It was certainly a unique sight to see Australia’s most famous trophy go for a scuba dive! As part of the official Emirates Melbourne Cup tour in the lead up to the “Race that stops the Nation”, Quicksilver was very pleased to be able to assist with this year’s tour to our region bringing two great Australian icons together – The Great Barrier Reef and The Melbourne Cup. In a first, the Cup went for a scuba dive at Agincourt Reef on Saturday 11 August in a specially designed underwater case. Quicksilver Dive Instructor Luke Saunders had the honour of taking the Cup on an underwater tour of the Reef. » Read More

Congratulations to the Pro Dive Cairns team on winning the 2012 PADI award for “Excellence in Diver Training” for the whole Asia Pacific Region.

On presenting the award Drew Richardson, President and Chief Operating Officer of PADI Worldwide, said, “I want to offer my personal congratulations to Pro Dive Cairns on the outstanding achievement of another PADI award for quality diver training. Everybody at PADI Worldwide stands in awe and amazement and applaud your fantastic efforts year after year.”

Since commencing operations in 1983 Pro Dive Cairns has now certified more than 130,000 PADI students and has received numerous PADI awards for quality training.

It's been described as "sex on the reef" and Silverswift will once again be conducting Coral Spawning Night Dives for certified divers to experience this unique natural annual phenomenon, dates to be confirmed. » Read More

We’ve had a fabulous whale season this year providing a great bonus for our passengers and crew alike with frequent sightings and many of the gentle giants putting on awesome acrobatic displays too!

Passengers aboard Quicksilver’s Outer Reef cruise were thrilled to see this humpback breaching out of the water and putting on a breathtaking display with photos thanks to Jesse Oberholzer of Indepth Video and Photography.

And it’s not just the humpbacks who have been thrilling our passengers. The Minke Whales have been as inquisitive as ever and Silversonic passengers have been able to enjoy special encounters of a whale kind! Silversonic has one of the few permits from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority that allows our guests to swim with dwarf minke whales if encountered – a truly unforgettable experience!

Check out these amazing encounters with whale sharks experienced by Pro Dive Cairns’ liveaboard dive trip guests recently and also with Silversonic our dive and snorkel vessel at Agincourt Reef. The whale shark is harmless to people and sightings in the Great Barrier Reef have become more frequent in recent years.

According to our Reef Biosearch marine biologists, whale sharks are certainly one of the top shelf viewing experiences on the Great Barrier Reef. These animals grow to over 15m long and are encountered at the ocean surface around plankton blooms. They open up their mouths (up to 2m wide!), and use gill rakers to strain the water as they cruise along the surface. Interestingly, they have over 300 small teeth, but don’t use them!

12 year old Elizabeth was declared a “hero” by her classmates on winning the “awesome” prize of a class trip to Green Island. As the winner of our annual “Squid Squad Competition” Elizabeth correctly answered a fun and educational word puzzle about Green Island and the Great Barrier Reef and in doing so won a class trip for her Year 7 classmates and teachers at Our Lady Help of Christians School. The competition, run in conjunction with the Cairns Posts’ “Post Ed Newspapers in Education” attracted over 200 entries from local school students.

Get your solar spectacles ready! Total solar eclipses happen about every 18 months somewhere on the planet and the next one just happens to be in our part of the world on 14 November 2012.  In fact, Green Island on the Great Barrier Reef will be one of the best places to witness the event as the sun is completely blocked out by the moon. You can also experience the Eclipse with an early morning sail on Wavedancer from Port Douglas.

Pro Dive Cairns will also be offering a unique liveaboard experience combined with this special event for some spectacular scuba diving on Australia's Great Barrier Reef for an exciting 2 Day 1 Night, 7 Dive Liveaboard experience.

The last total eclipse in North Queensland was in 1847!

For more information Contact mice@quicksilvergroup.com.au

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House guests at Green Island Resort are in for some delicious and tempting new taste sensations! The Executive Chef and his talented team have produced a wonderful new dinner menu.
Click here to view the new menu!

Green Island Resort guests can now experience a divine sunset massage overlooking the beach with Arumi Day Spa. At this stage, this service will only be available on Saturday evenings exclusive for house guests. Early bookings are essential. www.arumi.com.au

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As the largest fish in the sea, reaching lengths of 12 metres (40 feet) or more, whale sharks have an enormous menu from which to choose. Fortunately for most sea-dwellers—and us!—their favorite meal is plankton such as krill, crab larvae and jelly fish, which they scoop up with their colossal gaping mouths while swimming close to the water’s surface. The whale shark’s flattened head sports a blunt snout above its mouth with short barbels protruding from its nostrils. Its back and sides are gray to brown with white spots among pale vertical and horizontal stripes, and its belly is white. Its two dorsal fins are set rearward on its body, which ends in a large dual-lobbed caudal fin (or tail).

Preferring warm waters, whale sharks populate all tropical seas. Although massive, whale sharks are docile fish. The whale shark species is rare and prior to the mid 1980s there had been less than 350 confirmed reports of Whale Sharks world-wide They are currently listed as a vulnerable species.

Hi - Just wanted to drop you a few lines about our fantastic trip to Flynn Reef from Cairns on August the 10th. My oldest son and I did 3 dives at Flynn´s Reef, and my youngest son did an introductory dive. My daughter and wife snorkelled on the same reef. We were very pleased with the service on board the vessel! The divemaster, Simon, had everything under control when he showed us around the reef…..Thanks again for a fantastic trip. I will definitely recommend Silverswift to fellow divers in Bergen/Norway! You guys are true professionals!

Cheers
Gunnar