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.