This is remote diving at its best, and is recommended for advanced and more experienced divers for maximum enjoyment.

Location

This area is located about 400 kilometres North from Cairns. The Far Northern section of the Barrier Reef is situated close to one of the most solitary pieces of earth left on this planet - the Cape York Peninsula. This part of the reef starts north of Lizard Island and extends northwards for almost 700 km to Papua New Guinea.

Logistics For Far Northern Dive Excursions

This region is only accessible from live aboard vessels; excursions vary between 7, 10 and 14 days. Most trips up here start or end in Lockhart River, a small Aboriginal community,which is half way between Cairns and Cape York.

You usually fly one way of the trip in a small aircraft. Some trips are spent up north for the entire duration whilst others cruise between Cairns and Lockhart River. These cruises can be easily combined with a real 4WD outback camping Safari through the Cape York Peninsula.

What To See

The inner reefs in this section may sometimes have lower visibility down to 15 meters (50 ft), but here you might come across manta rays or whale sharks that love it there as there is lots of plankton in the water. The reefs up here are literally untouched. Strong currents are the reason for the wealth of fantastic coral; probably the best Australia has to offer. The drift dives here are awesome.

On the channels near the outer reefs and detached reefs expect above average visibility, at least 25 to 60 m. You are also in for the bigger fish species, as there is almost no fishing in these waters. Enjoy leopard sharks, hammerhead and silvertip sharks - perhaps tiger sharks. On the awesome walls, large fish will accompany you on your dive and colourful coral and reef life are waiting. Even if you have seen it all, you still have to go Far North, truly a divers paradise.

Types Of Diving

You will be making heaps of drift dives along walls and through reef channels. You can expect to dive depths in the 20 to 40-meter range. The reefs come up to about 4 meters below the surface, ideal for safety stops and snorkelling in between dives. You may frequently experience currents - in these situations you either spend most of the time at a prominent point on the reef to watch the action, or drift dives are organized (entry from moving boat) where you gently drift along with the current. The crew watches the group's location at the surface and picks you up wherever you surface. Great fun & very relaxing !

As a lot of the actual dive sites are largely unexplored you should be comfortable dealing with unknown situations, which can arise with exploration dives.

Dive Sites

The following are excerpts from Dirk's dive log October 2001 Lizard Island to Lockhart River:

Aladdin's Wall: 7.15 AM: Live boat drift dive. Slow current east to west. Sloping wall drops deep at 30 m. Huge gorgonian fans at 40m. What a way to wake up to a new day. The coral gardens host plants and animals of any colour under the sun. Think of the Papuan Barrier Reef off Port Moresby. All the fish are busy to get ready for the day. Then the buffalos of the sea take centre stage. A school of 60 or more bump head parrotfish roam the shallows of the reef. We are getting a very close look at those animals. Each is easily 1.20 to 1.50 long. Something stirs them up and they seem to flee, causing the vis to drop. Then quietly, they move on.

Floyd's Wall: 2 reefs north of Aladdin's (past shark reef), another live boat wall drift dive. But what a wall. Sheer drop to 200m. Could be more. Few walls are so straight without a ledge in sight. Sharks are patrolling their territory. A whitetip swims up straight towards me. I finally have the fitting comparison: Sharks are like cats. They are fascinating to watch, come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and only very few of them are really dangerous. The wall is still straight down, now with some overhangs. Huge Gorgonians, Soft coral, obsidians cover the limestone. I see a special brittle worm I have never seen before. Very active about 10cm long. I don't have my camera. Claudia finds a red stonefish in perfect camouflage hiding in a narrow swim through.

Sand Cay No. 7: The little island is off limits - For humans any way.... Hundreds of birds have their home and turtles do lay their eggs. Wrong season. (June-August is right season). Good snorkelling. I follow a yellow puffer fish with blue dots until it signals me to p.o. Then a whitetip shark patrols his territory. Doesn't take any notice of me.

South Tijou Reef: Diversity is a fitting name for this site. Slack tide, low vis, sandy bottom with garden eels. Low vis creates an eerie atmosphere - you never know what will appear from the distance. A school of barracudas circles under the boat and then, when we least expect it, two manta rays do a fly-by. All excited. Large maori wrasse, big cods, schools of snappers - and finally a solitary barramundi cod. Low vis and plenty of fish live. I had enough good diving for one day.

