Liveaboard Diving in Flynn Reef

What To Expect On A Flynn Reef Liveaboard

Liveaboards to Flynn Reef, one of the Great Barrier Reef's most popular areas, gives divers a little bit of everything, with an abundance of marine life swimming amid a backdrop of an outstanding array of hard and soft corals. Diving here is great all year round, and indeed during all hours of the day - an ideal site to go for a night dive and experience how the reef comes to life in the dark.

The reef is situated around 30 minutes from Cairns in Queensland, which does make it accessible for day trips, however if you are onboard a Flynn Reef liveaboard diving you'll have access to a larger variety of the individual sites that Flynn Reef has on offer, such as Gordon's Mooring, Tennis Court, Tracy's Bommie and Coral Gardens. The water in these areas is glasslike with visibility commonly more than 25 metres, ensuring that you won't miss out on any marine animals quietly passing by. The range of sites at Flynn makes it perfect for both novice and experienced divers, and in the shallower areas the snorkelling is also fabulous, for those wanting to make full use of their surface intervals!

What You Can See

Flynn Reef has arguably the best variety of soft coral species in the Cairns area, together with an equally impressive array of hard corals. At appropriately named Coral Gardens, you'll see all manner of shapes and sizes of staghorn, table, boulder, fan and plate coral. Needless to say this abundance of healthy coral means that the marine life around it is just as diverse, with the full array of reef fish on show. All the main players are here to see, including Angel fish, Butterfly fish, Batfish, Clown fish, Fusiliers and Parrotfish. They'll commonly be joined by swift Grey Reef Sharks, graceful Lionfish, and if you are on the lookout Moray Eels are almost always found lurking in small crevices. Looking out into the blue, it's not uncommon for Dolphins and Whales to turn up for the party aswell!

Most liveaboard crews will plan a night dive here, when alot of the action happens - particularly as this is a great time and place to see sharks and barracuda on the hunt.

Conditions for diving are good all year round, with warm water, great visibility, and only mild currents. A once in a lifetime sight is the annual coral spawning, which is a spectacle not to be missed if you are visiting during November to December.

Getting To Flynn Reef

Most Australian liveaboard diving trips to Flynn Reef last for 3 days/2 nights, which gives you ample time to dive all of the best sites. Day trips from Cairns are possible, but time at the reef will be limited and so in order to make the most of this beautiful reef, an Australia liveaboard departing from Cairns is recommended. You’ll also have the opportunity to visit some of the other reefs in this area.

Located to the North of the Australian state of Queensland, Cairns is the easiest place to jump on a liveaboard bound for the GBR. It has a fantastic international airport, served by a huge number of international airlines, making it easy to fly directly here from overseas. You can of course catch one of the many daily flights from other cities such as Sydney, Brisbane or Melbourne, if your Australian itinerary involves these places.

On the day of your liveaboard trip, most operators will pick you up from your accommodation, and will also drop you off at the end of the cruise.


Flynn Reef Diving Reviews

  • 9.3 Superb
  • 76 Verified Reviews
  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Melvin L
  • United States United States

Water warm, occ murky, some current., lots of coral variety, anemones.

Diving Flynn Reef in November on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • David V
  • United States United States

Spectacular of course. Beautiful and healthy looking coral. Sharks. Turtles. Giant clams. Clown fish. Hundreds of other species of fish. What more could you ask for than to dive the great barrier reef?

Diving Flynn Reef in December on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Cameron S
  • United States United States

Very good, some particles in the water (can't be helped because of rain, etc.) but the sea life was amazing.

Diving Flynn Reef in February on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • Brooke E
  • United States United States

Loved Flynn reef the most. Easy to navigate and lots of life!

Diving Flynn Reef in May on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Nicole W
  • United States United States

Probably the best dive site of all.

Diving Flynn Reef in June on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Anastasia D
  • United States United States

Some of the most beautiful coral formations that I've seen.

Diving Flynn Reef in September on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Emilia H
  • United States United States

Flynn Reef definitely had some of the best marine life, including turtles, sharks, and clownfish

Diving Flynn Reef in January on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Mary B
  • United States United States

Flynn was probably my favorite reef! Lots of turtles and biodiversity in our night dive too.

Diving Flynn Reef in July on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Samuel C
  • United States United States

Flynn Reef was wonderful, lots of turtles and fish.

Diving Flynn Reef in September on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Mercedes Q
  • United States United States

The sea life was spectacular

Diving Flynn Reef in October on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Brittny M
  • United States United States

Flynn reef was my favorite dive site. Saw barracuda, sharks, many species of fish.

Diving Flynn Reef in January on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Scott P
  • United States United States

The flynn reef has beautiful mazes of sunken coral islands(bommies), some reaching close to 20M/60ft tall. Quite a few turtles, sharks, cuttlefish, and giant clams can be seen here besides along with tons of other sea creatures.

