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5 Tips for a Great Australian Dive Trip

Send your next trip Down Under over the top with these ideas.
By PADI Staff | Published On May 14, 2020
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5 Tips for a Great Australian Dive Trip

Aerial view of the Great Barrier Reef

Off the coast of Queesland, the Great Barrier Reef houses the remote Whitsunday Islands, tailor made to get away from it all.

Shutterstock.com/Superjoseph

1. Pristine Beaches

Don’t miss a boating excursion to the mostly uninhabited Whitsunday Islands, situated between the Great Barrier Reef and the coast of Queensland—some of the most beautiful beaches we’ve ever seen.

2. Sydney Seadragons

Although Sydney might not be as glamorous as the Great Barrier Reef or Ningaloo Reef, it offers unique dives you shouldn’t pass up. The waters off Australia’s southeastern coast are one of the best places to spot the highly photogenic weedy seadragon.

3. Manta Ray Diving

Lady Elliot Island is known as the “home of the manta rays,” and is the best place on the Great Barrier Reef to see these graceful creatures. If you’re looking for megafauna, the eco-resort on the island has its own PADI dive shop and offers daily dive trips.

Three mantas circle off the coast of Lady Elliot Island

Mantas glide over a reef off of Lady Elliot Island.

Shutterstock.com/Nico Faramaz

4. Whale Shark Freediving

Freedivers—and scuba divers, for that matter—should consider Ningaloo Reef a top Australian destination. You can freedive with whale sharks, manta rays and turtles depending on the season. Visitors to the reef can also swim with migrating humpback whales from August through October.

5. Here Comes the Sun

Pack reef-safe sunscreen to avoid adding extra stress to the Great Barrier Reef’s delicate corals. Head over to PADI Gear to pick some up if you don’t already own it.

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