Location: Quicksilver & Calypso Cruises: Wharf St, Port Douglas
While snorkelling is all well and good to get an initial sampling of the wonders the Great Barrier Reef has to offer, it's hard to dispute that those who want the most immersive and complete experience available are going to have to go the extra mile, suit up, and embark on a diving trip.
It's only fitting, then, that Port Douglas serves as one of the most popular departure points for dive spots in the country – the reefs located closer to Port Douglas are generally slightly less damaged than those closer to Cairns due to a lesser degree of overuse, and allow divers to see unfettered marine life at its absolute best.
Port Douglas also benefits by being physically closer to the “true” Outer Great Barrier Reef than Cairns is, which can make for a slightly shorter trip out.
While there are many quality operators who service the Great Barrier Reef as a whole, your choice of who to go with will likely depend on which particular reef you're interested in diving and how confident you are in deeper water; however, the two most popular individual reefs accessible from Port Douglas tend to be Opal Reef and Agincourt Reef – with each offering something slightly different.
Opal Reef, which is differently-shaped and offers more sheltered conditions is perhaps the better choice for novices and beginners.
"The coral reefs close to Port Douglas are generally healthier than those near Cairns due to less visitation allow divers to see unfettered marine life at its absolute best. Join a Great Barrier Reef cruise from Port Douglas and you'll be blown away by this natural wonder.
Due to its size, only smaller vessels are allowed to visit here, which in turn means both less people in the water overall and thus less of a rowdy and undisturbed atmosphere in the water; this also helps with a greater degree of personal attention and guidance to some extent.
Operator Calypso Cruises comes highly recommended in this regard, with renowned good service, modern and well-equipped “smaller” (relative) vessels that that guests on tours to visit three separate dive sites around Opal Reef and each comes with generally excellent visibility.
The trip out with Calypso takes around 90 minutes from Port Douglas and is a good choice for nervous first-time introductory divers.
Heading to Agincourt Reef with Quicksilver Cruises, meanwhile, is quite a different experience as they're a larger, extremely efficient and streamlined operation that specialises in augmenting their dive trips with additional activities both in and out of the water for guests to take part in.
Trips with Quicksilver are based on floating activity platforms moored at the reef, and this comes in particularly handy if you're the type – or are travelling with someone who is – a non-swimmer, as they'll have greater opportunities to enjoy themselves by taking part in the likes of glass-bottom observatory viewing, semi-submersible trips and even just he simple confidence boost of being able to enjoy the water immediately surrounding the platforms themselves.
Likewise, this comes with the bonus of a full array of facilities on-board such as showers, bars, plenty of seating and more, so it's a comprehensive and balanced experience if slightly more touristy.
In terms of reef structure, Agincourt differs to Opal in that it's a large ribbon reef that offers a slightly more diverse array of coral and fish varieties.
Due to its exposed nature, Agincourt is also thus slightly more conducive to diving rather than snorkelling, and its various drifts and walls have plenty of isolated pinnacles teeming with varieties of pelagic fish and vibrant gardens of coral; expect to encounter massive wrasses and groupers mixed in with clownfish (Hi, Nemo!), anemones and much more.
If you're still having difficulty deciding, the general rule is this: Opal Reef for beginners and those looking to mix in some snorkelling, and Agincourt Reef for more experienced divers and those travelling with non-swimmers who want more to do out of the water.
Regardless of your choice, diving the reef at either of these spots is the quintessential Port Douglas experience and thus hard to dispute as the top thing to do in the region.