Diving Flynn Reef in February on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Sarah W
  • United States United States

Nice! We saw sharks and turtles

Diving Flynn Reef in February on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Noam K
  • United States United States

Beautiful! We were able to find sharks and turtles well hidden in the coral

Diving Flynn Reef in June on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • William M
  • United States United States

Beautiful, giant corals, loads of fish

Diving Flynn Reef in November on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 8.4 Very good
  • Chelsea C
  • United States United States

Saw a few baby sharks, very cool experience.

Diving Flynn Reef in February on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 8.4 Very good
  • Joyce S
  • United States United States

Underwhelming. It was not as colorful or full of sea life as I expected. The visibility was limited.

Diving Flynn Reef in February on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 7.2 Good
  • Kara M
  • United States United States

we moved to multiple sites on Flynn Reef and each were unique. No other boats nearby which is a selling point for me.

Diving Flynn Reef in March on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 7.6 Good
  • Jeno K
  • United States United States

The visibility and corals here were my favorite. We saw a giant turtle during the night dive. In the early morning dive, we saw a school of Parrot Fish.

Diving Flynn Reef in June on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Brad H
  • United States United States

Wonderful. I can't say enough about the this portion. It was probably my favorite part of the trip with the visability and marine life.

Diving Flynn Reef in January on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Alex D
  • United States United States

Flynn Reef was full of life and made for a wonderful dive site.

Diving Flynn Reef in February on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Sangwoo H
  • South Korea South Korea

Absolutely stunning corals and fish in the Flynn. Seeing Brian the turtle was the highlight.

Diving Flynn Reef in October on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • David E
  • Canada Canada

Site was very diverse with lots to see. More than one can see on two tanks. Many dives could be made here without repeating.

Diving Flynn Reef in November on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Mardi G
  • Australia Australia

My favourite, many memorable encounters with wildlife.

Diving Flynn Reef in January on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 8.4 Very good
  • Mark G
  • Australia Australia

Flynn reef was the highlight for me. Sharks, Ray's, and too many other fish and corals to mention here.

Diving Flynn Reef in May on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • Gary B
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Such a diversity of fish and the calmness of the waters , fantastic for noobs like me

Diving Flynn Reef in December on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 8.4 Very good
  • Vorayos R
  • Thailand Thailand

It was very beautiful. I wish I can stay there for hours each dive.

Diving Flynn Reef in April on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Nick S
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Compact easy to navigate but so much to see.

Diving Flynn Reef in May on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Amber B
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Fantastic - lots of variation of corals and fish. We saw turtles and reef sharks.

Diving Flynn Reef in July on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Jane H
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

I liked the mix of sites, working towards the most spectacular at Flynn, it was jam packed with life!

Diving Flynn Reef in January on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Blaine R
  • Canada Canada

Ski slope on Flynn was a great dive....good viz and corral formation Abundant Life and some great surprises ... Manta and eagle Ray's as well as turtles.... fabulous

Diving Flynn Reef in January on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Marco-Bruno P
  • Austria Austria

Nice with an awesome sight of up to 25m.

Diving Flynn Reef in January on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Amenda E
  • Canada Canada

Beautiful, loved seeing the sharks

Diving Flynn Reef in January on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Nicki S
  • Australia Australia

Good, fantastic fish life!

Diving Flynn Reef in November on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • Peter B
  • Australia Australia

More suited to diving than snorkeling

Diving Flynn Reef in September on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Olivia F
  • South Africa South Africa

Mind blowing really, the numbers and diversity were incredible.

Diving Flynn Reef in January on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Jasmin D
  • Germany Germany

Great. A lot of turtles and sharks.

Diving Flynn Reef in May on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Monica O
  • South Africa South Africa

Amazing and the topography and variety beyond imagination!

Diving Flynn Reef in June on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Adrian B
  • Ireland Ireland

Beautiful and very healthy

Diving Flynn Reef in November on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 8.4 Very good
  • Nina Z
  • Switzerland Switzerland

Clear visibility, healthy coralles

Diving Flynn Reef in December on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Christina F
  • Australia Australia

Amazing coral, fish, sharks

Diving Flynn Reef in January on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 8.0 Very good
  • Glenda J
  • Australia Australia

Lots of coral, fish and some swim thru.

Diving Flynn Reef in April on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Dylan C
  • Australia Australia

Was relatively calm, high clarity, warm and a pleasant dive. With lots of fish, a couple turtles, sharks and rays

Diving Flynn Reef in May on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Nina K
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Amazing - lots of fish action

Diving Flynn Reef in December on the Pro Dive Cairns

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Micheal G
  • Denmark Denmark

Nice visibility, super corals, a lot of life. Not a place for big stuff

Diving Flynn Reef in January on the Pro Dive Cairns