are densest. Safety stop on the reef top near the mooring.

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.