Posts Tagged ‘Coral Sea’
Lihou Reef Atoll
Lihou Reef is one of the biggest atolls in the world. Crystal clear water made it an amazing place to dive. On top 20 vegetated and sand cays chock full of marine birds and turtles were extraordinary.
Read MoreMarion Reef … Coral Sea
Getting under Marion’s skirt. Marion Reef is 400km east of the Whitsunday coast, its 40km long by 20km wide, dominated by a deep lagoon and surrounded by very clear waters. It is a perfect horseshoe shape with three barren sand cays that help to provide shelter from the persistent SE trade winds. The trip can…
Read MoreMagdelaine Cays –Coral Sea –posted August 2016
Magdelaine Cays are a pristine, untouched wilderness. We soaked it all up during 12 days of sensational exploring. Magdelaine North turtle graveyard. We arrived in early December 2013 and carefully picked our way thru shallow coral heads to a well-protected anchorage about 300m behind a strip of smooth sand. It looked peaceful, but on landing,…
Read MoreWillis Islets — Coral Sea — posted June 2016
Willis Islets — South Willis Island weather station We dropped anchor behind a small coral islet with a strange looking building perched on the top of its six-metre high peak. I thought it would feel weird seeing civilisation out here, but every map of the coral sea shows the Willis Island manned weather station,…
Read MoreCoringa Islets — Coral Sea–posted June 2016
Coringa Islets are comprised of Chillcott and South West Islets and are part of the large nature reserve(green zone) that also take in the Heralds and Magdelaine Cays. They are 50nm east from the Heralds Cays, 70nm west from the Diamonds islets, 45 nm south from Willis and the Magdelaine Cays. It feels like nowhere…
Read MoreHerald cays — Coral Sea — 2013 – 2022
Herald Cays The Herald Cays is a 200nm cruise eastward into the Coral Sea from Townsville and Cairns and a nature paradise. Travelling at eight knots from Townsville, we reached them with nightly stopovers at Myrmidon and Flinders Reefs. No need for night…
Read MoreOsprey Reef Coral Sea — posted May 2016
Our 2015 spring cruise second leg was a 100nm night cruise from Bougainville Reef to Osprey Reef. Dive charters have put Osprey Reef in the spotlight, especially the North Horn dive site with its famous shark-feeding spectacle. We were more interested in the large lagoon, though, and planned to make it our home base for…
Read MoreBougainville Reef Coral Sea — posted May 2016
On our 2015 spring cruise from Cairns to Cape York, we took in a slight detour to several nearby Coral Sea atolls, beginning at Bougainville Reef. We waited for a good- weather window before heading 215km north- east of Cairns to a speck on our chart. Bougainville Reef is a 4km-long, oval atoll formed thousands…
Read MoreFlinders Reefs Coral Sea — posted April 2016
To view any of our other stories from cruising the coral sea click o the below Flinders Reefs Flinders reefs may be in the Coral Sea but are still easily reached by most cruising vessels. Seventy nautical miles North East of Townsville gets you to a…
Read MoreDiamond islets — Coral Sea — 2013-2022
Who wouldn’t like to cruise to a group of deserted Coral Sea Islands without leaving the comfort of Australian waters? In the spring of 2013, we spent 18 days on our 14m cat visiting the four pristine Diamond Islets, located 500 kilometres northeast of Townsville. Below is our account that was published in the Australian…
Read More