Reef Encounter - Great Barrier Reef

Snorkelling at Norman Reef is among the best in the world. Each of our sites at Norman Reef situates you perfectly for shallow observation from the moment you hop off the boat. In the shallow sandy patches of Norman Reef live garden moray eels. It's easy to understand why these beautiful creatures choose to live in the midst of stag horn thickets with rich coral cover.

Frank is our resident Napolean Maori Wrasse is a very friendly local attention seeker and will happily swim around snorkellers and introduce them to his coral home.

Diving:

Scuba divers can explore underwater canyons bursting full of schooling fish such as oriental sweetlips, swim throughs where the light penetrates ideally for silhouette photographs and caves where you’ll discover natures awe inspiring architecture and day dwelling night animals.

Advanced scuba divers will enjoy depths of up to 30 metres (100 feet).

There are many sites that we visit along Norman Reef and each has a variety of attractions on offer.  Ski Slopes Mooring – (a shallow ‘horse shoe shaped’ sandy bay walled by coral which slopes gradually down to over 30 meters), Caves Mooring, Fingers Mooring (where walls of reef jut out like the fingers on a human hand, with shallow reef and colourful soft corals at the base and deeper drop offs along the tips), Playground Mooring and the Wild Side Mooring.

Night Dives:  Much of the best night diving on the reef happens at Norman Reef.  Divers encounter lively lobsters, schools of giant trevally and grey whaler sharks at night.  For those not jumping in the water at night, spectate from the side of the boat and view white tip reef sharks and red bass circling below.

An exciting fact for Reef Experience guests is that Breaking Patches is a breeding ground for the common green turtle and hawksbill turtles alike.  Sea Christmas tree worms, anemone, clownfish and butterflyfish are spread throughout the plethora of plate and fan coral which make up the majority of the shallowest Breaking Patches areas.  There are swim throughs and over hangs that lead right down to the sandy floor where explorers will find sea cucumbers eating their way around.