Three dives on the outer reef
Mabel leaves Marlin Marina at 7:30 every morning and is back around 4:30. Divers, snorkellers and people who've never breathed underwater all on the same boat, never more than 16 of you.
Trips & prices
Every price includes gear, morning tea, lunch and the reef tax (the Marine Park charge). Book below and you'll get your forms by text straight away.
Reef day
Most booked- Three dives on Hastings, Saxon or Norman
- Guide in the water on every dive
- Full gear and a computer if you need one
- Nitrox if you're certified, +$15 a tank
First breath
- A snorkel day plus one intro dive
- Two of you to one instructor
- Add a second dive on the day, +$70
- Counts towards your Open Water
Snorkel day
- Three reef stops with a guided snorkel
- Stinger suit, mask, fins and a noodle
- Lookout on the top deck the whole time
- Fresh-water shower when you climb out
Along for the ride
- Your partner's diving, you've got a book
- Lunch, morning tea and the top deck
- Swap to snorkelling on the day if you like
Out past the islands to the ribbon of the outer reef
Green Island and Michaelmas Cay are lovely, but we keep going. About 30 nautical miles out are Hastings, Saxon and Norman reefs, with bommies, swim-throughs, a couple of resident turtles and water that's usually a lot clearer than near the coast.
The skipper picks the three sites on the morning. On a south-easterly we tuck in behind the reef where it's calm. You'll always get your three stops.
Do the paperwork on your phone, not on the dive deck
Everyone on Mabel fills in a waiver and a health form. Divers doing an intro dive or a course do the dive medical too. We send the links by text the moment you book.
Book online
Each person gets their own link. Booking for the family? Parents sign for the kids.
Waiver & medical
Takes about five minutes. Certified divers pop in their card level and number.
See a doctor
Some answers on the dive medical mean you need a doctor's sign-off before diving. Upload a photo of it to the same form.
Straight on
We check you off on the iPad at the marina. No clipboard, no pen that doesn't work.
Tick yes to something on the dive medical the night before? Give us a call. Usually we can swap you to a snorkel day so you're still on the boat.
November to May, everyone wears the lycra
Box jellyfish mostly hang around the coast, but irukandji turn up on the reef too, so we don't take chances. From November to May every snorkeller and diver wears a full-length stinger suit, and we carry vinegar and an oxygen kit like every reef boat should.
Yes, you look like a smurf. Everybody does. The photos are still great.
When's your last dive before the plane?
You need time between your last dive and your flight to let the nitrogen out. Put in your flight and we'll tell you the last time you should surface, and the last day you can come out on Mabel.
General guidance only, not medical advice. Mabel's last divers are usually out of the water by 2:15pm.
Before you book
Where do I meet the boat?
Marlin Marina, at 7:10am for a 7:30 departure. We text you the berth the night before. If you need hire gear fitted, come to the shop on Draper Street the afternoon before.
What if the weather's bad?
We watch the wind and swell forecast and make the call the evening before, not at 6am when you're already up. If we cancel you'll get a text with a link to move to another day or take a full refund.
I haven't dived in ages. Can I still come?
If it's been more than a year or two, do a refresher in the pool with us first (it's half a day), or tell us when you book and you can dive with a guide and do a quick skills check on the first dive.
Do I need to bring my certification card?
Put your level and card number in the form when you book. Bring the card or have the app on your phone too, the guides like to have a look.
I get seasick. Help?
Take something the night before and again in the morning, sit on the back deck in the fresh air and look at the horizon. Mabel's got a wide hull, but it's still the open ocean out there.
Can I take photos?
Bring your own camera, or Priya takes photos on most dives and sends a link that night. No charge, just tag us.