Far North Coral Sea Exploratory

Highlights

MV Antonio Tarabocchia – The Coral Sea
This cargo ship ran aground on the reef in 1961. The scattered remains of the boat now include a large engine block and propeller lying on the gently sloping terraces of the reef. The clear water, the scattered parts of the wreck and the abundant fish life, including potato cod offer you fantastic diving.

Crystal Plateau – Bougainville Reef – Coral Sea
This reef top drops down to a spectacular terrace of masses of hard coral at 20-30 meters depth before dropping into the abyss hundreds of meters deep. Gorgonians and soft corals adorn the reef wall where sharks also often patrol.

Admiralty Anchor – Osprey Reef – Coral Sea
The dive site is named after an anchor located in the middle of a tunnel that provides an exciting swim right through the reef. Here you will experience a maze of large tall bommies that are home to lots of fish. Under these bommies you have the option of hanging on to a wall where there are often sharks and sometimes manta rays.

North Horn – Osprey Reef – Coral Sea
Welcome to Shark Central! Here you dive and experience controlled shark feeding. Up to 10-30 gray and whitetip reef sharks and silvertips are not uncommon.

Stanley Island
Stanley Island forms one of seven islands in the Flinders Group National Park in the northern reaches of the Great Barrier Reef. Here you will see incredible native ancient inscriptions in the rock describing turtles, eagle rays and crocodiles as well as old ships from the 1500th century. A piece of art history that stretches back thousands of years and you have the opportunity to see and experience this untouched and rarely visited important piece of indigenous history.

Time to head towards dive sites other than the Far North

Cod Hole - Ribbon Reefs - Great Barrier Reef
Cod Hole is widely known and talked about over the years for its large potato groupers. These fish are curious and don't care about divers and can become worldly close. A unique and fantastic opportunity to take pictures of these magnificent fish that have become real characters here over the years.

Lighthouse Bommie
A fantastic dive site where a large reef top attracts lots of marine life including sharks, rays, turtles and lots of fish of different species, sea snakes, rockfish and lots of other animals.

Gotham City
The dive site is named after all the batfish that live here. The reef attracts quite a few sharks and large trevallies. It is an exciting place for night dives with large concentrations of hunting fish. This dive site is also home to the coral Pavona clavus which stretches out and covers a large part of the reef.

Pixie Pinnacle - Ribbon Reefs - Great Barrier Reef
An exciting dive on a reef top draped in soft coral and teeming with fish and marine life. Swim slowly up around the reef and look for interesting animals like electric clam or disco clam.

Far North Coral Sea Exploratory Expedition dates:
2023 Departure dates: 21 September | 19 October

Programme

Thursday:
Check-in at our office (3 Abbott St, Cairns) between 8am and 30pm.
From 16:30: You will walk yourself to Hemingway's Brewery Cairns Wharf (200 meters from the MBDE office) to meet your fellow passengers. Please note that dinner is not provided on the first night so you may want to eat before boarding.
17.50pm: Our crew will guide you from Hemingway's Brewery Cairns Wharf to the board Spoilsport. Enjoy a glass of champagne and light snacks while your tour director gives a full briefing.
18:00: Spoilsport departs Cairns.
Time to arrange rental equipment and assemble the diving equipment on the diving deck.

Friday:
4 dives + night dives, remote parts of the coral sea
Where: Bougainville: Dungeons & Dragons; Crystal Plateau; MV Antonio Tarabocchia.

Below is a “typical day” but exact times may vary.
6.30: Wake up, light breakfast available in the dining room
7:00am: Dive briefing and diving begins
9.00: Full breakfast
10.30am: Diving and diving. "Open deck" accommodates 1-2 dives either morning or afternoon
14.00: Lunch
15.30: Briefing and diving
16:30: Afternoon tea
18:30: Night dive briefing and night dive
20:00: Dinner

Saturday:
4 dives, remote areas of coral sea
Where: Osprey reef: Admiralty; False Entrance; North Horn.

Sunday:
4 dives + night dive, Far Northern Reefs
Where: TMO (Three Mile Opening); Creech Reef.

Monday:
3 dives + night dive, plus Stanley Island excursion. Far Northern reefs
Where: Stanley Island, Aladdin's Cave; Pirates Cove.

You leave the northern parts and towards other dive sites

Tuesday:
4 dives + night dive, Ribbon Reefs
Where: Cod Hole; Pixie Pinnacle; Gotham City.

Wednesday:
4 dives, Ribbon Reefs
Where: Cracker Jack; clam beds; Steve's Bommie.
When the sun goes down, we pour the champagne, lay out the snacks and get ready for the farewell party!
Overnight cruise back to Cairns

Thursday:
07:00: light breakfast
8:00am: Disembark and transfer to your hotel in Cairns, the airport or to the liveaboard office in Cairns where you can store your luggage until 17:00pm if you have a later flight.

important:
We recommend that you allow 24 hours between your last dive and your onward flight (all diving is completed by 17.00pm Monday).

Please note!
Our solid program is a plan that is modified based on the external conditions that the weather gods reward us with. This means that we can move activities to other days and, in the worst case, replace planned activities with alternatives if necessary.