Australia
Best overall months to dive: Jun–Oct
Australia's diving spans temperate kelp in the south to tropical reef in the north, but the Great Barrier Reef is the marquee. The GBR runs about 2,300km along the Queensland coast and is a UNESCO World Heritage Area managed by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. We populate the northern Ribbon Reefs first: a chain of ten offshore reefs reached by liveaboard from Cairns, home to the Cod Hole and the June-July dwarf minke whale aggregation. Coral condition across the reef is uneven after repeated mass bleaching events, most recently in 2024.