Scuba diving in Australia

The Great Barrier Reef already seemed to be fantastic when I studied about it at school, but after I got my diver certification (Oct/14), visiting it became a dream. When my boss told me early this year that I would work for 9 months in Australia I instantly thought: “Great Barrier Reef, you are now on the top of my list!”.

While searching how I would do my trip I found out that the best dive spots are too far from land to do a day trip, so I started to consider doing my first liveaboard.

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Cod Hole and Osprey Reef are the dive spots that attracted me the most. Cod Hole because I would be able to see the giant Potato Cod, and Osprey Reef.

As Osprey Reef requires 7 nights on a boat and it was way longer than I wanted my trip to be, I then decided to go to Cod Hole only, so I joined the TAKA boat for 4 days/4 nights.

TAKA has really good reviews compared to the other boats, and they just got one from me as well =-). The crew was super friendly, they were always worried about safety, they were all very confident divers and were able to help at any time. The food was amazing, the German chef nailed it! I haven’t seen any problems with equipment, in fact, I haven’t seen anybody complaining about anything at all and that is why I highly recommend them. Even the crew consider this the best boat to work for, so they are very happy to be there.

I thought I would have lots of free time but the schedule kept me busy the whole day.

EAT, DIVE AND SLEEP is all you will do for 4 days on this boat =-)

You can see the itinerary and prices on: www.diversden.com.au

Great Barrier Reef liveaboard: The top 3 dives

3 – Fluoro Dive at Challenger Bay:

Night dive with UV lights, you only see the things that glow in the dark, it is quite scary because things bump into you and you are not sure what is it…fish, shark lol. Fluoro dive is one of those things you should do at least once in your life for the experience.

2 – Cod Hole:

The giant Potato Cod/Grouper is lovely, maybe you can get an even better selfie than I did =-)

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Selfie with Potato Cod. By Elaine Villatoro

1 – Steve’s Bommie:

If you love colourful corals and fish like me this is the place to be. MAGICAL!

Great Barrier Reef Liveaboard - Steve's bommie
Steve’s Bommie. By Elaine Villatoro

Tips

  • There is no need to bring any dive equipment, TAKA have it all and in good conditions.
  • Definitely bring your GoPro, I bought the original red filter for it and as you can see in the video it works really well.
  • If you do the fluoro dive I would suggest you to wear gloves (bring your own) because you won’t see much and may touch the corals by accident.
  • DO THE FLUORO DIVE. It is a cool experience! 😉


All the cool stuff that I’ve seen during the Great Barrier Reef Liveaboard

  • Epaulete Shark
  • Grey Reef Shark
  • Whitetip Shark
  • Potato Cod/Grouper
  • Pygmy Seahorse
  • Flat Warm
  • Clownfish
  • Titan Triggerfish
  • Clown Triggerfish
  • Unicornfish
  • Reef Stonefish
  • Many-Spotted Sweetlips
  • Blackspotted Pufferfish
  • Pipefish
  • Redfin Anthias
  • Cuttlefish
  • Shrimp
  • Giant Clams

You can see most of them on the video below, I hope you like it!

This place blew my mind and is just as good as everyone says. This incredible experience has to be in your bucket list and the most important, be ticked off at some point! =-)

Read more:

Maldives: All you need to know about this paradise

Dhigurah Island: The diver’s dream