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Coral Sea (Holmes Reefs) - Cairns, Queensland , Australia Scuba Diving Guide
 
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While Coral Sea Reefs maybe Great Barrier Reef closest neighbours, diving in
these two areas are actually quite different. Reefs at Coral Sea are well known
for their residents shark, pelagics action and gin clear water. To know more
details on Coral Sea Reefs, please visit our
Coral Sea Reefs scuba diving guide. In this page, our attention is on
Holmes Reef of Coral Sea Reefs group.
Holmes Reefs lie just next to the
Cairns Section of Great Barrier Reef. It is about 220km away from
Cairns and is one of the Coral Sea Reefs that can be visited by day trippers.
However, short liveaboard trips are still the preferred mode for visitors. The
size of this reef system is about 450 sq km. The reef structures consist of two
reefs and two sand banks. These sand banks break sea surface during low tide.
At Holmes Reefs, divers will find shallow sheltered lagoons as well as reef
walls that drop more than 1500m to the Coral Sea floor. Along the shelter
lagoons, there are caverns, caves and tunnels all waiting to be explored.
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Dive Sites around Coral Sea (Holmes Reefs)
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 Nonki
This site contains 3 large pinnacles rising from a depth of 30m to less than 5m
from the sea surface. There are caves and ledges on these pinnacles that are
packed with healthy soft corals and gorgonians. There are many resident reef
fish at this site. Lionfish, angelfish, rock cod and a massive school of big
eye trevally can always be seen. There are also plenty of molluscs and
nudibranchs to add extra colors to this reef.
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Amazing
This is a cave diving site. There are dozens of caves here, most of them are
located in depths between 10 and 20 meters. In these caves, divers can find
squirrelfish, cardinalfish and rock lobsters. Outside the cave, the usual reef
fish make their appearances.
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Golden Wall
One of the best wall dive in the Coral Sea, the wall here drop into a depth of
more than 1000m below. On the wall, there are plenty of soft coral, large
gorgonians, sea whips and spiky soft coral trees. Small reef fish find shelter
along the wall while pelagic, surgeon fish, grey reef sharks and whitetip reef
sharks cruise in the water along this wall.
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 Leopard Lair
Leopard Lair consist of a large pinnacle sitting on the sandy bottom of the
shallow lagoon. Resident Leopard Sharks can be seen lazing on the bottom during
the day. The pinnacle itself has good hard and soft coral growth.
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Predators' Playground
At this site, some operators do sharks feeding in the safety of a cage. Divers
will gather inside a floating cage which is lowered into the water. Baits are
used to draw sharks to the cage. At anytime, dozens of sharks will appear and
move in for the feeding. Grey Reef Sharks and Whitetip Reef Sharks are the
usual guests at these dinner invitations.
Best Time to Dive in Coral Sea (Holmes Reefs)
The best time to go to Coral Reefs is from March to December.
Where to Stay in Cairns
Divers hoping to visit Coral Sea Reefs (Holmes Reefs) should based themselves
in Cairns.
Cairns is a well-developed tourists town that caters to all sorts of
travellers. There are many fun filled activities for everybody and even a
Casino for people who wants to try their luck.
For accommodation recommendation in Cairnslas, refer to our Great Barrier Reef (Cairns) - Where to Stay in Cairns and Port Douglas
See a complete listing of
Cairns Hotels and Accommodations
How to get to Cairns
Cairns has an International Airport, from the airport, transport to hotels
either in Cairns or Port Douglas can be easily arranged. Cost of transportation
is about A$30 per passenger for mini-vans.
Thereafter, there are many diving operators in Cairns that provide liveaboard
trip to Holmes Reefs.
Major airlines offering daily flights to Cairns include
Other Interesting Dive Sites
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