Australia - Limited time so what to choose between Sydney and GBR

[Peter Perkins]

First off, thank you all for the helpful responses!

I was doing a lot of research last night based on the feedback here. The biggest enemy it seems of our day is TOO MUCH INFORMATION . That and huge distances... should have planned for another week in Australia or waited until teleportation is invented to travel fast and efficient

So, I was really warming up to the idea of the 2 day SS Yongala but the fact that given flight times I would need to waste another whole day OR risk flying under 24 hours (and as I am not a very fit guy I'd rather not do that!) OR take the bus for 6 to 12 hours (i.e. bus to Cairns or Brisbane) I kind of resigned from this concept. Given the warnings about state of the road up north (given I have never driven on left as well!!!) and the amount of effort for essentially 3-4 hours underwater I am not sure its worth it.

Discussed with the wife and a new plan (involving her and the little one) seems to be like this...

Skip Yongala (with a VERY HEAVY heart) and spend 4 days in Cairns... meaning Day 1 arrive, Day 2 dive, Day 3 Dive, Day 4 (later afternoon) fly out. This gives me 2 full days of diving, no risk of flying under 24 hours and gives them a couple of days at the beach + rain forest while I am out. I tried to figure out a way to do Yongala on Day 3 but as there are no boats going to it from Cairns (minimum I found is having to go to Townsville) it seems impossible.

Following that I will probably get 1 day of diving in Sydney as the cherry on top...

So here come the follow up questions.

I read a lot about day trips (for example TULSA) and 2D1N trips. I am very unsure if simply going with TULSA for 2 day trips makes more sense than 2D1N as I have no idea about the state of the reefs. Half the articles say its all dead and bleaches (as do some of the reviews on their trip advisor) some say its still amazing and the best diving they ever did. I read that the 2D1N live aboards go further out so there is bigger chance to get a better area but even that is unclear.

So what would be the recommendations from 'locals'. 2 x 1 day trips (TULSA or someone else) or a 2D1N liveaboard be? Part of the decision for chooseing GBR over Yongala is that I am not sure when we will be again in Australia (coming from Europe is like a monumental trip for us) so might as well see it before its... all gone vs a wreck that should be there for... a few more decades hopefully .

Then as a follow up, for our dear Sydney folk...

What 1 or 2 dive sites would you visit in a day? Would any of what OZ Chris and Aussie Bubbles mentioned fit in a day? Ideally Sharks + Wreck or Wreck + Seals or Seals + Sharks... essentially I am looking for something that we dont have much of in the Mediterranean (well except for the Zenobia wreck in Cyprus which is amazing)

Which dive shops/operators tend to be more flexible vs having a set program. I was fairly surprised as very often in Europe the customer dictates dive sites (weather permitting) vs what I saw in a few websites which have already set places they dive on certain dates.

Once again, thank you for your patience reading through this. I want to make the best of this trip dive wise given cost/distance etc. and am a bit stressed and... rambling

 

[Diver0001]

I would go to the GBR. Sydney will always be there. Not so sure about the GBR.

 

[Aquapro Dive Services]

So to help with the Cairns side of things. One of the best day trips out of here is Tusa and def worth the trip. They visit the better reefs, fast boat, and great crew. 3 dives for the price of 2 right now as well.

A 2D 1N trip is also good value because if you add the cost of accommodation and 2 day trips its more expensive. You can get some budget 2D 1N trips like Kangaroo Explorer if you want for around AUD$550. Bit more upmarket is Ocean Quest and on this boat you get 7 dives including a night dive. Both run every day.

Yongala is not out of Cairns. Townsville is closest ( 4hrs drive south) but that trip only runs Saturdays and Wednesdays and often cancels due to low numbers (they need 11 to run) and takes 3 hours to get to the wreck. Head to Ayr where Yongala Dive can run out every day and only takes 40 mins. You can get a bus from Cairns to Ayr and they pick you up. Accommodation is above the dive shop.

So it's doable!

 

[WetPup]

Yongala day trip out of Cairns? lol

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too far for a day trip. It's a 3 hour boat trip 1 way out of Townsville alone. It'd take probably 10-12 hours just to cruise down to the wreck from Cairns, let alone do any diving on it

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Join the Sydney Scuba diving page on Facebook. I was able to connect with some great folks. I got in one night at Clifton Gardens, one day of shore diving, another day of wreck diving off a boat, and both days of a weekend on south west rocks. Maybe you get lucky and ride up with Nic Terry like I did. Great guy.

