Cairns is where a very large number of people learn to dive, and where the liveaboards leave for the Ribbon Reefs and the Coral Sea. This guide is about diving specifically. If you are after a day on the reef with a mask and a snorkel, our guide to choosing a reef trip is the one you want.
The rule that decides your itinerary
Read this first, because it changes when you book everything else. Pro Dive Cairns recommends allowing at least 24 hours after your last dive before you fly. You can fly in and dive the same day, but you cannot dive and then fly. Cairns is a place people fly out of, often on a morning flight, so the diving goes at the front of the trip and not the back. People get this wrong constantly and either lose the dives or take a risk they should not.
Learning to dive here
The minimum age to learn to dive in Queensland is 10. Courses come in a few shapes and the choice is mostly about whether you want to sleep on a boat. Pro Dive Cairns runs a five day learn to dive built around a liveaboard, a four day version with the theory done online beforehand, a four day course based on day trips, and shorter pool and referral options for people finishing a certification started elsewhere.
The five day course is the one most people mean. It includes nine dives, four of them training dives and five recreational including a night dive, plus dive insurance, the PADI Gold Open Water certification, the manual, a log book and accommodation transfers within Cairns city. Courses start every day except Sunday, and on day three you are at the shop on the corner of Shields and Grafton Streets for an 07:00 departure.
The medical, which is a Queensland thing
You fill in an Entry Level Student Diver Medical Declaration before you can train. If you answer yes to any question on it, you need a dive medical certificate from a doctor before you can get in the water. Sort this out before you arrive rather than on day one, because finding a doctor who does dive medicals at short notice in a busy season is not fun.
Day boat or liveaboard
A day boat gets you two or three dives and your own bed that night. A liveaboard gets you three to five dives a day including night dives, and takes you to reef the day boats cannot reach. If you have already done a reef day trip and found the diving over too quickly, the liveaboard is the answer rather than a second day trip.
What liveaboards cost
Mike Ball Dive Expeditions publishes from-prices, which is unusually straight for this end of the market: standard expeditions of three, four, five and seven nights from AUD $2,304, a five night Great Barrier Reef and Ribbon Reefs trip from $2,047, and a seven night Coral Sea exploratory taking in Holmes, Bougainville, Osprey and the Ribbon Reefs from $4,148. Several other operators quote on application. Pro Dive Cairns publishes its five day learn to dive package at AUD $1,415 for 2026/27, valid from 1 April to 31 March, with the $8.50 a day reef Environmental Management Charge included in that price.
The sites worth the trip
The famous ones are north, along the Ribbon Reefs: the Cod Hole, where the potato cod are the size of a small car and entirely unbothered by you, plus Pixie Pinnacle, Steve’s Bommie and Lighthouse Bommie. Further out, Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea is the wall diving and shark action trip. These are liveaboard destinations, not day trip destinations, which is the single biggest reason people upgrade.
Dwarf minke whales, and why June and July are different
For a few weeks each winter the dwarf minke whales turn up on the Ribbon Reefs, and a small number of permitted operators run swim-with expeditions. Mike Ball puts the season at June and July. It is one of very few places in the world where this interaction is permitted and managed, the whales approach the boat rather than the other way around, and the trips book out a long way ahead. If you are choosing when to come and this is the reason, build the trip around those two months.
Already certified?
Bring your card and your log book. Operators will ask when you last dived and may want a refresher if it has been a while, which is reasonable rather than a sales tactic. Nitrox is widely available and worth it on a liveaboard where you are doing four dives a day. Pro Dive runs advanced, nitrox, rescue and professional courses out of the same training centre if you want to add a ticket while you are here.
FAQs
How long before flying can I dive in Cairns? Allow at least 24 hours after your last dive before you fly. You can fly in and dive that same day, but not dive and then fly.
What is the minimum age to learn to dive in Queensland? Ten.
Do I need a dive medical? Only if you answer yes to anything on the Entry Level Student Diver Medical Declaration. Deal with it before you arrive.
How much is a liveaboard out of Cairns? Mike Ball publishes from AUD $2,047 for a five night Great Barrier Reef and Ribbon Reefs trip and from $2,304 for its standard expeditions. Other operators quote on application.
When can I swim with dwarf minke whales? June and July, on permitted liveaboard expeditions to the Ribbon Reefs. Book well ahead.
Visitor info
Minimum age to learn to dive in Queensland: 10.
Medical: an Entry Level Student Diver Medical Declaration, with a doctor’s dive medical if you answer yes to anything.
Flying: allow at least 24 hours after your last dive.
Liveaboard from-prices: Mike Ball, five night Great Barrier Reef and Ribbon Reefs from AUD $2,047, standard expeditions from $2,304, seven night Coral Sea from $4,148.
Signature sites: Cod Hole, Pixie Pinnacle, Steve’s Bommie, Lighthouse Bommie, Osprey Reef.
Dwarf minke whales: June and July, permitted operators only.
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Header photo: Phil Warring. Courtesy of Tourism and Events Queensland.
