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Liveaboard Diving in Osprey Reef
What To Expect On An Osprey Reef Liveaboard
Setting sail on a Cairns based liveaboard tour bound for Osprey Reef, you will truly be entering a remote unspoilt underwater wilderness, full of vibrant colours, curious sea creatures and stunning scenery. The reef is situated over 60 kilometres from any other, ensuring a remoteness that will leave you with the feeling that you are on the edge of the world. It lies a whopping 350 kilometres from the city of Cairns in Queensland in the Coral Sea section of the Great Barrier Reef, and due to this isolated position it is only accessible via liveaboard.
Osprey Reef is famous for it's superb visibility (often over 40 metres) and big fish residents, in particular the sheer number of sharks at North Horn. This site is perhaps the most well known at Osprey, but there are a number of other exciting areas, and when diving Osprey Reef on a liveaboard it's likely you'll also be exploring what Fairy Grotto, Admiralty Anchor and False Entrance also have to offer.
What You Can See
Excited by big fish? In awe of bright, natural and vivid colours? You're in the right place! A liveaboard dive tour to Osprey Reef will spoil you with the variety and numbers of large creatures in the water, all gliding through a scene filled with a blissful array of hard and soft corals. The reefs are healthy, of all shapes, sizes and colours you can care toimagine. Divers regularly encounter large amounts of graceful pelagics, and elegant Green and Loggerhead Turtles. There's an extraordinary plethora of life here all year round, but if you are diving here between June and November, you may come across the odd Humpback Whale aswell!
Gaze at the many sharks passing by, whilst swimming through large schools of Barracuda or Giant Trevally at Admiralty Anchor. Move onto False Entrance where again you'll join huge schools of fish, this time including big eye Trevally - and if you're diving in the Australian winter you may be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the peculiar looking Hammerhead shark. Your liveaboard trip to Osprey Reef will undoubtedly include North Horn, the site of probably Australia's most famous shark feed, where Grey Reefs, Silkys, Silvertips and Hammerheads all converge to make a spectacle that will last long in the memory of any diver.
Getting to Osprey Reef
Because of it's remoteness, Osprey Reef is difficult to get to, and as a result makes the diving even more spectacular as you'll be sharing the water with very few, other than the stunning marine life on show. The only realistic way to dive here is via a Cairns based liveaboard. Many of these Australian liveaboard trips are between 4 and 7 days, giving you enough time to sail, dive, and relax.
Cairns is a popular tourist town in the North East corner of Queensland, and is the most common port for departing liveaboard diving cruises to the Coral Sea. It has an airport close to town, which is a large international hub and is served by many well known international carriers. It's very likely that you'll be able to fly directly into Cairns from overseas (unless you want to combine other areas of Australia into your trip). If in the unlikely event this is not possible, there are daily domestic flights to Cairns from the even larger cities of Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. The vast majority of liveaboard operators will offer a complimentary pick up service from your accommodation.
Osprey Reef Diving Reviews
- 9.3 Superb
- 43 Verified Reviews
- 8.8 Fabulous
- sheryl R
![United States]()
United States
Great . So much to look at and film
Diving Osprey Reef in November on the Spirit of Freedom Liveaboard
- 8.8 Fabulous
- sheryl R
![United States]()
United States
Out of this world and amazing
Diving Osprey Reef in November on the Spirit of Freedom Liveaboard
- 9.6 Exceptional
- Russell H
![United States]()
United States
Very good. Reef was a little bleached
Diving Osprey Reef in January on the Spoilsport
- 10.0 Exceptional
- Steven W
![United States]()
United States
Beyond excellent. Truly a special spot.
Diving Osprey Reef in February on the Spirit of Freedom Liveaboard
- 10.0 Exceptional
- Kaitlin R
![United States]()
United States
So much going on. Tons of different fish.
Diving Osprey Reef in October on the Spirit of Freedom
- 8.8 Fabulous
- Bob C
![United States]()
United States
Beautiful reef teaming with life.
