Diving

Where the rainbows are underwater…

With warm, clear water teeming with marine life, spectacular shipwrecks and the world’s largest coral reef, Queensland is a scuba diver’s paradise. The fathomless underwater worlds of Queensland attract divers from all corners of the globe. The adventure starts with the world’s only natural underwater wonder - the famous Great Barrier Reef.

This stretch of no less than 2900 reefs, coral cays and islands flanks the coast from the Torres Strait to the sub-tropical seas north of Bundaberg.

The Great Barrier Reef is a protected World Heritage area. Formed around 10,000 years ago, the coral reefs flourish in the warm seas of Queensland’s tropical coast. Some 1,500 types of fish, 4,000 types of molluscs, 350 types of echinoderms and 350 types of coral make this World Heritage listed site one of the most diverse marine environments on the planet.

Where one of nature’s wonders ends, another begins. The cooler subtropical waters of southern Queensland offer a myriad of different experiences to those of the tropical waters in the north. World-class wreck dives, reefs and vast rock walls boast abundant marine life, with turtles, rays, wobbegongs, nudibranchs and large schools of fish populating the various dive sites along the Southern Queensland coast.

There are so many ways to experience an underwater Queensland adventure. Cruise or sail out to the reef for half a day, a full day or take a live abroad cruise for several days with the ocean as your playground. Fly out to an isolated coral cay in a helicopter or seaplane, rush out in a speedboat or relax under a billowing sail. You don’t even need to get wet to appreciate the beauty and variety of this wondrous natural attraction. For non-swimmers or for those who just like to stay dry, there are pontoons or floating platforms in the ocean with underwater viewing areas, glass bottom boats and semi-submersibles. Land-based underwater observatories offer a solid place to put your feet while still having the amazing opportunity to see into the fascinating underwater world.

The waters of Queensland offer some of the best underwater adventures on earth. It can be as adrenalin-packed as coming face to face with a groper or a grey nurse shark or as relaxed as happening upon starfish, sea cucumbers and conch shells during a lazy afternoon snorkel.

Queensland's dive operators are all very concerned about environmental protection of our coral reefs. The Reef is alive. When diving here, please keep this in mind and do your best to help all of us make the diving in Queensland better and better. After all, it is one of the seven natural wonders of the world!

For more information go to Dive Queensland.