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Flynn Reef, located 56.7 km east of Cairns, is one of the Great Barrier Reef’s prime spots. Known for its colorful shallow coral gardens and deeper reef walls, it’s perfect for both snorkeling and scuba diving. Whether you’re exploring the shallow waters or drifting along the deeper reef walls, Flynn Reef delivers a memorable experience for anyone wanting to snorkel or dive on the Great Barrier Reef.
Several tour operators offer trips to Milln Reef, but not all have access to the best dive sites. Passions of Paradise and Silverswift are some of the few operators with mooring permits at Flynn Reef. Pro Dive Cairns offers multi-day liveaboard trips, providing extended exploration of Flynn Reef. Additionally Dreamtime Dive and Snorkel also visit these areas, offering both diving and snorkeling tours.
“We traveled to Flynn Reef with Passions of Paradise, and our first dive was at Point Break. As soon as we hit the water, the 20-meter visibility showed us incredible coral gardens teeming with life. We passed vibrant hard and soft corals, and along the way, we saw a white-tipped reef shark and a mix of fish, like anemonefish, butterflyfish, angelfish, chromis, fusiliers, wrasse, snappers, and more.” – Richard Johnston
Flynn Reef is known for its accessible snorkeling and diving, offering a range of experiences in both shallow coral gardens and deeper reef walls. The reef supports a wide variety of marine life, and its clear waters provide excellent visibility, making it a popular spot for both snorkelers and divers. With marine life ranging from small reef fish to larger species and diverse corals.
Flynn Reef offers excellent snorkeling, with coral gardens and bommies just a few feet below the surface. The best spots are generally only 20 to 50 meters from the boats, around the coral bommies. Marine life includes anemonefish, butterflyfish, parrotfish, and small wrasse. Keep an eye out for the curious sixbar wrasse, often attracted to shiny objects like camera lenses. Visibility is typically 15 to 20 meters. While conditions can vary, the reef provides some protection from the open ocean, making it a great experience for snorkelers who are comfortable in the water.
Flynn Reef offers several dive sites, with reef walls dropping to around 20 meters, making them suitable for both newly certified open water divers and experienced divers. Common marine life includes white-tipped reef sharks, fusiliers, anemonefish, butterflyfish, parrotfish, unicornfish, and larger species such as trumpetfish, red bass, and peacock rockcod. Divers occasionally spot moray eels at this location. Specific dive sites like Tracy’s and Little Tracy’s are home to steephead parrotfish, Clark’s anemonefish, and schools of striped sweetlips and pennant bannerfish. In deeper areas such as Tennis Court and Gordon’s Mooring, divers may encounter humphead Maori wrasse, blue-face angelfish, and orange-lined triggerfish.
The reef features extensive coral formations, including staghorn, cabbage, and large plate corals, providing shelter for a wide variety of marine life. Flynn Reef’s excellent visibility, typically ranging from 15 to 20 meters, makes it a popular spot for both wide-angle and macro underwater photography.
For those seeking an extended diving experience, Pro Dive Cairns offers a 3-day liveaboard trip that includes multiple dives at Flynn Reef and nearby sites such as Milln Reef. This trip provides up to 11 dives, including night dives, allowing divers to fully explore the Great Barrier Reef’s marine diversity.
Highlights of the liveaboard experience at Flynn Reef include wall dives, swim-throughs, overhangs, and maze-like coral formations. Divers can expect to see a wide range of marine life, including white-tipped reef sharks, fusiliers, and trumpetfish, alongside extensive hard corals like finger, table, plate, and boulder corals, as well as various soft corals. The liveaboard offers a comprehensive way to experience the best of the reef with multiple dive opportunities over the course of three days.
Flynn Reef boasts nine exceptional dive sites, each offering something unique for divers of various experience levels.
Ski Slope is an intermediate-level dive site that descends from 5 to 25 meters. Its sloping reef wall offers a beautiful drift dive experience, with large coral bommies and a variety of fish species, including fusiliers and reef sharks.
Ideal for beginner divers, The Flats has a depth range of 5 to 12 meters. It features calm waters and excellent coral coverage, making it a perfect spot for seeing colorful fish like anemonefish and damselfish.
For those looking for a more intermediate dive, Boulders is a great choice. The site ranges from 10 to 25 meters and features large coral bommies that provide shelter for a diverse range of marine life, including parrotfish and triggerfish.
Coral Gardens is one of the most popular sites at Flynn Reef, with shallow waters between 5 to 20 meters. It’s a great spot for both snorkelers and divers, offering a stunning variety of hard and soft corals and an abundance of marine life.
An intermediate dive site with depths of 12 to 25 meters, Tennis Courts gets its name from its flat sandy areas, which resemble tennis courts. Here, divers can observe schools of fusiliers, butterflyfish, and the occasional reef shark.
Gordon’s Mooring is a photographer’s paradise, with depths of 10 to 25 meters. This intermediate-level site has impressive swim-throughs and coral bommies, often visited by green sea turtles, nudibranchs, and various species of reef fish.
Tracy’s Bommie is suitable for both beginner and intermediate divers, with coral bommies and deeper formations ranging from 5 to 18 meters. Common sightings include trumpetfish, unicornfish, and white-tipped reef sharks.
Little Tracy’s is a beginner-friendly site with shallow waters between 5 to 12 meters. Its coral walls and diverse fish life make it ideal for snorkelers and divers alike, with frequent sightings of sea turtles and reef sharks.
