Mission Beach Dive — Local services in Mission Beach

We did a lot of research before we decided to book with Mission Beach Dive and so glad we did, after initially asking a few questions on Facebook and speaking to Nancy we decided to go ahead and book :) Out of 18 onboard we were the only 2 diving! The rest of the group were snorkelling only. We were welcomed onboard by Nancy, Frankie, Jimmy, Michelle & Daryl. We were originally only going to do 1 dive as we had read some stories about the GBR devastation in some places and most boats being more snorkel based compared to divers, and being on a budget as travelling, but after the first dive lead by Daryl we decided yep we will go again as the reef we were taken to was beautiful, with so much to see, and we were the only boat there! The onboard hospitality was amazing, everyone was so friendly and was so good to speak to the team onboard about our shared love of the ocean,diving and travelling. The food was out of this world, I am vegetarian but I had plenty of choice, with pasta, salad, potato salad, beetroot, bread and fruit. All the veggie food, was vegan friendly too! And they did cater for gluten free and other dietary requirements. For the meat and seafood eaters, there was cold meats and fresh prawns. The boat was well kept, multiple places you could sit and chill :) and ample room. Safety was paramount, and the team did an excellent job of looking after all of us! A girl on our boat decided to do a try drive and they were super professional and her safety was key which was awesome to see! We are so glad we went with this small local business in comparison to some of the bigger names that run out of Cairns rather than Mission Beach like these guys do, definitely worth the drive down to have an amazing Great Barrier Reef experience.

Dive sites are pretty shallow, first one was around 20-24m and the second deepest was 12m but you get to have a longer good quality dive with loads to see! So cannot complain :) We got to see some species native to the GBR like the Rainfords Butterflyfish, saw a big turtle, loads of rays, the cutest anemone shrimp as well as so much other life! All equipment was provided too which was high quality. Cannot fault this company at all. Thank you so much! Kim...

I dove with MBDS on Boxing Day and was impressed but also extremely disappointed. The boat is in great condition and the crew are really friendly which made the day fun. My problems came once we started the dive. I’m an instructor and my brother was doing his DSD. At the surface the instructor had the three of them clear their masks while floating and that was the only skill he went over. Once we dropped on the sand he made them neutrally buoyant and started the dive. No reg rocovery, mask clearing, reg clearing, nothing... Then as we dove the instructor picked up a sea cucumber and passed it around (I obviously didn’t take part in this) for everyone to hold! I couldn’t believe it. We’re supposed to be advocates for the ocean, to be her voice! Taking ppl diving for the first time and showing them its “cool” to touch stuff!? I’m was angry to say the least. The boat drifted at the surface interval and hardly moved and then we were at our next site. Quite a few ppl made the comment that we hardly moved because we could see the sand bar from the first dive but nothing changed and we got ready for the next dive. On this dive he said we would see a giant clam that’s said to be incredibly old. When we dropped down someone was feeding a coral trout which was allowing them to pet it. First touching stuff , now feeding fish prawns from the bbq. We found the ancient clam, and you guessed it, everybody take your turn touching the inside as it tries to close!

Unbelievably disappointed with the behaviour underwater. The staff were so great on the boat it’s a shame that they carry on this way underwater.

They were super friendly, the bbq was great and they were accommodating. I just wish they behaved better underwater and were setting an example rather than adding to...

Overall the staff were really nice and the food surprisingly tasty. I do recommend that if you are a beginner diver with your certification that you do your swim with the instructor teaching the introductory class. My Neice and I were on our second and first divesrecpectively after certification and had some problems. I couldn’t breathe at first going down, and once we were down she had trouble with using/losing air quickly and panicked necessitating an unplanned ascent. The instructor, Nigel, I think, was very unprofessional in dealing with both of these issues and actually told my neice, “You need to get another hobby!!” As well as other rude things and was equally rude to me when I had trouble descending. He made her return to the boat after only 20min instead of identifying and fixing the problem and explaining to her what her problems were. I specifically told one of the instructors that we were newbies prior to the dive. The second dive we did with the other instructor teaching the beginners class and he was very kind and patient and we had a wonderful time even after our first difficult experience so overall I would recommend them with...