North Tijou Reef: First thing after breakfast: wall dive, live boat. Current is going the other way. Soft corals are the big feature on this wall, sloping out slightly; visible bottom at approx. 60 m. Ledge must be further out. Suddenly a group of four sharks appears from behind. Very high dorsal fin - must be hammerheads. I'm swimming away from the wall to get a closer look - hoping to get them interested in me. I get a short glance at their distinctive heads as they are passing below me without stopping. I'll keep my eyes focused into the blurry distance - hoping for a return.

Bligh Entrance: Wall dive fantastic colours. Absolute sheer wall. Most spectacular scenery on the trip. Wish we had more time here. Must be an ideal place for nudibranchs to hide out. Unfortunately we didn't find a single one.

Nimrod Reef: Sheltered anchorage. 30m under boat. Drop down like parachutes. Small bommies on the sandy slope. Find a giant Moray Eel peeking out under a rock. Heaps of flatworms (one dances beautifully for Claudia's video) and nudibranchs. A grey whaler comes in to see what's happening in his territory. Shallows are covered with staghorn coral fields, giant pirotes (boulder coral), and uncounted blue, yellow, purple, turquoise, red, …. Fish of all description and sizes. Just hang in neutral and enjoy. Everyone comes up excited.

Black Rocks: Before we enter the water three turtles are drifting on the surface in a rather compromising position… Live boat dive, Sloping wall. Swam out 20m off the wall, on return a 2.5m silvertip came for a passing round to check us out. Very elegant movement. The shark is big and bulky, has two white scratches on its back. Great adrenalin rush. The silvertip disappears as suddenly as it came. "Cool game" I think and try again. This time 30m out into the deep blue. Hang out for a couple of minutes - nothing. I wait a little longer, check my air and it's time to move back. As I'm just checking my ascent rate at the wall I see a big shadow behind my back. Here it is again! Great stuff! Further up in the shallows a whitetip is sleeping in the sand - about to be disturbed by us divers. All eyes on the poor whitetip as a large (1.3m!) turtle darts through the group of divers from the left. What a show. Now the whitetip starts performing - swimming gently up and down along the reef wall hiding behind some bommies.

Seasonal Events

November - Coral Spawning: Coral Spawning is often called "Sex on the reef"- that's what it is! Every year it is happening again. All corals release their eggs and sperm at the same time. You can really see it! It usually happens 4 nights after the first full moon in November. It is an impressive event. Night dives are spectacular. A lot of critters are active, as this is a feast! The Coral Spawning initiates a food chain, which brings about large amounts of zooplankton. When these little animals are in the water in big numbers, chances are very good that whale sharks, giant manta rays and Brydes whales come close to the reefs to feed.

December to March: This time is breeding time for many creatures here. Birds are breading and green turtles are nesting on Raine Island and Moulter Cay. There are thousands of turtles nesting here. They estimate that in one record night there have been up to approximately 14 500 female green turtles nesting in one night! In order to protect the turtles and not to disturb them, going on the island is prohibited. The Far Northern Reefs are part of the GBR Marine National Park Zone. Green turtles, who hatched on Raine Island, come back here every year to lay their eggs. These turtles travel from the waters of Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and elsewhere in the South Pacific to nest at Raine Island. Individual green turtles may make migrations of some 2600 kilometres! Interestingly, the green turtles that nest on the island are a genetically distinct population of ancient lineage, which have long been isolated from populations in other parts of the world!

Historic Wrecks

We have two interesting wrecks in the region. They are not included in standard schedules of the vessels. Some special excursions are possible, let us know if you are interested. Both wrecks are protected as historical sites.

• RMS Quetta: She sank in 1890, when she hit an uncharted rock off Cape York. The 116 metre (380 ft) long wreck lies in 6-18 metres (30-60 ft) of water. The Quetta is a fantastic, beautifully preserved wreck, considering her age. Diving here is limited, due to very strong currents in the area, one can dive only during slack tides on the Quetta.

• HMS Pandora: Not much is left of the Pandora, as she sank in 1791, but she is one of the most famous wrecks in the world. She had 14 mutineers of the famous HMS Bounty on board. Those mutineers were captured in Tahiti and the Pandora was on her way to England to put the men on trial. This is a dive site with lots of history and stories.

Dive Operators

• Undersea Explorer
• Nimrod Explorer

Accommodation And Tours

Accommodation and tour options, and general destination information, are also available for the adjacent Cairns-Port Douglas and Daintree-Cape York mainland regions.