Dive centres by state · 2026 guide
We document 50 dive businesses in Queensland. These 10 have the most complete, source-backed profiles — so you can see exactly what each one offers before you call.
Compare agencies, boats, courses and gas fills at a glance, or tick a few in the finder to compare them side by side.
1
Mooloolaba, Queensland
The Sunshine Coast's only PADI 5 Star IDC, with roots to 1976 and three dive vessels running the ex-HMAS Brisbane, Flinders Reef and humpback whale swims.
Listed by PADI as the only 5 Star Instructor Development Centre on the Sunshine Coast; the business traces its roots to 1976.
Runs three purpose-built dive vessels and puts an instructor on every boat; the ex-HMAS Brisbane is about 15 minutes away.
2Mooloolaba, Queensland
A Mooloolaba SSI Instructor Training Center with air, Nitrox and oxygen, Extended Range and rebreather programmes, and boat trips to up to 15 local reef sites.
Listed by SSI as an Instructor Training Center; programmes include freediving, rebreather and Extended Range (XR).
Gas fills listed as air, Nitrox and oxygen; services BCDs, computers, drysuits, wetsuits, regulators and cylinders.
3
Cairns, Queensland
A PADI 5 Star Career Development Centre operating since 1983, pairing a Cairns training centre with two deep heated pools with three-day outer reef liveaboard trips.
Listed by PADI as a 5 Star Career Development Centre; operating since 1983 and part of the Quicksilver Group.
The training centre has six air-conditioned classrooms and two heated diver-training pools about four metres deep.
4
Cairns, Queensland
Cairns' longest-established dive company (founded 1974), a PADI Career Development Centre and Eco Centre running day trips and the OceanQuest reef-based liveaboard.
Founded in 1974; Cairns' first PADI 5 Star centre (1988), first 5 Star IDC (1998) and first Career Development Centre (1999).
Awarded PADI Eco Centre status in early 2024.
5
Southport, Queensland
The Gold Coast's PADI 5 Star IDC, operating from a floating dive centre in Southport with ten instructors, its own boat and Wave Break Island dives.
Listed by PADI as a 5 Star Instructor Development Centre operating from a floating dive centre, with ten PADI instructors.
Lists air fills, retail, rental (including kids' gear), servicing of regulators, BCDs, cylinders and computers, and a dive boat.
6
Point Lookout, Queensland
North Stradbroke Island's only full-service scuba centre and an SSI Instructor Training Center, with two boats, on-site lodging, and technical and freediving training.
Operating since 1992; listed by SSI as an Instructor Training Center.
Runs two dive vessels with on-site accommodation for dive holidays and live-in training.
7
South Townsville, Queensland
Townsville's longest-established dive day-trip operator, a PADI 5 Star centre running the SS Yongala wreck, John Brewer Reef and the Museum of Underwater Art.
Listed by PADI as a 5 Star Dive Center with eight PADI instructors.
Runs day trips to the SS Yongala wreck (110 metres long, 15 to 29 metres deep), John Brewer Reef and the Museum of Underwater Art, departing Townsville and Magnetic Island.
8
Arcadia, Magnetic Island, Queensland
Magnetic Island's longest-running dive centre, an SSI facility on the Geoffrey Bay foreshore with the island's only purpose-built training pool.
Family-run SSI centre operating for more than 25 years, teaching from beginner to professional levels with small classes.
Has the only purpose-built dive training pool on Magnetic Island.
9
Rainbow Beach & Wolf Rock, Queensland
A Rainbow Beach operation specialising in Wolf Rock, an advanced offshore pinnacle site known for grey nurse sharks.
Listed as a PADI 5 Star dive centre based at Rainbow Beach.
Wolf Rock lies about 2 km off Double Island Point and was classified as a marine sanctuary in 2003.
10Bundaberg & Southern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland
A resort on a no-day-tripper coral cay off Gladstone whose PADI Marine Centre runs three boat dives a day plus night dives to around 20 nearby sites.
The Heron Island Marine Centre is PADI affiliated and teaches from Discover Scuba to Advanced Open Water.
Runs three boat dives a day plus night dives, in small guided groups, from three boats; sites include Heron Bommie, Gorgonia Hole and Three Rocks.
Centres are ordered by how much of what they offer we could confirm from a primary source — training agencies, boats, courses, gas fills, servicing — plus published contact details and photos. It is a documentation ranking, not a review score, and nobody pays to be listed.
No. Listings and order come from our research only. Businesses can ask us to correct their details, but not to change their position.
It is generated from the directory's latest research, checked in 2026. Conditions, operators and seasons change — confirm details with the operator before you book.