Diving continues to thrive in Australia

Associations

Cyclone Larry which hit North Queensland, Australia, cut a narrow corridor of destruction through the mainly agricultural region of Innisfail, but left the tourist areas of Cairns and Port Douglas largely…

Cyclone Larry which hit North Queensland, Australia, cut a narrow corridor of destruction through the mainly agricultural region of Innisfail, but left the tourist areas of Cairns and Port Douglas largely untouched. Dive centres in both cities were busy the day after, catering for the many eager customers looking forward to experiencing the Great Barrier Reef.

The reefs themselves were also unaffected by the cyclone. Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, of the University of Queensland’s Centre for Marine Science, said that although it was possible for cyclones to cause damage to reefs, this wasn’t the case with Larry. Travelling at 25kph, Larry crossed the reef quickly, before any destructive waves were able to develop.

Meanwhile, Tourism Queensland confidently recommends that holiday makers with bookings for Cairns or Port Douglas carry out their vacations as planned.

It’s a similar story in Townsville (including Magnetic Island) and the Whitsundays, which are located hundreds of kilometres south of Innisfail. The Whitsundays have a number of dive operators, including those at the resort areas of Airlie Beach and Hamilton Island. For these operators, it was business as usual the day after the storm.

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