4 Day 4 Night Coral Sea | Spirit of Freedom

This four-day Great Barrier Reef tour departs on Thursdays from Cairns and starts bright and early in the morning! You'll start with a scenic flight to Lizard Island, where your boat journey begins. The first day involves a meet and greet with the crew followed by departure for Ribbon Reef Number 10. Here you can dive at sites including Cod Hole, Challenger Bay, Lighthouse Bommie, Pixie Gardens, and Pixie Pinnacle. In the evening, you'll do a 10-hour crossing to Osprey Reef and the Coral Sea. 

Over the next two days, embark on thrilling dives on Osprey Reef, which is known for its beautiful seascapes! The Coral Sea is known for its clear waters, with sheer walls, sea whips, and colourful corals. You'll do 4 or 5 dives a day, with the chance to do a night dive on Friday. On Saturday night, you'll depart Osprey Reef for the Ribbon Reefs to enjoy more diving! 

During your last full day, you will get the chance to dive at Steve's Bommie, Temple of Doom, and Flare Point. If weather permits, you'll next head to Bougainville Reef, known for its unique and unusual caverns and a partially submerged wreck. On Sunday evening, you'll cruise overnight back to Cairns. 

Snorkelling

Snorkellers are welcome on board the 4-day journey to the Coral Sea and will get the chance to hop in the water a couple of times! Not every site is suitable for snorkeling, but there are plenty of places to relax back on board if you can't snorkel! Due to the swift currents in the Coral Sea, some reefs are only suitable for very experienced snorkelers and strong swimmers with a high level of fitness.

Scuba diving

Spirit Of Freedom's 4 day, 4 night trip is designed for scuba divers! Over the course of 4 days, you will have the chance to dive up to 15 times, including 2 night dives. You will get to explore secluded reefs, isolated bommies, striking pinnacles, and more. We offer a wide range of reefs to visit, all of which are dependent on the conditions of the day to ensure you have the best possible experience! We will make sure you dive in the best reefs possible, getting to explore the vast seascapes and coral gardens of the Coral Sea.

Reef sites

You will spend your 4 days exploring Ribbon Reefs and Osprey Reef. The Ribbon Reefs run 200km from Cairns to Lizard Island and are made up of 10 individual reefs, which are known for their amazing diving locations. On board Spirit of Freedom, you may visit Pixie Pinnacle, Challenger Bay, The Clam Gardens, Lighthouse Bommie, Steve's Bommie, Temple of Doom or Dynamite Pass.

The Ribbon Reefs are also home to the Cod Hole, known for its huge potato cod residents. Like giant puppy dogs, these guys love to come to say hello and pose for a picture or two with the visiting divers. Because of the protection of the sheltered waters in the reef, the Ribbon Reefs are great for all levels of divers, including beginners. The reefs are relatively isolated and home to a huge range of marine species, and are full of amazing coral gardens ready to be explored!

Osprey Reef is located about 150km off the east coast in the famous Coral Sea. It is home to North Horn, known for its thriving shark population, where you can dive with grey whalers, white tips, silver tips, and even hammerheads during the winter and spring months. We'll take you "around the bend" to a manta ray cleaning station, where you'll often see manta rays being cleaned by smaller reef fish, which is always a really interesting sight! The reefs here are full of colours, soft and hard corals, and an abundance of marine life. Osprey Reef is ideal for the more experienced diver due to the currents and depths, making it a perfect bucket-list diving item.

*This itinerary is a sample only and sites may vary or the sequence may change. Access to the Cod Hole and the Coral Sea is tide and weather conditional.