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Liveaboard Diving in Milln Reef
What To Expect On A Milln Reef Liveaboard
Liveaboards to Milln Reef are the best way to visit this area, which is situated around 60 kilometers off the coast of Queensland on the Great Barrier Reef. Milln Reef offers excellent diving with several stunning sites to suit all levels of diving. The Queensland government has designated this beautiful reef a 'green zone Marine National Park', meaning that only limited fishing is allowed, enabling it to thrive and remain as a true underwater treasure. The water here is crystal clear, with visibility commonly between 15 and 20 meters, and can reach 40 meters, giving divers an unspoiled view of the huge range of marine life on the show - with turtles, sharks, and barracudas, to name a few.
Australian liveaboards to Milln Reef usually depart from Cairns. Diving trips commonly last 3 days/2 nights, allowing you to explore all the best diving on offer while giving you enough time for sailing and relaxing. The sites where liveaboard tours visit are all exclusive and non-populated and include Swimming Pools I, Swimming Pools II, Petaj Mooring, Whale Bommie, and the Three Sisters. The crew will likely arrange some night dives if this interests you, as Milln Reef is a great place to view various sleeping animals at night.
What You Can See
Milln Reef has several fun swims and wall dives, with large numbers of small fish joining dive groups and gliding through the water. The Three Sisters are a series of three huge bommies rising from the depths, where common residents see schools of fusiliers, snappers, and barracuda. In the sandy areas, Whitetip Reef Sharks often rest, accompanied by Blue Spotted Stingrays. Looking up, you're likely to spot schools of sweetlips, more sharks, and turtles effortlessly gliding through the blue - make sure you've not left your camera on the boat!
Due to some shallower areas, Milln Reef is a great place to do a night dive, allowing you to experience and witness the magical underwater world from a different light (no pun intended!). It's likely your liveaboard crew will have incorporated a night dive or two into the itinerary, but if not, ask the crew, and they'll be more than happy to accommodate your requests. Of course, conditions and diver experience are dependent. Sleeping turtles, reef crabs, and painted lobsters are frequently encountered at night. It's fascinating to see the colors of the corals at this time and how different they can look from what you may have seen diving earlier during the daytime. Again - ensure someone in your group has been designated to take the photos!
Getting to Milln Reef
The best way to experience Milln Reef is via an Australian liveaboard diving tour departing from Cairns, allowing you to spend a good few days diving the reef. Liveaboards here generally last for around 3 days/2 nights and often incorporate several other pristine reefs in the trip. Cairns is a popular tourist town in the northeast corner of Queensland, with a good mix of accommodations from high-spec hotels to trendy backpacker hostels.
Its international airport is small, but as this is the most common place for departing trips to the GBR, it is served by a wide variety of big international airlines, flying eager reef seekers directly in from all over the globe. If (unlikely) you cannot fly directly to Cairns, it's easy enough to catch one of the many daily flights from Brisbane, Sydney, or Melbourne. Most liveaboard operators will pick you up, and drop you off, to and from your accommodation.
Milln Reef Diving Reviews
- 9.2 Superb
- 64 Verified Reviews
Lots of creatures , wonderful coral.
Diving Milln Reef in November on the Pro Dive Cairns
Spectacular of course. Beautiful and healthy looking coral. Sharks. Turtles. Giant clams. Clown fish. Hundreds of other species of fish. What more could you ask for than to dive the great barrier reef?
Diving Milln Reef in December on the Pro Dive Cairns
Similar to Flynn, it was a great reef and easy to navigate.
Diving Milln Reef in July on the Pro Dive Cairns
Milln Reef was great, lots of sharks!
Diving Milln Reef in September on the Pro Dive Cairns
I was amazed with every dive
Diving Milln Reef in October on the Pro Dive Cairns
Many different dive sites that were unique.
Diving Milln Reef in January on the Pro Dive Cairns
Most dives occurred here, good conditions with little current.
Diving Milln Reef in February on the Pro Dive Cairns
The night diving here was a blast. Can't say enough good things about diving the Milln Reef.
Diving Milln Reef in February on the Pro Dive Cairns
Also beautiful. The early morning dive allowed us to see plenty of animals just as they were coming out of their dens.
Diving Milln Reef in June on the Pro Dive Cairns
Was chased by a trigger fish. Absolutely terrifying.
Diving Milln Reef in February on the Pro Dive Cairns
Underwhelming. It was not as colorful or full of sea life as I expected. The visibility was limited.
Diving Milln Reef in February on the Pro Dive Cairns
No other dive boats nearby.
Diving Milln Reef in March on the Pro Dive Cairns
During the night dive we encountered 5 or 6 reef sharks, which was nice. The visibility was decent that night.
Diving Milln Reef in June on the Pro Dive Cairns
Visibility was not as good as other dive sites
Diving Milln Reef in November on the Pro Dive Cairns
Milln was also stunning. Like Flynn, it was full of sea life and almost as if I was swimming through an aquarium. Brilliant.
Diving Milln Reef in January on the Pro Dive Cairns
Milln Reef was another excellent dive site where every dive provided something new to discover.
Diving Milln Reef in February on the Pro Dive Cairns
The better site,but that could be due to much better weather on the day.
Diving Milln Reef in August on the Pro Dive Cairns
Site was very diverse with lots to see. More than one can see on two tanks. Many dives could be made here without repeating.
Diving Milln Reef in November on the Pro Dive Cairns
Great diving here with many bump headed wrasse, turtles, rays and even a Moree eel or two.
Diving Milln Reef in May on the Pro Dive Cairns
Three sisters is a very good dive site with cliffs and fish school.
Diving Milln Reef in February on the Pro Dive Cairns
Plenty to see, not a single bad dive
Diving Milln Reef in May on the Pro Dive Cairns
Fantastic - lots of variation of corals and fish. We saw turtles and reef sharks.
Diving Milln Reef in July on the Pro Dive Cairns
swallow - nice colour and small caves :)
Diving Milln Reef in October on the Pro Dive Cairns
Great, really diverse life.
Diving Milln Reef in January on the Pro Dive Cairns
Millin Was a great way to start off the dives....easy water with little surge or current and some great corral heads and walls and lots of marine life
Diving Milln Reef in January on the Pro Dive Cairns
Nice with an awesome sight of up to 25m.
Diving Milln Reef in January on the Pro Dive Cairns
Good, I think I had my best dive on a wall in Milne Reef.
Diving Milln Reef in November on the Pro Dive Cairns
Unable to snorkel due to high winds and waves sweeping snorkelers off the reef
Diving Milln Reef in September on the Pro Dive Cairns
Also really good, great reefs to navigate on your own too didn’t feel nervous at all.
Diving Milln Reef in January on the Pro Dive Cairns
Lovely - but visibility wasn't the best.
Diving Milln Reef in May on the Pro Dive Cairns
Loved the coral gardens here esp at The Whale.
Diving Milln Reef in November on the Pro Dive Cairns
Clear visibility, healthy coralles
Diving Milln Reef in December on the Pro Dive Cairns
Was relatively calm, high clarity, warm and a pleasant dive. With lots of fish, a couple turtles, sharks and rays
Diving Milln Reef in May on the Pro Dive Cairns
An abundance of fish life.
Diving Milln Reef in June on the Pro Dive Cairns
Always full of life lots of turtles
Diving Milln Reef in June on the Pro Dive Cairns
Nice visibility, super corals, a lot of life. Not a place for big stuff
Diving Milln Reef in January on the Pro Dive Cairns