Ocean Quest Liveaboard, Australia
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9.0 Superb
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- Nitrox available
- from $ 195 / day
- Book Now
“The diving was amazing the boat ran like clockwork a real pleasure to behold”
Highlights
The OceanQuest Liveaboard is a 36m Catamaran offering year-round diving trips to Australia's magnificent Outer Great Barrier Reef. The OceanQuest liveaboard is permanently moored at the Outer Reef, and guests are transferred by fast boat from Cairns.
The OceanQuest liveaboard was refurbished in 2017 and has 22 cabins, each with an en-suite bathroom, air conditioning, and a TV. Each cabin has either two single beds or two single bunk beds. Split over 3 decks, the OceanQuest liveaboard offers plenty of space for relaxing after a full day of diving. There is a large air-conditioned lounge, a well-stocked bar area with an entertainment system, and a spacious dining room. The sun decks are perfect for sunbathing between dives in the warm Australian sun. The OceanQuest team provides 3 meals per day, served buffet style in the large dining area.
There is something for everyone with the OceanQuest liveaboard, with options for certified divers, introductory divers, and snorkelers. Guests can explore numerous outer Great Barrier Reef dive sites with OceanQuest and enjoy up to four dives a day; 3 daytime and 1 nighttime dive. Non-diving guests are also welcome aboard.
Please be aware that the dives are self-guided; however, for solo travelers, the crew will be more than happy to assist in pairing you with a dive buddy or a dive group. Rest assured, there is always a dedicated supervisor on board and a vigilant lookout on the deck during in-water activities. If you wish to opt for a guided dive experience, you can reserve this service on the day and overnight trips, priced at 20 AUD per person per dive. In cases where your certification or a medical condition necessitates supervised diving, it is mandatory to partake in dives accompanied by a guide.
OceanQuest liveaboard divers can experience the Great Barrier Reef at night in a new way with Fluoro Night Diving. This incredible dive uses specialist torches and mask filters to bring the reef to life in an array of fluorescent colors (extra charge applies). Nightly Shark In The Dark dives offer the chance to jump in and see the Great Barrier Reef sharks at night. Whale fans can join an OceanQuest liveaboard ‘Meet The Minke’ whale diving safari (available in June and July).
Book your Outer Great Barrier Reef Dive adventure today.
Choose your departure date
Included: VAT, Hotel Transfer, Drinking Water, Tea & Coffee, Full-Board Meal Plan (All meals), Diving Package, Rental Gear.
Required Extras: Port Fees (20 AUD per day).
Optional Extras: Gratuities, Airport Transfer, Alcoholic Beverages, Soft drinks, Snacks, Nitrox, Nitrox Course (269 AUD), Private Dive Guide (120 AUD per activity), Scuba Diving Courses.
Book now, pay later: You can easily place your booking online. We will then hold the spaces for you and you can confirm with a payment later.
* Extra fees are shown per person.
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Cabin Types
Ocean Quest Reviews
- 9.0 Superb
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Vessel
8.7
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Crew
8.5
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Food
9.5
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Diving
9.1
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Value
9.1
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- 8.4 Very good
- Jessica D
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United States
Great diving and snorkeling trip
The boat was fun and loved that we moved to different dive sites twice a day. I do wish they would not repeat dive sites if you stay as long as we did for 6 days. We went to the same dive site a few times and didn't go to one reef-hastings, our entire trip which was a bummer. The food was great and the staff were overall nice and friendly. The manifest check 3 times a day was a little invasive and frustrating. They sometimes came by sooner than 6:45am that they said they would in the morning to check we were on the boat. The room was bigger than expected and in decent shape. Check-out on your last day was a little rushed and close to the last dive which we ended up skipping so we could have more time to shower and pack up our room. Which means you kind of loose the last day which ends up being focused on transport and packing. The dives were nice and we liked the freedom to explore as a buddy system. The animals were fun to see and the coral was pretty. Having the drop line was nice and made it simpler to find and get back to the boat. Snorkeling was a little annoying since you had to be in a group. I would like to have the option to do this activity on the buddy system as well with a time they want you back because a large group means people keep running into you and your tying not to run into the coral. Or you want to sit and watch an animal and the group moves and you are required to move with them so you miss relaxing and watching the wildlife. We also would have liked to have the option to get in the water and swim with no snorkeling or diving in between the sessions. Overall I had something I did not like but the boat trip was a great experience and we saw a lot of great wildlife, felt safe but still had some freedom to go on our own along the reef.
- Recommended for
- Sleeping on the water at the great barrier reef. Food was great and had something for those with dietary restrictions. Getting ready for a dive was simple due to our things being in an assigned spot ready to put on.
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- 8.4 Very good
- lester Y
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United States
Much better than a day trip
Sleep, eat, swim , swim , eat, rest, swim, eat, swim, sleep . What a great way to experience the Great Barrier Reef. Great food, great people, great experience.
- Recommended for
- Food was excellent, but limited choices.. Staff was very friendly and patient with helping those in need.. Amount of the time in the water was exhausting.