Point Break is an intermediate drift dive site, with depths from 5 to 20 meters. It offers excellent protection from northerly winds, providing calm, clear waters. Coral bommies filled with fish make it a great spot for seeing fusiliers, reef sharks, and vibrant coral formations.
Todays weather forcast at Flynn Reef...
Average monthly weather data for Flynn Reef based on last years observations (2023)...
Please be aware that this data is intended for reference purposes only. We strongly advise you to verify the weather conditions through the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) to ensure accuracy and account for any discrepancies.
Flynn Reef is home to a stunning array of marine life, making it a prime location for both snorkelers and divers. The reef’s coral gardens and bommies are teeming with vibrant fish species, invertebrates, and larger pelagic life.
At Flynn Reef, you can see many common marine species. White-tipped reef sharks are often found near the deeper coral bommies. You can also find many fish, including anemonefish, butterflyfish, angelfish, and fusiliers. In the shallower areas, snorkelers can also see parrotfish, unicornfish, and wrasse, all swimming among the rich coral formations.
Divers have reported seeing larger species like Trumpetfish, Peacock Rockcod, and Red Bass hovering near the reef. The reef is known for sightings of green sea turtles. It also has rarer finds, like nudibranchs and flatworms. You can see these at deeper sites, such as Gordon’s Mooring.
At places like Tracy’s and Little Tracy’s, snorkelers and divers can see various fish. They can spot steephead parrotfish, swarthy parrotfish, yellow-tailed fusiliers, and Clark’s anemonefish.
Schools of fish surround large coral bommies. These fish include striped sweetlips and pennant bannerfish. Together, they create a beautiful scene for underwater photography.
In the deeper waters of dive sites like Tennis Court and Gordon’s Mooring, divers encounter rarer species like the humphead Maori wrasse, blue-face angelfish, and orange-lined triggerfish. The coral formations include sprawling beds of staghorn corals, cabbage corals, and large plate corals, providing shelter for a wide variety of reef dwellers.
Flynn Reef is located approximately 56.7 kilometers (35 miles) east of Cairns, Queensland, Australia, and is roughly directly offshore from Palm Cove, about 63 kilometers away. It’s part of the Great Barrier Reef and sits close to the continental shelf, offering both shallow coral gardens and deeper reef wall dives. This proximity to the shelf boosts the reef’s rich marine biodiversity and provides excellent visibility, making it a popular destination for snorkeling and scuba diving.
Both Silverswift and Passions of Paradise visit Flynn Reef, so the choice depends on your preference. Silverswift is a faster boat, getting you to Flynn Reef quickly, and offers three dives during the trip. Passions of Paradise, a motor sailing yacht, takes a bit longer to reach the reef and offers two dives. However, some may prefer the opportunity to experience sailing on the way back.
Yes, all tours fill up quickly, so it’s a good idea to lock in a date before you arrive to secure your spot. If you have flexible dates once you’re there, you can always change to a day with more favorable weather. That said, we’ve visited the reef in nearly every type of weather—sunny, overcast, windy, rainy—and we always have a great time!
At Flynn Reef, you can expect to see a diverse range of marine life, making it an excellent spot for both snorkelers and divers. The reef is home to vibrant coral gardens and bommies teeming with fish like anemonefish, butterflyfish, parrotfish, and fusiliers. In the deeper areas, divers often encounter white-tipped reef sharks, trumpetfish, and red bass. Green sea turtles and rarer species such as nudibranchs and flatworms can be spotted. The rich coral formations, including staghorn and plate corals, provide shelter for a wide variety of marine species, perfect for underwater photography.
The dive sites at Flynn Reef typically range from 5 to 25 meters in depth, making it an excellent location for both open water and advanced divers. While some sections reach deeper, most dives at Flynn Reef don’t exceed 18 meters, with the majority of marine life concentrated between 5 and 15 meters. To maintain a safe dive profile, divers usually start with the deepest dive first and progress to shallower dives throughout the day.
Yes, if you book a liveaboard dive trip with Pro Dive Cairns, you may have the opportunity to do a night dive at Flynn Reef. However, it’s important to note that the actual dive sites for any Great Barrier Reef tour are determined by the skipper on board. With their experience and knowledge, they ensure that you visit the best sites based on the prevailing conditions, providing the best possible experience for divers.
Yes, you may see sharks at Flynn Reef, with the most common being the white-tip reef shark. These sharks are generally timid and frequently spotted around the reef. Like any wild animal, they should be treated with respect, but they pose very little to no threat to divers and snorkelers. Since Flynn Reef is part of the open ocean, there’s a chance you might encounter other types of sharks, though these sightings are quite rare.
There’s a good chance of spotting turtles at Flynn Reef, with the most common being the green sea turtle. A top tip if you see a turtle while diving or snorkeling is to give it space and avoid chasing it, as it will likely swim away. Also, be sure not to block its path to the surface when it needs to breathe. Turtles are generally calm creatures, and if you relax and give them room, they might even stick around for a while, which is always a highlight when visiting the reef!
Passions of Paradise visit some amazing Cairns Great Barrier Reef sites, perfect for divers of all experience levels and snorkelers. The crew are great. The boat is comfortable and the vibe is high. Let's dive right in.
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Fast boat, smooth ride and guided dives on some stunning Cairns’ Great Barrier Reef sites, that’s what Silverswift is all about. They visit 3 reef sites each day, with plenty of time for diving and snorkelling. Meals, snacks and equipment are all included, so without further ado, let’s dive into our review.
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