Cairns Diving

Milln Reef

White tip reef sharks skirting along the edges of the reef and turtles resting under overhangs are just some of the abundant marine life action that you will encounter on Cairns' Milln Reef.

Consisting of a few large bommies, rising from the sandy bottom at 30m to within a few metres of the surface, Milln Reef attracts a dazzling array of marine life. The reef is carpeted with colourful hard and soft corals, with gorgonian fans flaring in between.

The deeper side of the largest bommie has brilliantly coloured black coral, home to commensal gobies, which are visible upon closer inspection. Additional rewards are to be had by the observant Cairns diver who will discover the reef's smaller critters, including nudibranchs, eels, sea stars and flatworms.

Striding in off the dive platform at Wildside, you will follow a fixed line down to concrete mooring blocks resting on the sea-bed at a depth around 12 metres. Surface conditions, particularly outside of the main high season can be choppy, so you would be advised to limit your time at the surface and proceed to the more sedate underwater environment of the reef itself.

From the concrete blocks the normal dive plan is to proceed with the gentle sloping reef to your right shoulder. This is likely to be your first sight of the Great Barrier Reef and you will be impressed by the health and vibrancy of the slope. The seascape is bedecked in had and soft corals including leather corals, whip corals and numerous but small table corals and other staghorns.

The reef undulates gently and features a few sandy passages where you will see several species of sea cucumber, mushroom corals and occasional nudibranchs. Fish life is dominated by small fish and juveniles such as barracuda. You can expect to see some parrotfish, bird wrasses, butterflyfish and small surgeonfish.

As one of the early dives you will make on standard Cairns diving trips, your depth will probably not exceed 15-16 metres and it represent a good opportunity to make sure all your equipment is in order and to banish yourself of any diving rustiness.

Around The Bend at Milln Reef is so called since the reef forms an arc that you will follow around with the slope on your right shoulder. This is another Cairns dive site that begins with a descent down a fixed line to concrete mooring blocks resting on the sandy seabed.

The topography here is the most interesting aspect you will notice, since the reef rises and drops giving way to sandy channels, and features small pinnacles and little bommies. As with other dives on Milln Reef, you will be struck by the health and cleanliness of the coral slope with several different types of hard and soft corals covering almost every available inch of substrate.

Your dive will involve a slow steady exploration of the reef looking out for nudibranchs on the sea floor, butterflyfish and angelfish darting around the fissures on the reef and cleaner wrasse looking for their next snack.

On your ascent be sure to keep an eye out in the blue as you get to within a few metres of the surface. You may spot schools of small reef squid seemingly enjoying the surge. They are black in colour and no more than 10cm in length but they are the creature you are most likely to see most of as they seem to congregate in schools of 20 or more.

3 bommies called Three Sisters also make up part of Milln Reef. 2 of the sisters are only a few metres apart with straight sided walls facing each other, creating a 2 - 3m wide mini canyon. The canyon is usually filled with colourful schools of fusiliers and snappers, with huge schools of tiny glassfish that seem to ripple out before you, synchronised with your movements. The canyon is also home to gorgonian fans and, if you check out the smaller corners and the base of the bommies, quite often you will find painted lobsters.

Milln Reef is an excellent spot for night diving in Cairns, with the colourful soft corals that are seemingly more vibrant under the light of your torch, and the base of the bommies become perfect for spotting crabs. It's worth staying quite shallow on night dives and checking out the top of the bommies as a particular resident green turtle has grown too large to fit in the small overhangs at the bottom of the bommies and sleeps on top of them instead.

Milln Reef Basics: Coral bommies
Depth: 5 - 30m
Visibility: 5 - 20m
Currents: Gentle
Surface conditions: Can be choppy
Water temperature: 25 - 30°C
Experience level: Beginner - advanced
Number of dive sites: 4
Diving season: All year round
Distance: 55 km east of Cairns
Access: Australia liveaboards

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