Diving Guide > Australia > Great Barrier Reef, Queensland , Australia Scuba Diving Guide

The Great Barrier Reef is the most famous reef system in the world. It is actually not a single continous reef but is made up of more than 2800 individual reefs, shoals and over 900 coral islands. Together, they stretch more than 2000 km and cover a total area of 34 million hectares. From outer space, this is the only visible living biological community of our planet.

A great abundance of marine life, with incredible diversity, is supported by the Great Barrier Reef. Here, you will find more than 450 species of corals, 1500 species of fish and thousands species of invertebrate. 16 species of sea snakes and 23 species of marine mammals had been recorded here. Six out of the seven species of sea turtles in the world made Great Barrier Reef their home. Fascinating visitors such as Dugongs and whales pay regular visits to take refuge, mate and feed. Migratory and resident sea birds can alway be found patroling the tropical cay for food. In all, this ecological wonderland is truly one of the seven natural wonders of our world.

Each year, millions of visitors come to the Great Barrier Reefs. To minimise the impact of human on the reef, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act was set up in 1975. The act divided Great Barrier Reef into several zones. The zones are Far Northern, Cairns, Central and Mackay/Capricorn. Each zone has designated areas for tourism access, commercial fishing, scientific research and general use. Even with restriction impose on the use of reefs for tourism access, many reefs are still unexplored and waiting to be discovered.

The effort of Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (based in Townsville) coupled with increase knowledge of general public on the reef beauty and its fragility, the hope is for mankind to preserve this World Heritage site for the future generations.

Our coverage of Greet Barrier Reef is divided into 4 separate pages. A page for each section as is divided by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Act. These pages are Far Northern Section, Cairns Section, Central Section and Mackay/Capricorn Section.