Learn to Dive in Cairns and on the Reef

You can learn to dive in Cairns in three to five days: two days of theory and pool training in town (one if you study online first), then either two day trips to the outer Great Barrier Reef or two nights on a liveaboard dive boat. The full Open Water Diver courses we checked in Cairns and Port Douglas in October 2026 cost $1,045 to $1,480 at standard prices, with the Reef's environmental charge included (some add a fuel surcharge of $10 to $25).

Courses here are built for visitors, with hotel pick-ups and the option to finish a course started at home.

Day trips or a liveaboard: the two course formats

Both formats start with two days at the dive school: theory in a classroom and skills in a pool. Then you head to the outer reef for the four open water training dives that earn your certification. Do the theory online before you arrive (eLearning) and most schools cut a day. Our guides to pool sessions and open water training dives explain each stage.

Day-trip courses (usually four days). You make two trips to the outer reef on a day boat, two training dives each day, and sleep on land each night. Divers Den takes students to Norman, Saxon and Hastings reefs, about 90 minutes from Cairns. Quicksilver Dive teaches in Port Douglas and dives from its Poseidon or Silversonic catamarans. Pro Dive Cairns trains you in Cairns, then sends you diving from Port Douglas with Quicksilver Dive at the Agincourt Reefs. Quicksilver Dive and Pro Dive say you may fit in up to two extra fun dives if you pass and time allows.

Liveaboard courses (four or five days). After the pool days you join a boat that stays on the reef overnight. Pro Dive Cairns' five-day course spends three days and two nights at Flynn, Thetford, Milln and Pellowe reefs, with up to nine dives: four training dives, then five as a certified diver, including a guided night dive. Divers Den runs a similar five-day course on its liveaboard OceanQuest, plus a four-day version with one night aboard. You gain early-morning and night dives that a day boat cannot offer, and your first certified dives with your instructor still close by.

Which to pick. Day trips cost less and suit you if you want a bed on land or family nearby. A liveaboard costs more but adds dives (up to nine at Pro Dive, against four to six on its day-trip course). Short on time? Quicksilver Dive's eLearning course takes three days and Pro Dive's eLearning liveaboard course four.

Referral courses: start at home, finish on the Reef

A referral lets you do the theory and pool training near home, then only the open water dives here, so your holiday is for diving.

- PADI calls it an Open Water Diver referral. Your home instructor gives you a referral form, and PADI says you then have 12 months from your last training session to complete the open water dives with any PADI centre. - SSI issues a digital Referral Diver card, which on its own only covers pool diving with a buddy. SSI's training standards set six months from your last session as the window. After six months an SSI professional must re-check your knowledge and skills; after 12 months without an in-water session you redo a Scuba Skills Update and the final exam.

Check the agency first: every course here is PADI, and Pro Dive's referral is for PADI training done elsewhere. Divers Den says it can usually convert another agency's training to a PADI certification, but only after at least a one-day PADI Scuba Review with a private instructor, at extra cost. Our PADI vs SSI vs NAUI comparison explains the differences. Expect to fill in Queensland's medical forms even if you started in another state.

Queensland's rules for learner divers

Queensland has a law written for dive and snorkel businesses: the Safety in Recreational Water Activities Act 2011, the Safety in Recreational Water Activities Regulation 2024 (in force since 1 August 2024), and a Code of Practice from WorkSafe Queensland explaining how operators should meet them. So parts of a Cairns course are set by the state, not only your agency.

The medical form. Every learn-to-dive student must give the operator a medical declaration on the regulator's approved form: for courses, the Diver Medical Participant Questionnaire from the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS). It asks about your heart, lungs, ears, sinuses, nervous system, mental health, surgery, medication and fitness. Some "yes" answers lead to follow-up questions, and over-45s answer a few extra about heart risk factors such as smoking and blood pressure.

When you need a doctor. If your answers say you need a medical evaluation, you cannot do your open water training dives until you give the operator a doctor's certificate saying you are fit to dive, and the schools we checked want it before the course starts. The Code says it should be in English, preferably from a doctor experienced in diving medicine, and dated within 90 days before your course. Answer "no" to everything and no doctor is needed. Operators must not let you dive if they suspect the form is false.

