Bait Reef, Whitsundays Australia

  • Location -19.801718 149.075478
  • Depth: 6-40 metres
  • Visibility 15 – 40 metres
  • Water Temperature minimum 24.2 to a maximum of 29 degrees
  • Access: Boat

Bait Reef is  65 kilometres east of the Queensland coastal town Airlie Beach between Cairns and Brisbane.  This reef is suitable for snorkelling and scuba diving.

All boat tours visiting this reef will navigate their voyage through the spectacular Whitsunday Islands.

Bait Reef is near Hardy reef. It has an excellent cover of colourful coral and various marine life, including manta rays and turtles.

With a reef wall of 40 metres, this site offers underwater caves, swim-throughs and Canyon making it an excellent dive site.

Suitable for all types of divers, there are shallows for snorkelers and underwater canyons, steep walls and swim-throughs for the more experienced.

Dive Sites

Dive sites along Bait Reef include Manta Ray Drop off, Drop Zone, Wallys Wall, Seaflight Bommie, and Stepping Stones.

Night divers will be thrilled with resident reef sharks and trevally.

The Northside of Bait Reef is where divers will find significant dropoffs with spectacular wall dives. At the same time, the inner lagoon is shallow and great for snorkelers.  Here you will find coral gardens that are shallow and healthy.

On Manta Ray drop off, there is a vertical tunnel covered with numerous small corals.    On this dive site, you will find bump headed parrotfish as well as mackerel and barracuda.

This site also has a strong current.

Stepping Stones on Bait Reef

The Maze dive site at Stepping Stone has an abundance of big fish.  Here you will also find big fish under ledges and in caves.

Marine  Life

Keep an eye out for Manta Rays as well as turtles and wobbegong sharks.   There are many soft corals on this reef, as well as turtles and reef fish.

Often seen at Bait Reef are Coral Trout, Christmas tree worms and giant clams.

 Bait Reef Map