Advice for upcoming trip to Australia

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parachute

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I'm going to Australia in March for a wedding, and I would potentially like to bring my gear along and do some dives.

I'm currently thinking about going to Cairns and doing a 3 or 4 day live aboard, but I am looking for other suggestions, perhaps some shore-based ops which have day-trips to some good-condition sites with relatively cheap shore accomodation available and nearby airport.

Most of my diving up until now has been in the Caribbean, and I haven't had the opportunity to see many pelagics. I would also be interested in some suggestions of places to go and outfits to use which may give me more exposure to pelagics ([cough]mantas[cough]). I've done some research, and Lady Elliot and Heron islands seem very nice, but also quite pricey.
 
Cod Hole, Ribbon Reef, Osprey islands are great for a LOB and also look at the yongala wreck if you get a chance to get up to Townsville way.
 
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We have a very big country. Where is the wedding and how long are you here? It takes a full day basically to fly to Cairns from Sydney or Melbourne, so you need to factor in three days for travel and no fly time.
 
We have a very big country. Where is the wedding and how long are you here? It takes a full day basically to fly to Cairns from Sydney or Melbourne, so you need to factor in three days for travel and no fly time.
And about 250-300 each way sardine class. or 989 business class each way Melb - Cairns
More if your in Perth/Adelaide/Tasmania... Tad cheaper from sydney
 
We have a very big country. Where is the wedding and how long are you here? It takes a full day basically to fly to Cairns from Sydney or Melbourne, so you need to factor in three days for travel and no fly time.

The wedding will be in Melbourne, but my current plan is to first fly into Sydney and spend a few days there, then maybe go to Cairns for the liveaboard, then down to Melbourne, possibly w/a stopover to the Whitsundays.

Or, I may end up going a bit later, in which case I might fly first to Melbourne for the wedding, spend some time there, and then make my way north, stopping in Sydney, and then Cairns, or ?...

It's my understanding that March is the rainy season in the Cairns area. Would this affect diving conditions in the outer GBR much?
 
Good personal experience with day trips from Port Douglas....

I've made several business trips to Australia where I didn't have time to do a live-aboard; but I did fly to Cairns; rent a car; get lodging near Port Douglas (Thala Beach Lodge; highly recommended); and have taken day boats out of Port Douglas to the Agincourt Ribbon Reefs. Despite the size of the day boats and the number of souls onboard, I've had six one day trips in those circumstances and been happy with the outcome.

I spent several days on Heron Island in 1975 while I was on active duty in the Navy and my ship had come into Perth (a long story from another lifetime); Heron Island was in fact a great place to dive; I also agree with the OP that current pricing there seems pretty high! Multi color small fish in coral garden auto b and cc resized for email.jpg
 
There are a lot of very similar posts about this so may be worth searching a bit.

Cairns is the main centre for day or overnight trips to the Reef and does not have decent shore divng. Nor that cheap!

Best trips if you can afford the time are (as mentioned above) Mike Ball, Spirit of Freedom and Taka which all do the Ribbon Reef areas.

Outer Reef trips run daily and have a few good coices there as well
 

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