Until 2024, criteria such as being over 45, body mass index and waist size could trigger a compulsory certificate; the questionnaire replaced them. Fill it in at home as soon as you book, and if any answer is "yes", see a doctor, ideally one trained in diving medicine, before you travel. Our guide to medical conditions and diving explains what usually matters. This is general information: your doctor and instructor make the call for you. The Code also says anyone who drank alcohol in the eight hours before diving should not dive.

Ages. The Code sets 10 as the minimum age for a learn-to-dive course and 12 for a try-dive (an introductory dive for non-divers), with parental consent for under-18s. Children aged 10 and 11 stay above 12 metres, at most two per instructor in a group of no more than four. Schools can be stricter: Divers Den needs a private instructor for under-12s and an accompanying adult for under-16s, and only guests 18 and over can stay on its liveaboard unaccompanied.

Supervision and depth. The Code allows at most eight students per instructor in open water, or ten with a certified assistant, and keeps students to 18 metres. The Regulation caps try-dives at four divers per instructor, or six with an assistant, and requires a headcount on board, lookouts, rescue and first aid cover, and a dive safety log of who dived and when they surfaced.

Flying and the Tablelands. The Code advises waiting at least 12 hours before flying after a single no-stop dive, and 24 hours or more after several dives a day or on consecutive days, which describes every course. It also lists travel over mountains soon after diving as a risk factor for decompression illness, and Divers Den asks students to leave a gap before visiting the Atherton Tablelands or riding the Skyrail cableway. Book your flight home at least a full day after your last dive.

Seasons, water temperature and stingers

You can learn here all year. Pro Dive Cairns publishes average water temperatures from about 22°C in August to 29°C in January and February; Divers Den gives seasonal averages of 24°C in winter, 27°C in spring, 29°C in summer and 26°C in autumn.

Summer is the wet season: Divers Den calls December to February the wettest, most humid months, and the Bureau of Meteorology's cyclone season runs from November to April. Pro Dive warns that weather can change the number of dives, so build in a spare day if you can.

Stingers. The Queensland Government says dangerous marine stingers, including box jellyfish and Irukandji, are in tropical Queensland waters all year, with the risk highest from November to May, and suggests a full-body lycra suit. Divers Den provides lycra stinger suits to all its divers and snorkellers from November to May. Wear the suit you are given. Our box jellyfish guide covers the species and first aid, and the best time of year to dive in Australia compares regions.

What it costs (checked October 2026)

Prices are per person, in Australian dollars, from each operator's website. All three say their prices include the Environmental Management Charge (EMC), the "reef tax" the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority collects: $8.50 per person per full day, for up to the first three days of a longer trip, rising to $9.00 on 1 April 2027.

| Operator | Course | Price | |---|---|---| | Divers Den, Cairns | 4 days: 2 in town, 2 reef day trips | $1,045 ($900 special until 30 March 2027) | | Divers Den | 4 days: 2 in town, then 1 night on OceanQuest | from $1,085, twin or quad share | | Divers Den | 5 days: 2 in town, then 2 nights on OceanQuest | from $1,420, twin or quad share | | Pro Dive Cairns | 4 days: 2 in Cairns, 2 day trips from Port Douglas | $1,310 | | Pro Dive Cairns | 5 days: 2 in Cairns, then 2 nights on the reef | $1,415 plus $25 fuel surcharge | | Quicksilver Dive, Port Douglas | 4 days: 2 in town, 2 reef day trips | $1,310 plus $10 fuel surcharge | | Quicksilver Dive | 3 days: eLearning, 1 pool day, 2 reef day trips | $1,139 plus $10 fuel surcharge |

Referrals (open water dives only):

| Operator | Format | Price | |---|---|---| | Quicksilver Dive | pool check, then 2 reef day trips | $978 plus $10 fuel surcharge | | Divers Den | 2 day trips, or 1 or 2 nights on OceanQuest | $1,050, $1,115 or $1,440 | | Pro Dive Cairns | 3 days and 2 nights on the reef, up to 9 dives | $1,305 plus $25 fuel surcharge |

All three include gear and tuition; Pro Dive and Quicksilver Dive also list the certification itself. Hotel transfers are included (Cairns city for Divers Den and Pro Dive, Port Douglas for Quicksilver Dive), liveaboard prices include meals, and Pro Dive includes dive insurance. Not included: lunch on the pool days at Divers Den and Pro Dive, drinks, photos, Divers Den's $20 guide for your first night dive, and a doctor's visit if your form calls for one. Divers Den's eLearning option ($990 with two day trips) also needs the PADI eLearning course, paid to PADI ($285 plus tax).

