The Great Barrier Reef is renowned as the eighth Wonder of the World and a declared World Heritage Site. It encompasses 350,000 square kilometres of the South Pacific Ocean. It stretches over 2000 km from the northern tip of the continental shelf near Papua New Guinea to Bundaberg in the south and is made up of 2,900 individual reefs and 71 coral cays making it the largest reef in the world.
Its ecosystem supports the greatest concentration of life on this planet including 1,500 species of fish, 350 different kinds of coral, 4000 species of molluscs and 10,000 species of sponges. The larger dive areas of the Great Barrier Reef consist of the inner reef gardens, the outer reefs, the far northern reefs and the coral seas.
Blue Wonder is not just a dive site in the heart of the Cairns and Port Douglas region but also one of the best dives in the Agincourt reef. Blue Wonder is a site that puzzles with a fantastic setting but the profuse marine life to match. As soon as you enter the site you will marvel at the beautiful colourful coral covered wall were hard corals are as frequent as soft corals such as sea whips and gorgonians. A perfect setting for creatures big and small that inhabit this region such as mackerels, jobfish, trevallies, barracudas, batfish, fusiliers as well as white-tip and grey reef sharks. Make sure to bring a torch as the whole wall is covered with deep caves. Explore them to find squirrelfish, painted crays or putterfish.
Further south, situated at the outer edge of the Cairns reef system, lies Flynn Reef, a reef that is host to many interesting dive sites. Gordon’s Morning for example is a series of coral heads beneath 15 m (49 ft) of water. Similar to Blue Wonder you will find an intense coral growth and several caves. Sweetlips, rock cod, lionfish, gobies, several species of wrasses, anemonefish, butterflyfish and lionfish are just a few of the inhabitants of this site. If you are lucky you might see a white-tip shark sleeping in one of the caves or patrolling the reef. Other sites located in the Flynn Reef include Coral Gardens and Northern Morning’s
Situated between Flynn’s Reef and Blue Wonder lies Hastings Reef , a potpourri of magnificent features. A unique mixture of pinnacles, caves, walls, and goral gardens, this site truly has it all. And the coral growth is nothing short of spectacular with gorgonians, sea whips and soft corals covering the walls and pinnacles, hydroid corals covering the caves and an abundant variety of hard and soft corals covering the shallows. Obvious, that this perfect habitat is literally flooded by different individuals such as stingrays, triggerfish, turrum, moray eels, barracudas, trevallies and several other resident fish. And if that was not enough already, Hastings Reef adds turtles and reef sharks to the mix.
The northernmost reef of this region – the Ribbon Reef – is yet another highlight and without a doubt one of the best dives on the whole Great Barrier Reef: The Cod Hole. In 1973 a group of potato cods were discovered in this region and today a group of 6 to 14 specimens inhabit this now protected site. Be sure to have your camera ready the moment you enter the site as the cods will approach and greet every visitor. Many of the charter boats hand-feed these creatures, which can be quite a spectacle. But they have to be quick as Leopard morays and maori wrasses hand around for the easy pickings.
Part of the same reef as The Cod Hole is the Temple of Doom. This massive pinnacle is located at the south of Ribbon Reef No. 3. With a diameter of 30 m (100 ft) this pinnacle is not only massive but seems to be especially appealing to the marine life as the fauna found at the Temple of Doom is sheer mind-boggling. Goatfish, moray eels, crays, snapper, fusilier, mackerel, trevally, tuna, barracuda, white-tip reef shark, sting- and eagle rays and coral trout are only a section of what awaits you. As hard as it may seem, try not to focus solely on the marine life as the surrounding is not bad either with gorgonians, black coral trees, sea whips, sponges and several soft corals.