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Non-Certified SCUBA diving is a great introduction to guests who have never dived before – you don’t even need to be able to swim! Our crew will brief you on a few skills on the way out to the reef – how to equalise your ears, how to breathe through your regulator, inflate your buoyancy control device (BCD) on the surface and clear your mask. Once in the water you will practice these skills on a bar and our crew will do everything else, as you will be handheld throughout your very first dive, making you feel very safe and able to fully take in all that is around you – you become part of this amazing underwater world where everything comes to greet you!
Our Certified divers are offered a small personal group and complimentary guide to ensure they get to see the best parts of the reef . Our guides will also give you a Marine brief to educate and excite you on what you will see! This guide and all the equipment are included in the dive price.
You can do one or two dives on the day. All divers will need to fill out a diving medical form on board to ensure there are no contraindications to diving. QLD has very high safety regulations – some medication and some conditions need medical clearance from a diving doctor prior to day of travel. If diving is important to you, please let us know if you do have any medical issues (past or present) or taking any medication so that we can advise if medical clearance is required – this AVOIDS any disappointment on the day as our crew are not allowed to make any medication or medical decisions on the day.
Our team is renowned for giving people an unforgettable experience for their first time dive, as we are passionate about giving others the opportunity to experience the joys of the underwater world. On our Non-Certified we offer a guaranteed 1:2 ratio of dive instructor to divers on both our Sail Green Island & Great Barrier Reef tour on Ocean Free and our Cruise to Outer Edge Upolu Reef and Upolu Cay Reef tour on Ocean Freedom and even 1:1 for those needing extra attention. Most boats offer 1:4. Our Certified dive groups are also small (mostly 4) and with a complimentary guide
Ocean Free sits just 1km off Green Island on a private mooring, this is an exclusive Great Barrier Reef site and only our guests get to SCUBA dive here. The exact course of the 2 dives is decided on the day to best suit the conditions. The depth is about 10-12m depending on the tide, which is perfect for SCUBA diving the Great Barrier Reef in Cairns ,as the most colour and life is at this depth. Swim around “bommies” (coral outcrops) just by the boat, go through the swim through on the coral garden, where you can find a cousin of Nemo residing. See an array of hard corals and soft corals, including some beautiful beds of turquoise staghorn corals. These are a favourite of ours, where you can watch the little damsel fish dart in and out as they inquisitively check out the divers, before heading back into the coral for cover. Look out for and hear (!!) the stunningly coloured Parrot Fish as they graze the algae off the coral. Swim with schools of trevally, spangled emperors and sweet lips, to mention just a few of the residents around Green Island. Keep your eyes peeled for everyone’s favourite, the sea turtles that commonly frequent the site and another crowd pleaser, the black–tipped reef sharks who are very shy and timid.
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Ocean Freedom goes to 2 different SCUBA diving reef sites in Cairns each day, the best sites will be chosen on the day of travel to maximise diver experience. The depth of these dives goes from 10-15m depending on the tide. This is a spectacular dive. Drop down to about 10-12m and follow the wall to see beautiful hard and soft corals, look out for brain, boulder and branching corals. Check out the large Gorgonian sea fans and the different coloured soft corals gently waving in the water. Find the multitude of different anemone fish, all related to Nemo of course! Look out for our larger friends, the hump-backed Maori Wrasse, occasional Bull ray, white tipped reef sharks and groupers. Don’t forget to peak under ledges to look for large painted Crays.
Upolu Cay Reef diving allows you to swim around a pretty, colourful coral garden, which makes an amazing contrast to the surrounding white coral sand patches. Look out for stingrays hiding under the white coral “sand” and turtles having a feed. There’s many different types of smaller reef fish darting in and out of the corals, Parrot fish grazing on the algae and coral trout swaying lazily amongst the coral.
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