Some of Australia's best diving is at the end of a long ride: the Yongala from Townsville, the outer Great Barrier Reef from Cairns, the Abrolhos from Geraldton. This list ranks day-trip sites by the recorded boat time from the usual departure point.
Updated daily from the directory. 25 sites listed.
1. Townsville & Magnetic Island · QLD
Kelso Reef
Boat ride: 210 min · Shallow coral gardens and drop-offs on a quiet, rarely visited mid-shelf reef north of the Palm Islands.
2. Townsville & Magnetic Island · QLD
Little Kelso Reef
Boat ride: 210 min · Vertical north-eastern drop-off with gullies, caves, overhangs and swim-throughs, and a sheltered back for the boat.
3. Esperance & Recherche Archipelago · WA
Belinda & Penguin Wrecks (Middle Island)
Boat ride: 180 min · An 1824 sealing brig and a steamer's boiler at the Recherche's largest island, home of pink Lake Hillier and pirate Black Jack Anderson.
4. Heron Island & Capricorn Group · QLD
North West Island Reef
Boat ride: 180 min · The GBR's largest coral cay: camp-and-dive self-sufficiency, turtle nesting and gutter-cut southern drop-offs.
5. Eyre Peninsula · SA
Neptune Islands – Great White Shark Cage Diving
Boat ride: 165 min · The only great white cage diving in Australia, from Port Lincoln.
6. Townsville & Magnetic Island · QLD
Davies Reef
Boat ride: 165 min · Excellent western wall with soft corals and gorgonians, detached pinnacles near the AIMS weather station and usually clear water.
7. Townsville & Magnetic Island · QLD
Helix Reef
Boat ride: 150 min · Green-zone reef surrounded by deep blue water with a steep face, prolific fish and ribbon eels.
8. Townsville & Magnetic Island · QLD
Wheeler Reef
Boat ride: 150 min · Small reef with every habitat within reach of one mooring – deep bommies, sand, gutters and a cleaning station – plus good shark and pelagic action; a no-fishing zone.
9. Townsville & Magnetic Island · QLD
Centipede Reef
Boat ride: 150 min · Quiet mid-shelf reef near Wheeler with trevally schools and bommies on its exposed faces.
10. Townsville & Magnetic Island · QLD
MV Reef Princess Wreck (Wheeler Reef)
Boat ride: 150 min · Scant remains of the Reef Princess, a timber dive boat lost at Wheeler Reef in a 1981 storm – a footnote to Townsville dive history.
11. Townsville & Magnetic Island · QLD
Shark Alley (Wheeler Reef)
Boat ride: 150 min · Wheeler Reef's shark site – reef sharks and grey whalers year-round, pygmy mantas October–December.
12. Townsville & Magnetic Island · QLD
Keeper Reef
Boat ride: 140 min · A maze of coral ridges, bommies and swim-throughs in shallow water – easy depths but real navigation interest, and very good snorkelling.
13. Townsville & Magnetic Island · QLD
Lodestone Reef
Boat ride: 135 min · The Townsville 'all-rounder' – a clear, sheltered lagoon for snorkellers and a seaward face of coral canyons, partly roofed gutters and bommies.
14. Lady Musgrave & Bunker Group · QLD
Campgrounds (Lady Musgrave)
Boat ride: 120 min · An untouched outer-reef wall drift past isolated coral formations, with pelagics brought in by the current.
15. Lady Musgrave & Bunker Group · QLD
Entrance Bommies (Lady Musgrave)
Boat ride: 120 min · A drift past flower-like plate and foliose corals at the lagoon mouth, where tidal flow brings sharks, rays and trevally.
16. Cairns · QLD
Great Adventures Pontoon Reef (Moore Reef)
Boat ride: 120 min · Pontoon diving combined with a Green Island stop – easy certified and intro dives for mixed groups.
17. Lady Musgrave & Bunker Group · QLD
Jeff's Edge (Lady Musgrave)
Boat ride: 120 min · A drift along an outer wall of overhangs, caves and crevices, with sharks, rays and turtles off the edge.
18. Townsville & Magnetic Island · QLD
John Brewer Reef – Ocean Sentinels & Coral Gardens
Boat ride: 120 min · Eight 2.2 m Ocean Sentinels sculptures of reef scientists and custodians in 5 m of water, plus a large sheltered lagoon with coral gardens and bommies.
19. Lady Musgrave & Bunker Group · QLD
Manta Bommies (Lady Musgrave)
Boat ride: 120 min · Lady Musgrave's flagship drift over scattered bommies that act as manta cleaning stations, with sharks, rays and turtles along the way.
20. Townsville & Magnetic Island · QLD
MOUA Coral Greenhouse (John Brewer Reef)
Boat ride: 120 min · Guinness-record 12 m, 58-tonne underwater artwork by Jason deCaires Taylor – a coral-colonised 'greenhouse' with sculpted reef guardians inside, in sheltered water at 16 m.
21. Whitsundays & Bowen · QLD
Reefworld Pontoon (Hardy Reef)
Boat ride: 120 min · Permanent outer-reef pontoon with a wall of ledges and caves, tame giant groper and Maori wrasse, observatory and overnight Reefsleep.
22. Lady Musgrave & Bunker Group · QLD
The Apartments (Lady Musgrave)
Boat ride: 120 min · A drift past layered plate corals on an untouched outer wall, in visibility up to 35 m.
23. Lady Musgrave & Bunker Group · QLD
The Aquarium (Lady Musgrave Lagoon)
Boat ride: 120 min · Step off the pontoon into a sheltered lagoon of turtle cleaning stations, giant clams and juvenile fish – ideal for first dives, snorkelling and night dives.
24. Lady Musgrave & Bunker Group · QLD
The Canyons (Lady Musgrave)
Boat ride: 120 min · A drift along an outer wall tiered with pristine plate corals, with sharks, turtles and sea snakes.
25. Lady Musgrave & Bunker Group · QLD
The Caves (Lady Musgrave)
Boat ride: 120 min · An outer wall riddled with overhangs, caves and crevices – the Lady Musgrave programme's photographers' favourite.
Frequently asked questions
Is a long boat ride worth it?
Usually yes: distance from the coast means clearer water, healthier reef and bigger animals. Take seasickness precautions and expect weather cancellations on exposed runs.
More rankings
- The 25 Deepest Dive Sites in Australia
- Australia's Most Remote Dive Sites
- The Warmest Dive Sites in Australia
- The Coldest Dive Sites in Australia
- Australia's Clearest-Water Dive Sites
- The Most Biodiverse Dive Sites in Australia
- The Oldest Shipwrecks You Can Dive in Australia
- WWII and Wartime Wrecks You Can Dive in Australia
- All rankings →