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- 9.2 Superb
- Laura T
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United States
I had a wonderful time and highly recommend you. Staff was excellent, They were wonderful to everyone.
I loved the room I had, however it was too cold. I wish there was a way to close off the cold air coming in. Everyone went out of there was to be friendly, helpful and nice. I could not have had a better experience. On my last day I wanted to do the second dive but wanted an extra 10 minutes in my room to shower and change. I felt with the last dive and check out time could have been 12:15 instead on 12.
- Recommended for
- Everyone was wonderful. I needed help with my tank and dive staff took great care of me. Coral reefs were beatiful.. Great value, my room was very nice..
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- 10 Exceptional
- Candice M
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United States
Great experience traveling to the GBR
Loved this LivaAboard experience. It was our first time diving since becoming certified and it was lovely. Great safety checks before we went out. Very happy with the room size.
- Recommended for
- The variety of dive sites and experiences.. The night dives.. Warm drinks available to enjoy all day..
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- 7.2 Good
- KC C
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United States
Don't expect much dive site variety
The staff was great, very friendly and helpful. The boat conditions were on par with what you'd expect, and it never felt overcrowded. However, they advertise 14+ mooring sites on 3 different reefs (totally understand weather conditions can limit some locations), but we continually went back to the exact same dive sites which was frustrating.
- Recommended for
- Large dive deck with plenty of space. Air compressor on board so no tank switching. Always stayed on schedule.
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- 6.0 Review score
- jayne P
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United States
Best suited for a 1-2 night stay
I I think this boat is best for a one or two night stay. The Positive things were outlined above. There were several guides that were very good at pointing out interesting features along the dives. The ride out and dives were organized chaos. My sons regulator did not have a mouthpiece and my daughters first stage was not attached correctly. They did not want me to use my regulator on the two dives out because it was so hurried. The staff on Ocean quest were polite, but not overly friendly. We were all experienced divers with advanced certifications. We did do guided dives for every dive in the hopes that the knowledgeable guides would point out interesting features and creatures. We had several dives with knowledgeable guides that pointed things out and we had multiple dives, where the guide simply swam out to a point and swam back without stopping or showing any features. The guided groups were grouped at random. We had several dives with someone who burned through the air cutting our dive short by 20 minutes. We asked to be paired with similar divers yet were paired with this person on other dives. because new people were coming on every day we dove the same areas multiple times. We also had new diver briefings every day. They also required that you cash out every day usually within 15 minutes of your last morning dive. checkout was at noon for a boat transfer at 2:30 and during our last dive, they put all of our clothing and luggage on the floor to change the bedding by 11 o'clock. I think this boat is best for one or two night experience Where you wish to sleep on a boat and get as many dives as you can within a short period. They did not provide a very diverse diving experience. I feel people on self-guided tours, saw much more than we did on guided tours.
- Recommended for
- diving the barriee reef. the meals were very good. equipment overall was good.
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- 6.0 Review score
- Lea W
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United States
Look elsewhere
Dive staff and reef sites were great. The cabins and public spaces are extremely bare bones and outdated. En suite bathroom fixtures so old they are almost unusable. Food extremely substandard and bar only open for 10 minutes once or twice per 24 hour period.
- Recommended for
- Diving sites. Dive guides. Staff efficiency.
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- 10 Exceptional
- Gabriel C
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United States
Will remember this for a while and hope to be back soon!
I was a bit apprehensive going into this first Liveaboard for me, because I only had the 4 minimum dives for Open Water PADI certification, afraid of running into long hair problems again, and also sea sickness during the rougher waters. In the end, the 3 day 2 night trip went basically as smooth as I could have imagined. Seriously, I think all the staff were friendly, knowledgeable, effective, and made you feel safe (I only say I think because there were some that worked in the background that I haven't interacted (much) with but probably felt their positive impact indirectly (e.g. food)). Special shout out to my guides and people personally helping me out which were Liam, Alfa, Deanna, Skye, and Van! They also had really good patience and seemed happy to help you out! Only nitpicking downsides I can think of right now is that the inside can be warmer (but limited due to construction of the boat, have wifi, and the hot water machine can either give more water at a time or accomodate larger cups/bottles.
- Recommended for
- Staff was friendly, knowledgeable, effective, and made you feel safe. Accomodations. The Reef!.
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- 10 Exceptional
- Brianna L
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United States
Week of a lifetime
We had an incredible 6 days with Ocean Quest and were very sad to leave. The dive sites were beautiful and the guides were extremely insightful; we always felt educated about our dives. The food was great, huge props to the chef! All around a very fun, relaxing trip with some amazing sights.
- Recommended for
- The food. The crew. The dive sites.
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- 10 Exceptional
- Manasi L
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United States
Very memorable great barrier reef trip
Great staff and dive guides! Very helpful with our 11 and 13 year old kids.
- Recommended for
- Dive guide option. Very friendly and easy operation. All items included so there was nothing to bring on board.
