Hi from NC! GBR suggestions!

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Location
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Hello! My name is Lauren and I’m a new member on here. I’m headed to Australia in October and am hoping to get some great advice on where to go diving! I have heard that Arlie beach area is a great place to dive but I am also looking at going up to the Port Douglas area. I’ll only be able to dive one day as I am traveling with a friend who doesn’t scuba dive. Would love to hear suggestions!
 
Welcome to ScubaBoard Lauren. Seems like great adventures are coming to you. Let us know how they go.
 
howdy and welcome from southeast florida....happy diving on your trip down under.
 
Welcome to the fish tank, Lauren. I haven't been there yet so can't help you out with suggestions but hope you have lots of fun in Aussie land.

BTW, where in NC are you?
 
Hello! My name is Lauren and I’m a new member on here. I’m headed to Australia in October and am hoping to get some great advice on where to go diving! I have heard that Arlie beach area is a great place to dive but I am also looking at going up to the Port Douglas area. I’ll only be able to dive one day as I am traveling with a friend who doesn’t scuba dive. Would love to hear suggestions!
Hello! My name is Lauren and I’m a new member on here. I’m headed to Australia in October and am hoping to get some great advice on where to go diving! I have heard that Arlie beach area is a great place to dive but I am also looking at going up to the Port Douglas area. I’ll only be able to dive one day as I am traveling with a friend who doesn’t scuba dive. Would love to hear suggestions!
Lauren, you need to be advanced OW to dive the Yongala. plenty of great dive operators in Airlie Beach.
 
Welcome to ScubaBoard, Lauren! Dive on in, the water's fine! Let us hear about Australia after you dive!
 
Hi Lauren,
The Yongala is an awesome dive and I can recommend Yongala Dive in Alva Beach. Two things to be aware of though, you do need to book at least a couple of days in advance and it is a very weather dependant dive. Alva Beach is about a 3 1/2 hour drive from Airlie. So you would really need to get there the day before. From my limited experience there are day boats out of Airlie but they tend to be crowded and cater for less experienced divers.
 
I had a great time on the Spirit of Freedom out of Cairns; not sure if a liveabord is in the cards for you at this point but the marine life was great and the crew were very professional. Enjoy your trip!
 
Good morning. Long time lurker, first time poster.
I completed four dives over two days this week on the SS Yongala. My wife and I incorporated an EANx course into the dive trip. We stayed at the trailer park in one of the bedrooms set aside for Dive Yongala. Straight up, this was an easy start to the trip and a very relaxing day. (Lauren, you could get your AOW/deep dive certification here but you would need to phone ahead).
While I have limited experience, I think I have enough Australian experience to recommend this site. Top of the wreck is at 14m and schools of trevally, glass fish, and a ‘flock’ of eagle rays were our first encounters on the descent. The wreck has beautiful soft and hard corals, clams and oysters which provide the requirements for several different species of parrot fish and wrasses.
Over four dives I saw a kaleidoscope of colour (even at 25m depth) and schools of fish that I’m not good enough to identify. The big names for this trip included a hawksbill turtle, spinner, bull and tawny sharks, marble ray, barracuda and lionfish.
Above all, the quantity and diversity of marine life in one place made the effort worth it, and even more, makes this recommendation worth the time.
Rob
 

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