Diving and Snorkelling Tipps Cairns - Darwin - Exmouth - Perth

[Schenkeli]

Hi everyone,
we will be travelling from Cairns by Darwin and Exmouth to Perth (or the other way round) in July/August 2020 and I would like your advise on a few questions:

Dive and Snorkel Spots along the way
We are looking for dive spots along the way. The following spots I have already marked down: a liveaboard trip to the GBR from Cairns, Mission Beach, Yongola Wreck, Navy Pier in Exmouth, Snorkeling in Ningaloo. But also some not so famous but nice and little dive or snorkle spots along the way would be nice. Also does Darwin offer some specific great dives?

West to East or East to West?
Should we start in Perth or Cairns? For all non-diving activities it doesn't seem to matter since July and August are very similar in terms of the climate (4WD trip to Cape york, Outback Highway from Winton to Alice Springs) but when it comes to diving the choice seems to be where to be in July:
a) Snorkelling with Whale Sharks in Ningaloo
b) Diving with Mink Whales at the GBR
It feels like the Whale Sharks are the better choice here - so West to East. Or am I missing something else? Other whales that have their season? Manta rays and hammerheads seem to be around in both July and August. Anything else?

Other things not to miss
Do you know something else along our route that we shouldn't miss that is not mentioned in every guideback? A great beach, a nice restaurant, a scenic bushwalk? All advice wellcome.

Thank you so much for your help!
Cheers,
Thomas

 

[rabe]

I did the Minke Whale liveaboard last year in June, and it was very very nice.
Not only you dive the GBR far away from the tourists, but you have also the opportunity to share the ocean with these incredible curious whales (see picture below)...

Other than that, every single meter of Australia is full of surprises and beautiful spots (to dive, hike, discover, etc.)... [i might be biased though ]
For how long are you going to stay?
Feel free to PM me!

 

[Schenkeli]

I did the Minke Whale liveaboard last year in June, and it was very very nice.
Not only you dive the GBR far away from the tourists, but you have also the opportunity to share the ocean with these incredible curious whales (see picture below)...

Other than that, every single meter of Australia is full of surprises and beautiful spots (to dive, hike, discover, etc.)... [i might be biased though ]
For how long are you going to stay?
Feel free to PM me!

View attachment 552199

Hi rabe,
Thanks for your reply. I'm sure both the Mink whales and the whale sharks are awesome - it's a pitty we ca't do both since Australia ist just so huge ...
I'm also wondering which of the two can be done more easily somewhere around the world. I read that it is harder to get into the water with a whale shark since there are only very few places around the world where you can count on them coming by. So in combination with the remoteness of Ningaloo that would maybe be a reason why to do the Whale Sharks?

We got 8 weeks on total, so we still got a bit of flexibility (I summed up all the things we wanna do and estimated the driving times and ended up with 46 out of 56 days being booked, so still 10 spare days). Any tipps are most welcome!

 

[Nomad-Diver]

I've done both. Minke Whales win, by far.

The whale shark is an experience to watch a swimming 'dinosaur'.

The Minke whale comes to look at YOU ! It is life changing to look into its eye and see it is looking back at you. I would not just focus on them, though. The normal diving around there is very good too.

Cairns to Perth is a long trip. I would go east coast. Yongala, Mantas at Wolf Rock, HMAS Brisbane, South West Rocks, Sydney, Jervis Bay (and plenty of other stops in between). Head via Mt Gambier and do Kilsby's sinkhole, and then cross the Nullarbor.

It depends if your objective is diving or remotness

 

[Aquapro Dive Services]

If I remember correctly the whale sharks at Ningaloo are April. So maybe start at Cairns and get on the Minke trips (June - Sept) as they are spectacular. Bear in mind they do book out months in advance.

Yongala is a must see and south of Cairns so maybe do that first, then travel to Cairns for the live aboard then go from there to the West. Yongala trip runs daily.

 

[rabe]

I've done both. Minke Whales win, by far.

The whale shark is an experience to watch a swimming 'dinosaur'.

The Minke whale comes to look at YOU ! It is life changing to look into its eye and see it is looking back at you. I would not just focus on them, though. The normal diving around there is very good too.

Cairns to Perth is a long trip. I would go east coast. Yongala, Mantas at Wolf Rock, HMAS Brisbane, South West Rocks, Sydney, Jervis Bay (and plenty of other stops in between). Head via Mt Gambier and do Kilsby's sinkhole, and then cross the Nullarbor.

It depends if your objective is diving or remotness

I quote every single pixel.



Also, you can see whale sharks in other parts of the world (when i was in Koh Tao in April, there was one frolicking around), while I'm not sure if it's the same with the Minke Whales...
Plus, you have the surrounding GBR which is spectacular!

 

[Schenkeli]

I've done both. Minke Whales win, by far.

The whale shark is an experience to watch a swimming 'dinosaur'.

The Minke whale comes to look at YOU ! It is life changing to look into its eye and see it is looking back at you. I would not just focus on them, though. The normal diving around there is very good too.

Sounds like Mink Whales shoudl be priority 1 and Whale Sharks only nr 2 when it comes to planning our trip.

Cairns to Perth is a long trip. I would go east coast. Yongala, Mantas at Wolf Rock, HMAS Brisbane, South West Rocks, Sydney, Jervis Bay (and plenty of other stops in between). Head via Mt Gambier and do Kilsby's sinkhole, and then cross the Nullarbor.

It depends if your objective is diving or remotness

I already know Cairns to Melbourne, so I wanna see the North and West this time. And also we like diving in warmer waters, and the South of Australia will be pretty cold during the winter time. But we will go to Mission beach and the Yongala wreck before we head west via the Outback Highway to Alice Springs.

We got eight weeks in total, so it should be fine
Thanks for your help

 

[Schenkeli]

If I remember correctly the whale sharks at Ningaloo are April. So maybe start at Cairns and get on the Minke trips (June - Sept) as they are spectacular. Bear in mind they do book out months in advance.

Yongala is a must see and south of Cairns so maybe do that first, then travel to Cairns for the live aboard then go from there to the West. Yongala trip runs daily.

Some tour operators are offering Whale Shark Snorkelling trips until the 10th of August: Link

Our plan is to first do the boat trip from Cairns since my better half will do the AOW there - and then before going west we will head down to Mission Beach and Yongala for some diving.

 

[clownfishsydney]

No snorkelling from Broome to past Cairns unless you want to end up in the stomach of a saltwater crocodile! From the shore, no place would be safe along this whole section of coastline. You would not even paddle in the water in most places, certainly Darwin is way too dangerous, no sane person swims or even walks in the ocean.

As to diving in Darwin, about 20 years ago I did a few dives out of there. Very poor visibility, not much to see. Diving is only possible for short periods of each four weeks due to tides that are 8 metres or more. You can only do at neap tides (that is when there is least difference between high and low tides).

 

[Schenkeli]

No snorkelling from Broome to past Cairns unless you want to end up in the stomach of a saltwater crocodile! From the shore, no place would be safe along this whole section of coastline. You would not even paddle in the water in most places, certainly Darwin is way too dangerous, no sane person swims or even walks in the ocean.

As to diving in Darwin, about 20 years ago I did a few dives out of there. Very poor visibility, not much to see. Diving is only possible for short periods of each four weeks due to tides that are 8 metres or more. You can only do at neap tides (that is when there is least difference between high and low tides).

We certainly didn't plan any water activities between Exmouth and Cairns because of the Salties - and in combination with high tides and low visibility it just sounds like it is not worth it. There is enough to see before and after that part of our trip anyway. Thanks a lot for the helpful remark