Enhance Your Liveaboard Experience with PADI Advanced & Nitrox Certifications

Combine the PADI Advanced Open Water and Enriched Air (Nitrox) courses for the ultimate liveaboard diving adventure with Pro Dive Cairns. The Advanced course hones your skills and expands your dive knowledge, while Nitrox extends your bottom time and reduces nitrogen buildup—ideal for back-to-back reef dives.

This combined course runs over a three-day, two-night liveaboard trip to the spectacular Great Barrier Reef, with up to 11 dives (including five training dives) at 19 premium outer reef sites across Flynn, Thetford, Milln, and Pellowe reefs. Highlights include stunning coral, turtles, reef sharks, and thrilling night dives.

Start your learning online before departure via the PADI eLearning portal. Onboard, complete the final knowledge reviews and enjoy practical sessions without the need for classroom or pool time. A PADI Open Water certification (or equivalent) is required to join.

Relax between dives on one of our custom-built Scubapro vessels, featuring air-conditioned cabins, spacious lounge areas, and full catering—all supported by our professional crew.

Trips depart from Cairns daily (except Mondays and Tuesdays), offering an unforgettable way to explore the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef while earning two valuable PADI certifications.

• 11 dives (includes 2 night dives)
• All meals & bed linen
• Dive Insurance
• Corrective lens mask (if required)
• Double bed or twin share accommodation
• All dive & snorkelling equipment, including dive computer, wetsuit and dive torch
• Accommodation transfers (Cairns city & Northern Beaches)
• Guided orientation and night dive
• PADI manuals

• Flights to and from Cairns
• Accomodation in Cairns
• Environmental Management Charge, Port and administration fees, and fuel levy –  $95 per person and payable on check in
• Underwater Canon digital camera hire
• Nitrox air fills
• Cost of Dive Medical (if required)
• Trip cancellation or interruption Insurance
• Deck and bath towels
• Personal toiletries

Pricing Table

3 Day 2 Night Liveaboard Advanced Open Water Course with Pro Dive Cairns
Option	Cost
PADI Advanced Open Water Course	$1,260
PADI Nitrox course (optional upgrade)	$195
Up to 11 dives. Tax & Levy – $95 (per person) Payable separately and at check-in. Pricing Valid until March 31st 2026

Full Itinerary

Please note, the below itinerary is a guide only, and the order of sites and dives may change. The skipper will always adapt the plan to the prevailing weather, tides and currents.

Day 1: Great Barrier Reef
5:45 Complimentary hotel transferAvailable from Cairns City and Northern Beaches accommodation.

6:20 Check-in at Pro Dive Cairns retail shopCorner of Grafton and Shields streets, City

7:00 Depart Cairns – A light breakfast is served onboard.

11:00 Dive 1
Your first dive is before lunch. A dive guide will be offered for those divers who have not dived in a while. This is an opportunity for you to acclimatise to the diving conditions, fine-tune your skills or even to refresh your skills if it has been some time since your last dive.

12:30 Lunch

14:30 Dive 2:
Peak Performance BuoyancyIf you choose peak performance buoyancy as one of your elective dives, we will use this dive to help you fine-tune your buoyancy, weight adjustments and equipment trim in preparation for the remaining dives. Otherwise, head off and discover more underwater delights. Once you have completed your dive, the vessel moves on to the next site.

16:30 Dive 3:
Navigation DiveDuring this dive you will complete exercises using both a compass and natural references to help improve your underwater navigation skills.18:00 Dinner

19:45 Dive 4:
Night Dive An introduction to night diving on The Great Barrier Reef. Your instructor will help you prepare and plan for future night dives that you may do without the supervision of an instructor. Your instructor will accompany you on this training dive for your comfort and safety. During the dive, you will complete a simple navigation exercise before a guided tour, where you could find sleeping turtles, parrotfish and a variety of other marine life only encountered at night.

Day 2: Great Barrier Reef
7:00 Dive 5: Deep Dive
During this dive, we will give you the experience to safely conduct dives beyond your 18 metre depth limit. Under the close supervision of your dive instructor, you will conduct a deep dive where you will be shown the effects of increased pressure and colour absorption at depth.

9:00 Breakfast

11:15 Dive 6: Underwater Naturalist
If you’re interested in learning more about The Great Barrier Reef and its ecosystem this dive is an absolute must! Learn how to identify the main families of fish from damselfish to triggerfish. You will also be taught how to identify the different corals. If this dive interests you make sure you don’t miss the Reef Teach marine biology presentation the night before your trip departs.

12:45 Lunch

15:15 Dive 7: Underwater Photography
If you want to take home some lasting memories this elective dive is ideal. On your Underwater Photography dive you will be taught pre and post underwater camera
care and how to get the best results from your underwater camera. After preparing your underwater camera your dive will simply involve trying to capture the beauty of The Great Barrier Reef. Digital underwater cameras are available to hire onboard or at our retail shop at an extra cost.

17:45 Dinner

19:30 Dive 8: Night dive
After a briefing from the dive supervisor it’s now time to put your training into practice

Day 3: Great Barrier Reef
6:30 Dive 9
Morning of pleasure diving and the opportunity to finish any additional training dives you may not have completed yet.

7:30 Breakfast

9:00 Dive 10 (Fun Dive)

11:00 Dive 11 (Fun Dive)

12:00 Lunch then depart reef for Cairns

16:00 Complimentary return transfer
Return transfer to your accommodation

19:30 Farewell dinner (optional, additional cost)
Join fellow passengers and crew at a local restaurant for a farewell dinner