Dive Review of Blue Dive/Thala Beach Nature Reserve in
Australia/Great Barrier Reef

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Blue Dive/Thala Beach Nature Reserve: "Personalized diving on the Great Barrier Reef", Oct, 2023, by Philip M Carpenter, CA, US ( Reviewer 6 reports with 4 Helpful votes). Report 12826 has 1 Helpful vote.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	For our land-based trip to Queensland and the GBR, we chose to stay at Thala Beach Nature Reserve, a beautiful jungle and beach resort south of Port Douglas. The resort has a secluded feel but still not too far from Port Douglas. The staff are helpful and friendly, and the resort offers fun and interesting nature walks and other activities. If Thala Beach is booked through Blue Dive, they provide a 5% discount on the diving. Since this was our first trip to Australia, and that we expected to be on a crowded boat, we chose diving with Blue Dive. They provide private guides on the Silversonic, a large catamaran based in Port Douglas. Blue Dive caters to beginners who need extra help, but also advanced divers who don't want to be constrained by a larger group of divers of varying abilities. We are in our 60s, so we were looking for a little extra help getting used to Great Barrier Reef diving. Our guide, Jess, picked us up at our hotel, took us to the marina and arranged for space for us on the boat. It seemed that there were almost 100 people on the boat, mostly snorkelers, but also dive classes and a few groups of certified divers. After a mildly choppy ride to the Agincourt reefs, we entered the water with Jess but separate from the other divers. We put on our gear near the entry point, but on the Silversonic, divers put on fins first and walk several steps to the dive platform. Entry is by giant stride. Our first view of the GBR did not disappoint, with plenty of hard and soft coral cover, giant clams, invertebrates, abundant tropical fish, large fish and occasional sharks. The coral looked healthy, with little or no bleaching, and we didn't see any crown of thorns starfish. Water temperature was about 76 Fahrenheit, with visibility about 60 ft. Our first dive was to about 90 ft, but we encountered a current, so fighting it limited our bottom time to about 30 minutes. Our remaining dives that day were at about 50 ft and without currents. The Silversonic provides dives at 3 sites a day with a maximum bottom time of 45 minutes. For all our dives the boat was moored in shallow water, so it was possible to do safety stops while still on the reef. Three of the sites on our second day included 2 of the sites from the previous dives, but since Jess was familiar with the reef, she took us to new locations for us at those sites. Blue Dive provides UW photography and video for advanced divers, and we were very happy with the footage Jess provided for us. Our dives after that were on the Calypso, also out of Port Douglas, with groups of 6 or so divers. Our experience was similar to a review by another diver in June 2023. In summary, Blue Dive provided a helpful introduction to the GBR for us. The service is a little pricey, but it was worth it to us for the extra attention.
Websites	Blue Dive Thala Beach Nature Reserve
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Cayman Islands, Cozumel, Bonaire, Hawaii, Red Sea, French Polynesia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Maldives
Closest Airport	Cairns	Getting There	Numerous flights from Sydney and elsewhere. Transfers to Thala Beach can be arranged by the hotel, or rental car parking is available
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	74-78°F / 23-26°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	60-80 Ft/ 18-24 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	45 minutes maximum bottom time
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	We are not photographers, and relied on our guide for photos and videos

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Blue Dive/Thala Beach Nature Reserve in Australia/Great Barrier Reef

Blue Dive/Thala Beach Nature Reserve: "Personalized diving on the Great Barrier Reef", Oct, 2023,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Blue Dive/Thala Beach Nature Reserve in
Australia/Great Barrier Reef