Diving Osprey Reef in April on the Spoilsport
- 9.6 Exceptional
- Jillian L
![United States]()
United States
Really interesting and unique
Diving Osprey Reef in December on the Spirit of Freedom
- 10.0 Exceptional
- Diana M
![United States]()
United States
Can you say sharks??? Never believed I would dive with them, but it was breathtaking and a whole new level of experiencing the underwater world.
Diving Osprey Reef in October on the Spirit of Freedom
- 9.2 Superb
- Steven E
![United States]()
United States
Osprey reef offered amazing wall dives with something new on each dive. We only spent 1 day due to wind conditions but it’s hard to complain when the rest of the diving was just as great.
Diving Osprey Reef in October on the Spirit of Freedom
- 10.0 Exceptional
- Simon N
![United Kingdom]()
United Kingdom
Had to miss due to weather conditions
Diving Osprey Reef in February on the Spirit of Freedom Liveaboard
- 9.6 Exceptional
- Samantha H
![Australia]()
Australia
Osprey Reef was amazing.we saw a whale shark, what an experience to be in the water with this majestic animal. There were lots of sharks and this was also an incredible experience. We dived with schools of fish including blue bump head parrotfish, barracuda, to name a few.
Diving Osprey Reef in November on the Spoilsport Liveaboard
- 10.0 Exceptional
- Ben L
![United Kingdom]()
United Kingdom
Osprey was my favourite location from the trip for diving, it is home to lots of reef and grey tip sharks, diving is an exhilarating experience. Great, warm 30°c water means you only need to wear t-shirt and shorts, no need for a wet suit if you don't want to wear them. At all dive sites, we were the only dive group and the vast majority of the time you and your buddy do not bump into anyone else during the dives.
Diving Osprey Reef in January on the Spoilsport Liveaboard
- 10.0 Exceptional
- Terence K
![United Kingdom]()
United Kingdom
Probably the nicest bit of the Coral Sea. Lots of sharks, eagle rays, marine life.
Diving Osprey Reef in January on the Spoilsport Liveaboard
- 9.6 Exceptional
- Raian D
![Italy]()
Italy
Incredible dive location, nothing like it.
Diving Osprey Reef in January on the Spirit of Freedom Liveaboard
- 8.0 Very good
- Sune Levy T
![Denmark]()
Denmark
Outstanding reef and wildlife
Diving Osprey Reef in May on the Spirit of Freedom
- 9.6 Exceptional
- Auguste H
![France]()
France
Definitely an awesome spot for scuba diving. The water is so clear there! It changes every thing for the view on the landscape and the fauna.
Diving Osprey Reef in August on the Spirit of Freedom
- 8.8 Fabulous
- Marie-France G
![Australia]()
Australia
Very different, impressive wall, any creatures could appear from the Big Blue
Diving Osprey Reef in September on the Spirit of Freedom
- 10.0 Exceptional
- Barry P
![Canada]()
Canada
Even with storm damage evident this dive was memorable, lots of life and evidence of new growth
Diving Osprey Reef in April on the Spirit of Freedom
- 10.0 Exceptional
- Michelle K
![Netherlands]()
Netherlands
Such a beautiful place. A lot of different animals, drift dive's, shallow dives beautiful hard and soft coral
Diving Osprey Reef in June on the Spirit of Freedom
- 9.2 Superb
- Guillaume B
![France]()
France
Scenic, just need to look at the environment for the global picture of the marine life
Diving Osprey Reef in August on the Spirit of Freedom
- 9.2 Superb
- Eva W
![Germany]()
Germany
Some great sites (Admiralty, False Entrance) some not so great - mostly due to poor viz on that day.
Diving Osprey Reef in December on the Spoilsport
- 8.8 Fabulous
- Gina M
![Australia]()
Australia
Some of the clearest water I have dived in
Diving Osprey Reef in March on the Spoilsport
- 9.6 Exceptional
- Robert S
![Canada]()
Canada
The highlight of the trip - so pristine, loved the sharks and all the underwater life
Diving Osprey Reef in April on the Spoilsport
- 7.2 Good
- Chris B
![Australia]()
Australia
Needs a decent drift dive.
Diving Osprey Reef in June on the Spirit of Freedom
