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Cod Hole & Ribbon Reef 3 Night Liveaboard

Eleven dives on the Ribbons, including eye contact with a giant potato cod.

Three nights living on the Ribbon Reefs with up to 11 dives: dense healthy coral, giant clams, schooling pelagics, and the Cod Hole, home to a resident family of giant potato cod who come to meet the divers.

⭑ 4.8 138 Google reviews 📍 Great Barrier Reef ⏱ 4 Days / 3 Nights 👥 Up to 10 🔥 Active 🎂 Ages 16+

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4.8 from 138 Google reviews

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Overview

The Ribbon Reefs run along the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef like a string of pearls, remote enough that day boats can't touch them, which is exactly why liveaboard divers speak about them in a reverent tone. Three nights out here buys you up to eleven dives, and the diving justifies the arithmetic.

The sites deliver the full reef portfolio: clouds of tropical fish over healthy coral, giant clams and anemones, and huge schools of cruising pelagics out in the blue. The headline act is the Cod Hole, one of the most famous dive sites in Australia, where a resident family of giant potato cod, genuinely enormous, genuinely curious, approach divers with the confidence of animals who've never had a bad meeting.

It's a small-group trip capped at ten. Full and individual gear hire is available onboard if you're travelling light. Bring your certification card and spare log book pages.

Why you'll love it

  1. 1

    Up to 11 dives, three nights

  2. 2

    The famous Cod Hole

  3. 3

    Giant potato cod encounters

  4. 4

    Remote Ribbon Reef sites

  5. 5

    Schooling pelagics in the blue

  6. 6

    Max ten divers

More photos

Itinerary at a glance

Cairns Day 1 · 4 Ribbon Reefs Days 2–3 Lizard Island Day 4
Your route, day by day
1 Day 1 · Cairns to the outer reef

A courtesy bus collects you from your Cairns hotel around 11am for the transfer to the wharf, where the crew run through an orientation of the boat before the noon departure. Lunch is served on board as you cruise out to the outer Great Barrier Reef, where you jump in for an afternoon check-out dive and a twilight dive. After dinner, the boat steams north toward the Ribbon Reefs while you settle in.

Accommodation
On board the liveaboard
Meals Included
Lunch, Dinner
2 Days 2 to 3 · The Ribbon Reefs and the Cod Hole

Two full days diving the Ribbon Reefs, from No. 3 to No. 10. Dive sites and order depend on the weather, but every trip includes at least one dive at the Cod Hole, home to a family of huge, friendly potato cod. Other sites may include Wonder Wall, Pixie Pinnacle, Challenger Bay, Two Towers, Lighthouse Bommie and the Snake Pit, plus a drift dive at Dynamite Pass, a known shark channel, if the current is right. You can fit in four to five dives a day, with a night dive on Friday. On Saturday evening the boat anchors at Watson's Bay, Lizard Island, for a sunset dinner on the top deck.

Accommodation
On board the liveaboard
Meals Included
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
4 Day 4 · Lizard Island and the flight home

After breakfast, step ashore at Lizard Island for a guided walk from Watson's Beach to Mary Watson's cottage, over Chinaman's Ridge to the airstrip. Enjoy a picnic breakfast roll and a drink before boarding a light aircraft for the one-hour flight back to Cairns, landing around 11:15 to 11:45am. A courtesy coach then takes you to your Cairns city hotel.

Meals Included
Breakfast

What's included

✓ What's included

  • Courtesy pickup from your Cairns hotel
  • Three nights aboard the liveaboard
  • All meals on board
  • Up to 11 dives across the Ribbon Reefs, including the Cod Hole
  • Return light-aircraft flight from Lizard Island to Cairns
  • Courtesy coach back to your Cairns city hotel

✕ Not included

  • ✕Full Gear Hire and Individual Gear Hire items available onboard at an additional charge

Common questions about this trip

  • What's the cancellation policy?
    Cancel more than 60 days before departure for a full refund. Between 30 and 60 days a 20% fee applies, and within 30 days it is 100%. If a departure is altered or cut short for weather or safety, no refund is given, but guests can accept new arrangements or a replacement tour. Wanderlust handles the refund for you, refunds mirror the operator's terms 1:1 (including if the operator cancels) and we chase it on your behalf.

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What travellers say

Reviews from real travellers

Public reviews of the operator who runs this tour on the ground.

The operator's track record

4.8 on Google · 138 reviews

Review excerpts below are from Tripadvisor.

⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑
via Tripadvisor
"The two night dives are disorienting due to the activity of the wildlife: the best of my life. We see sharks at every dive without feeding. The wildlife is respected. We saw Minke whales at least three times, twice while snorkeling and once while descending to the dive site."
B

Berengere B.

Tripadvisor review

⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑
via Tripadvisor
"Awesome 3nights trip with … on the Great Barrier Reef, visiting the Ribbon Reefs & the famous Cod Hole. Great crew & excellent diving."
T

Taso L

Tripadvisor review

⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑
via Tripadvisor
"Did a 3 night, 4-day liveaboard with these folks to dive the Great Barrier Reef. They did a fantastic job, from food, to housekeeping, to diver support and education. Safety is their #1 consideration and it showed, I cannot recommend them highly enough. You won’t go wrong with this operation!"
C

Cherry P

Tripadvisor review

Traveller reviews, source shown on each · shown as excerpts.

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