Australia is well-serviced with international flights coming into Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin and Perth. Search around for the best flights that suit your itinerary and never ask anyone what they paid for their fare - it will always be less than yours! If we have organised your trip as your Australian Travel Agents and you are on a dive trip only, try, if you can, to come directly into Cairns to avoid the delays of connecting flights out of Sydney or Brisbane. If not, Queensland has many coastal towns and cities that serve as jumping off points to the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea.

Brisbane, Queenslands capital and Cairns are the international ports with regular domestic services to all the jumping off points along the coast. Qantas (Australia's major domestic airline) and now Virgin airlines will book and supply services to all ports, either on their own flights or through a subsidiary.

Lady Elliot Island . Brampton Island . Hamilton Island . Dunk Island and Lizard Island all have their own airstrips as do many of the Torres Strait Islands.

Feeder airports are located at . Bundaberg . Gladstone . Mackay . Proserpine . Townsville . Cairns and . Thursday (Horn) Island. Iron Range has an airstrip, which is often used as a change-over point for far north expedition trips through Portland Roads, serviced from either Cairns or Thursday Island.

Getting around...

Regular bus services are available in most major centres - check below on the related links for fares and schedules. Taxis are everywhere, but can get expensive if you have a lot of running around to do before your dive trip. Renting a car is a good option if you have a group of people, are used to long road trips and have the time. Plan carefully, as the distances between cities are deceptively long. Rental cars are available at every centre and airport. Some long-stay visitors even buy a car for the duration of their visit.

The water temperature tends to lag behind the air temperature about one to two months as you go south. Water is warm all year round in the north, from about 24 to 30° C (75 to 86° F). As you go south it gradually gets cooler, dropping to 20°C (68o °F) in winter and up to 28 °C (82o °F) in summer.

Great Barrier Reef waters are well-mixed so there is usually no distinct thermocline (temperature change) as you go deeper. Thermoclines still occur on hot still days with minimal tide changes or where the colder oceanic waters slop up onto the continental shelf, beneath the warmer shelf waters.

The gravitational pull of the moon and position of the Earth in relation to the sun drive tides so they change throughout the month and year. When the sun and moon are in line we get spring tides, and when they are at right angles to each other we get neap tides. Accurate tide tables are available for most of the Great Barrier Reef, but turn to the locals for subtle regional variations.

Divers like to plan their scuba diving holidays around neap tides to ensure maximum visibility and lower tide flow. Spring tides bring dirtier water, stronger currents and often worse weather. The Great Barrier Reef generally has tidal changes twice daily -two highs and two lows. At Thursday Island, tides are almost once daily due to the connection, through the Torres Strait, between the Coral and Arafura seas.

At the southern end of the reef and at Townsville, the maximum change is about 3.0 m (10 ft). As you move toward Broad Sound (between Mackay and Rockhampton), the ranges increase and usually decrease as you move away from the coast. Outside of Broad Sound it is not uncommon to get currents of up to 15 km/h (9 mph). Local scuba diving operators know how to avoid the channels, so listen to the briefings.

Tidal currents are a great reason to always dive with a safety sausage or other signalling device. Learn how to recognise good safety holds on the bottom, plan your dives, have good surface backup and you'll be set for some great drift dives.