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Scuba Forum / Scuba Locations / March 2004November in the Great Barrier Reef?
Is November a good month to go diving in the Great Barrier Reef? (i.e. visibility, absence of Cyclones, etc.) Thanks! > Is November a good month to go diving in the Great Barrier Reef? (i.e. > visibility, absence of Cyclones, etc.) Thanks! Hi LeBelgo, I've dived November on the reef and the coral sea. In a few words - great time. Water temp around 24-26 Celsius Visibility varies ( Better in the coral sea) but can expect 15-20m minimum and up to 50m in the coral sea. As far as Cyclones....can happen any time but infrequent - get travel insurance! I have a trip report on the Great barrier Reef November 2003 on my web site with photos..... HTH Tack PS without a doubt the best visibility is middle of winter - around June July, but the weather is more likely to play up and the water is a chilly 21 - 23 degrees.... www.DivingTheBlue.com > > Is November a good month to go diving in the Great Barrier Reef? (i.e. > > visibility, absence of Cyclones, etc.) Thanks! > > Hi LeBelgo, > I've dived November on the reef and the coral sea. Tack did it in 2003. I did it in November 2002. Just a few comments to compare notes here. > In a few words - great time. Good time, but not great. Part of the reason was the coral bleaching and devastation in 2002. For example, the Kingdom of Doom site was almost 60 percent dead elk-horn and finger corals -- a site raved (during better times) by my very experienced Aussie friends . In s different report posted last year, I had this SUBJECTIVE comparison (Abbreviated version shown below): RF> At the risk of some inevitable apple-vs-orange effect, I shall put a RF> rating number (0-10) on each of the dives, with reference to some of the RF> best sites/locations in which I've have done many dives: Site/Locations Approx. # Times dived Rating Coco's Island sites 40 9.5 Palau (Blue Corner) 10 9.2 Punta Tunich, Cozumel 30 9.0 Bloody Bay Wall, Little Cayman 100 8.6 Punta Sur, Punta Sur II, Cozumel 85 8.5 Palancar Reef, Cozumel 500 8.2 North Walls, Grand Cayman 50 8.1 Turks & Caicos 120 7.5 The Great Barrier Reef, Australia 14 7.3 The Bahamas 200 7.2 The ranking ORDER above (without the rating numbers) is actually about what I would rate the visibility of typical sites in those locations. > Water temp around 24-26 Celsius About the same, perhaps a degree or so higher. Did all my dives in a 1 mm titanium suit. > Visibility varies ( Better in the coral sea) but can expect 15-20m minimum > and up to 50m in the coral sea. Agree with the low end of mininum, but didn't see any site with greater than 30 meter vis. > I have a trip report on the Great barrier Reef November 2003 on my web site > with photos..... > www.DivingTheBlue.com Great photos, though mostly the macro and nudibranch type -- I prefer the big open water and palagic type, but that's a personal preference. The trip report I read only showed the Cod Hole portion, and a TWO day itinerary. Surely it was longer than that on the trip. > HTH > Tack -- Bob. "Reef Fish" <Large_Nassau_Grouper@Yahoo.com> wrote in message > Great photos, though mostly the macro and nudibranch type -- I prefer > the big open water and palagic type, but that's a personal preference. > The trip report I read only showed the Cod Hole portion, and a TWO day [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > -- Bob. Bob, thanks for your comments - I guess the essence of YMMV :-) My trip report was for "3 diving days" as mentioned in the introduction - admittedly still a short live aboard trip! Have done a couple of the 7 day coral sea trips, but they don't count as the great barrier reef :-) Agree about pelagic /open water type photos - something to aim for when the visibility is better I guess - still working on that! Tack > "Reef Fish" <Large_Nassau_Grouper@Yahoo.com> wrote in message > Great > photos, though mostly the macro and nudibranch type -- I prefer [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > My trip report was for "3 diving days" as mentioned in the introduction - > admittedly still a short live aboard trip! My trip on Taka II was longer by only a day, but I saw enough in the 14 dives to get a first-hand feel of what diving was like there. > Have done a couple of the 7 day coral sea trips, but they don't count as the > great barrier reef :-) Only among pedants. :-) > Agree about pelagic /open water type photos - something to aim for when the > visibility is better I guess - still working on that! > Tack I wasn't criticizing your photos at all, not even at the scarcity of pelagic/open-water type. As a matter of fact, there aren't many pelagics at the GBR other than the Potato Cod and the one I was within an arm's length was only the size of a small Italian car, not quite the size of a VW. :-) you can hardly find any place in the continental shelf of the GBR below 80 fsw without carrying a big shovel, until you get to the OUTER portion of the GBR, and pelagics tend to be in those areas not often visited by the popular liveaboards. -- Bob. One of the best..... but don't stop there, go out into the Coral Sea and visit those reef islands far out. They're festooned with the most beautiful corals just like some expensive Madison Avenue florist knew your were coming and decorated it. Also, you'll experience the most deep blue ocean water of a purity and clarity that you ever imagined.. > Is November a good month to go diving in the Great Barrier Reef? (i.e. > visibility, absence of Cyclones, etc.) Thanks! Now ya talkin' Dan! Tack www.DivingTheBlue.com > One of the best..... but don't stop there, go out into the Coral Sea and > visit those reef islands far out. They're festooned with the most beautiful [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Is November a good month to go diving in the Great Barrier Reef? (i.e. > > visibility, absence of Cyclones, etc.) Thanks! |
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