cephalopod2
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As WetPup and Emily J said, Yongala Dive for the Yongala.
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Australia - West and East coast
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20 minutes is rubbish but lots of operators want 45 or 50 minute bottom time max. They only get my money once as its absolute crap after paying the $120-160 charter fee for a 2 tank dive.
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KevinNM
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If you were a newish diver I suspect that you would be running low on air after that time.
Regarding bottom times...
On the Yongala, even experienced divers would be lucky to do a 60 minute dive on a single tank. The bottom of the wreck is at roughly 28m and the top is at 14m. It's not unusual to see newer divers doing safety stops after 30 mins and then getting back on the boat after 35 minutes or so. I'm pretty good on my air consumption, and even so, I'm usually heading to the mooring line to do my 10m and 5m safety stops after about 50 minutes.
The GBR day trip boats that operate out of Cairns will enforce a 60 minute dive time in my experience - which has more to do with having to move the boats around and organising snacks and lunch than anything else. But what they do is they let the more experienced divers in first so that you're coming back at roughly the same time as the less experienced divers who might not be so good on their air. I've come back to the boat after 65 minutes on a day trip and they didn't bat an eyelid because I was coming back at the same time as everyone else. It's just a timing thing so that they can keep to schedule, they won't read you the riot act if you go over, as long as you're not totally blowing it and making everyone else wait.
The GBR liveaboards are far more lenient, and with Spirit of Freedom and Spoilsport in particular, they pretty much operate an open dive deck "the pool is open, be back on board with 30 bar". Not unusual for me to do 80 minute dives on Spoilsport.
On the Yongala, even experienced divers would be lucky to do a 60 minute dive on a single tank. The bottom of the wreck is at roughly 28m and the top is at 14m. It's not unusual to see newer divers doing safety stops after 30 mins and then getting back on the boat after 35 minutes or so. I'm pretty good on my air consumption, and even so, I'm usually heading to the mooring line to do my 10m and 5m safety stops after about 50 minutes.
The GBR day trip boats that operate out of Cairns will enforce a 60 minute dive time in my experience - which has more to do with having to move the boats around and organising snacks and lunch than anything else. But what they do is they let the more experienced divers in first so that you're coming back at roughly the same time as the less experienced divers who might not be so good on their air. I've come back to the boat after 65 minutes on a day trip and they didn't bat an eyelid because I was coming back at the same time as everyone else. It's just a timing thing so that they can keep to schedule, they won't read you the riot act if you go over, as long as you're not totally blowing it and making everyone else wait.
The GBR liveaboards are far more lenient, and with Spirit of Freedom and Spoilsport in particular, they pretty much operate an open dive deck "the pool is open, be back on board with 30 bar". Not unusual for me to do 80 minute dives on Spoilsport.
I had a great experience with Deep Sea Divers Den at the GBR. Did the 3 day / 2 night liveaboard. (Though I think 2days/1 night would be enough). I researched some of the other similar options but decided these guys looked to be the best bet and wasn't disappointed.
The coral itself isn't that colorful, but the fish are great. Tons of reef sharks, trevallies, eels, turtles, clown fish, barracuda, cuddlefish.
No hard time rules except for night dives (45min). The rule was generally to start ascending with 70 bar and try to be on deck with > 50 bar. They usually suggested turn-around times as well depending on the dive site (usually around 120-130 bar).
The cairns area has kind of 3 main options
1. Day trips to the reef which are supposed to be horrible
2. 2-3 day trips to the outer reef which are pretty good (this is what I did) - $500-$800ish range
3. Week long trips to the inner/ribbon reefs which are supposed to be incredible, but are very expensive ($2k+)
The coral itself isn't that colorful, but the fish are great. Tons of reef sharks, trevallies, eels, turtles, clown fish, barracuda, cuddlefish.
No hard time rules except for night dives (45min). The rule was generally to start ascending with 70 bar and try to be on deck with > 50 bar. They usually suggested turn-around times as well depending on the dive site (usually around 120-130 bar).
The cairns area has kind of 3 main options
1. Day trips to the reef which are supposed to be horrible
2. 2-3 day trips to the outer reef which are pretty good (this is what I did) - $500-$800ish range
3. Week long trips to the inner/ribbon reefs which are supposed to be incredible, but are very expensive ($2k+)
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