Choosing a school and a course

- Pick the format first: land every night, or nights on the reef. - Check start days. Pro Dive's five-day course starts every day except Sunday, its day-trip course only on Tuesdays. Quicksilver Dive's four-day course starts on Tuesdays and its eLearning course on Wednesdays. Divers Den's eLearning practical starts on Fridays. - Ask who teaches you. Quicksilver Dive and Pro Dive both say you keep one instructor throughout. - Do the medical form before you pay.

Browse schools in our Cairns dive shop directory and Port Douglas directory. Our where to get certified comparison weighs Cairns against learning closer to home. To compare more schools, browse Cairns dive course listings on PADI Travel.

ScubaDownUnder may earn a commission from PADI links on this page, at no extra cost to you.

After your course

Once certified, you can come back for a longer liveaboard to the Ribbon Reefs, home to the Cod Hole and Steve's Bommie, and some trips continue to Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea. These suit divers with some experience: Spirit of Freedom recommends at least 10 ocean dives, five in the past 12 months, for its three-night Cod Hole trip, sets a minimum age of 16, and expects buddy pairs to plan their own dives. Spirit of Freedom and Mike Ball Dive Expeditions both teach PADI Advanced Open Water on board. Our liveaboard guide compares the trips, and the Learn to Dive hub has the rest of the beginner series.

Sources

- Queensland Legislation: Safety in Recreational Water Activities Regulation 2024 - WorkSafe Queensland: Recreational Diving, Recreational Technical Diving and Snorkelling Code of Practice 2024 (worksafe.qld.gov.au, PDF) - WorkSafe Queensland: Diving, snorkelling and recreational water activities laws (worksafe.qld.gov.au) - WorkSafe Queensland: Diving, snorkelling and recreational water activities resources, including the Diver Medical Participant Questionnaire (worksafe.qld.gov.au) - WorkSafe Queensland: Table of changes, Dive Code of Practice 2024 (worksafe.qld.gov.au, PDF) - UHMS: Recreational Diving Medical Screening System - PADI Blog: What Is a PADI Open Water Diver Referral? - SSI Training Standards: Referral Diver - Divers Den: Four Day PADI Open Water Course - Divers Den: Four Day, One Night PADI Open Water Course - Divers Den: Five Day PADI Open Water Course - Divers Den: PADI Open Water Diver Referral Courses - Divers Den: PADI eLearning Open Water Course - Divers Den: Frequently Asked Questions - Divers Den: Great Barrier Reef Weather - Divers Den: Where We Go - Pro Dive Cairns: 5 Day Learn to Dive Open Water Course - Pro Dive Cairns: 4 Day Learn to Dive Course (Day Trips) - Pro Dive Cairns: 4 Day eLearning PADI Open Water Course - Pro Dive Cairns: Ocean Referral Dive Course - Pro Dive Cairns: Weather and water temperature - Quicksilver Dive: 4 Day Learn to Dive - Quicksilver Dive: 3 Day Learn to Dive with eLearning - Quicksilver Dive: Open Water Ocean Referral Course - Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority: What are the charges? - Queensland Government: Dangerous marine life - Bureau of Meteorology: Tropical cyclone climatology - Spirit of Freedom: 3 Night Cod Hole and Ribbon Reefs Trip - Spirit of Freedom: Liveaboard Dive Courses - Mike Ball Dive Expeditions: Ribbon Reef liveaboard - Mike Ball Dive Expeditions: Courses

Header photo: A scuba diver swimming over coral at Agincourt Reef, off Port Douglas, by Robert Linsdell, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.