Cairns Scuba Diving

Pellowe Reef

Large pelagic action! That's what you can expect from the small, isolated Cairns outer barrier reef that is Pellowe Reef. It's abundance of big fish action is thanks to it's proximity to the edge of the continental shelf.

But the downside to its location is that it is somewhat exposed and sometimes affected by adverse weather conditions and currents, which make it inaccessible as times. Nevertheless, Pellowe Reef is popular amongst Cairns diving liveaboards plying the area due to busy marine life traffic, a great wall dive and stunning swimthroughs.

Most of your diving on Pellow Reef will take place between 5 - 20m, although the reef does drop away to 30m in some places. A great start to your dive is fixing a heading of 120 degrees after dropping down the mooring line, which will take you past an excellent swim through on your way to the main reef.

It's worth checking out the sandy bottom in addition to the reef itself, as giant clams of up to 3m can be seen here. You will also catch sight of impressive bull ray of up to 2m across. Keep a lookout for white tip sharks, which you can spot cruising over the bottom. You should explore the nooks and crannies of the reef too as you will spot moray eels, octopus and a variety of sea cucumbers and nudibranchs.

Squirrelfish and sergeant majors seemingly cover the whole coralscape, along with resident hump head maori wrasse or Napoleon wrasse. These can grow to over 2m in length and weight almost 200 kilos, making for an impressive and humbling encounter.

Scuba diving in Cairns offers both plentiful hard and soft corals and these are home to a diverse range of marine life, such as anemones and their playful resident clownfish, making it a great site for snorkelers as well, since there is plenty of action in the shallow waters.

The area is popular also with dolphins. Arriving or departing Cairns dive boats often have a dolphin escort, effortlessly keeping up or playing in the bow wave.

Pellowe Reef Basics: Sloping reef
Depth: 5 - 30m
Visibility: 5 - 20m
Currents: Gentle - moderate
Surface conditions: Calm - choppy
Water temperature: 25 - 30°C
Experience level: Beginner - intermediate
Number of dive sites: 1
Diving season: All year round
Distance: 60 km south east of Cairns
Access: Australia liveaboards

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