Barrier Reef out of Lonely Planet list
The world-famous Great Barrier Reef has been excluded from a list of the world’s top dive sites, while a cave in the middle of the outback made the cut.
The world-famous Great Barrier Reef has been excluded from a list of the world’s top dive sites, while a cave in the middle of the outback made the cut.
Travel publisher Lonely Planet which released its list of the world’s top 10 dive sites listing Cocklebiddy Cave, buried deep beneath the Nullarbor Plain, 1200km east of Perth, leaving out the Barrier Reef, reports The Courier-Mail.
Col McKenzie, the executive director of the Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators, said the Barrier Reef had several sites worthy of the list.
McKenzie said the Great Barrier Reef is on everyone’s bucket list, and there are diving experiences one can have only on the Barrier Reef.
McKenzie said neither Cocklebiddy Cave nor the Rainbow Warrior deserved a place in the top 10 compared to some of the Barrier Reef’s best sites, including the Yongala wreck near Townsville, Osprey Reef off Cape York and the Acropolis near Lizard Island.
Mike Ball, who has run Mike Ball Dive Expeditions for more than 40 years, said Yongala is one of the “most amazing dives”.