 

[CJS]

Seems like a lot of travel for a couple of days diving. I'd be tempted to pop up to Byron Bay and dive Julian Rocks while the family enjoy the beach and local area. I think there would still be leopard sharks in March plus lots of other things to see.

 

[chris kippax]

Take the whole family to Lady Elliott island. If they enjoy nature they will be in paradise.

 

[Oz Chris]

First off, thank you all for the helpful responses!

Then as a follow up, for our dear Sydney folk...

What 1 or 2 dive sites would you visit in a day? Would any of what OZ Chris and Aussie Bubbles mentioned fit in a day? Ideally Sharks + Wreck or Wreck + Seals or Seals + Sharks... essentially I am looking for something that we dont have much of in the Mediterranean (well except for the Zenobia wreck in Cyprus which is amazing)

Which dive shops/operators tend to be more flexible vs having a set program. I was fairly surprised as very often in Europe the customer dictates dive sites (weather permitting) vs what I saw in a few websites which have already set places they dive on certain dates.

Hey @AussieBubbles, no pressure

To answer your last question first, yeah, from what I have seen with most operators you don't get to dictate the sites, they schedule them in advance. I think this is mostly to give people time to book in advance. We're not a scuba resort destination, so they need to let us locals plan ahead otherwise they would struggle to fill trips enough to be economical. What that means is you are probably going to get one of your three desired dive types on any given double boat dive, but not two.

To answer your first question:

Sharks (for us this means Grey Nurse Sharks):

• Magic Point which is local to Sydney (a few of the operators visit this site)
• Nelson Bay - 2:30 to 3:00 hours drive north (Let's Go Adventures)
• Forster / Seal Rocks - 3:30 to 4:00 hours drive north (Dive Forster)

Seals:

• Wollongong - 1:30 hour drive south (I've done this dive with Abyss)
• Montague Island / Narooma - 5:30 to 6:00 hours drive south

Wrecks:

There are lots of wrecks off Sydney (Michael McFadyen's Scuba Diving Web Site), but from what I've seen not a lot of regular trips organised by the local operators. Some of them do have calendars of wreck trips (eg. Frog Dive & Abyss based on a quick search I just did). I think the challenge here is a lot of the sites are >18 metres and it's harder to fill a boat with only AOW+ divers (and quote a few of them are 40+ metres, so an even smaller possible customer base).

The headline wreck however is the HMAS Adelaide which is off Terrigal / Avoca, about 1:30 hour drive north. Pro Dive Central Coast does 2 trips on Saturdays and 2 trips on Sundays.

 

[CaptainCalamari]

The seals are out for you realistically. They only come to Wollongong just south of Sydney during the winter from June to September. Outside of that you then have to go 6hrs drive south.

There is still plenty to see off Sydney, probably the best diving within one hour of the CBD of any city with more than 2million people anywhere in the world.

Abyss give a great forward schedule of what they are doing on their website, for both boat and shore dives.

 

[Peter Perkins]

Hello all,

Wanted to say thank you once more! Really appreciate all the feedback and suggestions.

I just booked a 2D1N liveaboard with Ocean Quest as the most 'efficient' way to do some dives in GBR given time frame. I also found a few things for the family to do in Cairns while I am out so that works nicely and doesnt keep them stranded in Sydney while I am off enjoying

As for Sydney...

I am still torn.

My options after writing to some of the folk you suggested are as follows:

a) Magic Point boat dive (around 200 AUD)
b) Private shore dive to Kurnell (around 300 AUD)

It seems that on Sunday 4th (which is my preferred date given programming) it is Keep Australia clean day so some of the shops are doing some 'clean the area' programs vs their usual stuff so there arent as many options.

I am torn because 300AUD is... a lot for shore dives (given the Ocean Quest is like 520 for 7 dives including food and accomodation!!!!!) but pretty much everyone has said that its an almost guarantee to see Sea Dragons in Kurnell. I have read that there ARE Sea dragons in Magic Point (along with Grey Nurse Sharks and Wobbegongs which would mark another 2 of my list of amazing things to see in Australia) but its more risky...

So imagine I do the boat dive and I end up not seeing nor Sea Dragons nor Grey Nurse Sharks (as it has been stressed by all 3 operators I wrote to that sharks are usually there but not always there)...

So many choices

What is Sydney divers experience with Magic Point? Are there sea dragons common there? Again, not looking for guarantees... just... statistics