Cairns Dive Adventures

Tour Length: 7 days & 7 nights | Operates: Year round
Destination: Coral Sea & Cod Hole & Ribbon Reefs
Departs: Monday 12.00pm | Returns: Monday 7.00am
Transfers available: Yes, free from all Cairns City Hotels.

This is undoubtedly the most comprehensive live aboard dive tour departing from Cairns.  It provides you with 6.5 days of diving on some of the most remote, pristine and spectacular dive sites in the world.  The operator, Spirit of Freedom has been accredited by Ecotourism Australia as being an Advanced Ecotourism experience.  This means that when choosing this Cairns live aboard dive tour, you know you are travelling with a crew that respects and protects the precious Great Barrier Reef marine environment and is committed to its preservation for future generations.

Commencing in Cairns, the Spirit of Freedom seven day Cold Hole, Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea dive adventure provides you with the chance to enjoy up to 26 dives on the Great Barrier Reef, including drift dives, wall dives and night dives.  Your sea chariot, the 37m Spirit of Freedom, is one Australia’s largest live aboard dive vessels and yet it provides a high guest to crew ratio of 26 to 10, ensuring you enjoy first class service on your ultimate Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea dive adventure.

Highlights & Inclusions

• 7 days and 7 nights, live aboard dive trip
• Up to 26 dives
• Note: Equipment hire is not included and is an additional $245 for 7 day, full hire
• 3 to 4 days on the Great Barrier Reef’s Ribbon Reefs
• 2 – 3 days on the Coral Sea
• Time ashore at Lizard Island
• Chef prepared gourmet meals
• Australian wines and soft drinks with evening meals
• Sole occupancy available, as well as discounts for non-diving guests

Spirit of Freedom is a luxurious live aboard dive boat offering guests a choice between three, four and seven day Great Barrier Reef dive tours.  Guests can choose accommodation to suit their budget and needs, with available options including ocean view deluxe, ocean view standard, stateroom, double / twin share and quad share.  [The above price is based on Double/Twin Accommodation.] The dedicated crew of ten service the cabins daily, for your comfort and convenience, and all of the Spirit of Freedom cabins have private bathroom facilities.  The Spirit of Freedom vessel was custom-built for long range cruising on the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea.  Its stabilizers provide the most comfortable ride possible, in all weather conditions.  For divers, the destinations and facilities aboard this live aboard vessel are excellent.  The spacious exterior dive deck is equipped with the latest professional equipment for your enjoyment.  The meals are prepared by a chef on board daily and are designed to be hearty, fresh and satisfying.  In time out of the water, guests can choose to relax in the air-conditioned cabins or saloon, or soak up some sun on the upstairs deck. Spirit of Freedom is a specialist Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea live aboard dive operator, committed to ensuring you get the most out of this experience of a lifetime.

Dive Notes

• Recommended dive experience level: PADI Advanced or equivalent, or above
• Adventure level: mid to high, pending weather conditions, winds, swells and currents
• You will need to bring your dive certification with you
• Tanks and weight belts are provided as a part of the ticket price
• Dive computers must be used and are available for rent
• Nitrox fills are available, at an extra cost
• Dive courses are available on board, including Nitrox
• Night dives are available

Spirit of Freedom: Sample 7 Day Live aboard Great Barrier Reef Dive Itinerary
Monday: The Spirit of Freedom courtesy coach collects you from your Cairns hotel at 11am for a complimentary transfer to Trinity Wharf.  You will be greeted by the friendly crew and provided with an orientation of the vessel before a noon departure to the Great Barrier Reef.  Your first dive will be Monday afternoon / evening, for a twilight or night dive.  As you relax after dinner, Spirit of Freedom commences its 240km journey north to the Great Barrier Reef’s Ribbon Reefs.

Tuesday & Wednesday: The Ribbon Reefs are 100km of picturesque coral reefs, stretching along the coast from Daintree in the south to Lizard Island in the north.  On the 7 Day Coral Sea adventure with Spirit of Freedom you have two days to explore this amazing ecosystem, with four to five dives available every day, including a night dive on Tuesday.  Dive sites will be selected to maximise your Great Barrier Reef live aboard dive experience, pending weather and water conditions.  Some of the many places you may dive include the world famous Cod Hole, Two Towers, Lighthouse Bommie, Snake Pit and Wonder-wall.

The Cod Hole is undoubtedly a must see dive destination.  Home to a large family of resident Potato Cod (Groupers), these giant fish are very placid and guarantee memorable diving and unbelievable photos to take home.  We will even do a fish feed, so you can see them in action.  Diving the Ribbon Reefs is a comfortable and enjoyable experience for divers of any experience level.  The best diving is generally at depths of less than 20m and there is usually only a gentle current in these warm, sheltered waters.  Wednesday evening is spent overnight in Lizard Island’s Watson’s Bay and dinner is a sunset BBQ on the top deck, a great way to spend some time out of the water.

Thursday: This morning you have the opportunity to stretch your legs at Lizard Island.  A tender will return to Spirit of Freedom at 11am and there is time for two dives this afternoon.  Pending conditions, you may again get to dive the Cod Hole, or perhaps visit a new Ribbon Reef site at either Pixie Pinnacle, an isolated coral bomie that rises from 30m to just below the waves with an abundance of schooling fish, or Monolith, a spectacular wall dive with fields of cascading fist coral and a resident hammerhead shark.

Friday & Saturday: As you slept overnight, Spirit of Freedom made its way beyond the continental shelf and its Great Barrier Reef system, deep into the Coral Sea.  So, on Friday morning, you will awake to two amazing days of very different diving adventures on the isolated reef systems of the Coral Sea.  This region is vastly untouched and covers over one million square kilometres (three times the size of the Great Barrier Reef).  One of the reefs you will visit, dive and explore aboard this Spirit of Freedom dive adventure is the Osprey Reef, which is 150km north east off the Queensland coast and home to some of the world’s largest and most brilliantly coloured soft corals.  Between four to five dives are available each day, including a night dive on Friday.

Sunday: Awake to find yourself back on the Great Barrier Reef’s Ribbon Reefs, for some more diving action.  This is the last dive day of your Spirit of Freedom Coral Sea Adventure and you will visit new dive sites at Ribbon Reef #3, including Steve’s Bommie, home to schooling fish and some of the more ‘hidden’ reef residents, including Stonefish and Leafy Scorpionfish.  Flare Point is another site you may dive today, this is a sloping reef wall scattered with deeper, outlying bommies, home to abundant marine life and tropical fish.

Monday: Your 7 Day live aboard Great Barrier Reef adventure concludes at 6.30am Monday morning, with a light breakfast on-board Spirit of Freedom in Cairns, before you disembark on the free courtesy coach and return to your hotel.

Passenger notes:

• Discounts available for non-divers
• Minimum age for guests: 10 years old (no maximum)
• Also available with a Thursday departure and return
• What is not included in the ticket price? Marine Park Levy, Gear Hire, Nitrox Fills, any dive courses taken on board, drinks outside of evening meal time.