FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Whale watching

• Shorts/loose pants you can roll up above the knees (you will get wet up to your knees)
• Waterproof jacket (recommended)
• Sun hat
• Warm clothing mostly in winter (e.g. jacket, fleece, warm headwear)

Snorkelling

• Swimsuit
• Sun hat

Please arrive at the dive store at the time of your booked tour, ensuring you are on NSW daylight savings time. E.g. 11am dive tour is a required meeting time of 11am (NSW daylight savings time).

All tours meet at our dive store, which is located at 5 Marvell Street, Byron Bay. Please see our map for directions. Unfortunately, we do not offer pick-ups from your accommodation or alternate meeting points. This ensures all paperwork and safety briefings are completed and the correct equipment is allocated to you. It also reduces transport requirements to our launch site and therefore car emissions :).

Please check through this link.

If you have a booked through an external travel agent (Red Balloon, Experience Oz, Trip Advisor, Expedia, Hero Travel or a Website Travel Agent) you must bring a digital copy of your voucher for the tour. 

Whale watching

• Shorts/loose pants you can roll up above the knees (you will get wet up to your knees)
• Waterproof jacket (recommended)
• Proof of ID – Sun hat
• Water bottle
• Warm clothing (e.g. jacket fleece, warm headwear)
• Change of clothes
• Cameras welcome

Snorkelling

• Proof of ID
• Swimsuit
• Sun hat
• Water bottle
• Change of clothes

If you have a medical condition and are required to have a diving medical to complete your activity you must bring a copy of this, it must of been completed within a year of the tour date.

If you are booked for a certified dive tour you will be required to bring proof of certification. This can be in online form (eg. SSI/ PADI app) or hard copy (certification card). If you are unable to provide proof of certification we may be unable to take you for a dive and will be unable to issue any refunds within our 48-hour cancellation policy. If you are having any issues with this, please contact us prior to the booking.

Yes, all our tours require all participants to be able to swim comfortably. Additionally, we require all participants to be comfortable in the ocean. If you cannot swim and are not comfortable in the ocean you will not be able to join the tour. This is non-negotiable as participant safety is our number one priority!

Byron Bay Dive Centre encourages and embraces all customers to attend and enjoy our tours. BBDC will accommodate all customers with accessibility requirements where possible, with the nature of each tour being taken into consideration for all bookings. Safety and enjoyment for our customers are our main priorities. Please contact us directly for more information or to discuss a tour requirement.

If you are prone to sea sickness we recommend purchasing some sea sickness tablets from the pharmacy prior to your tour. We have ginger sea sickness tablets available to purchase at the counter in store. The boat ride to the dive / snorkel site (Julian Rocks) is approximately 5-10 minutes.

• If the weather or sea conditions are not suitable on the day of your tour you will be contacted via text message or phone on the contact number you have provided, and you will be offered a full refund or a reschedule (dependent on availability) of your tour*.
• In the event of a cancellation due to unsuitable conditions we will give you as much notice as possible. While we endeavour to give you adequate notice in the event of a cancellation, please note that short notice cancellations can occur in the event of sea and weather conditions abruptly changing and becoming unsuitable at the time of your tour. We apologise in advance for any inconvenience this may cause.

*If you booked through an external travel agent you will need to contact them directly for a refund, all refunds are in line with the agent’s cancellation policy.

Unfortunately, there is not one type of weather or sea condition that would result in cancellations. The safety and operations of our tours are based on a mixture of variables which include; swell height and direction, wind speed and direction, current strength at Julian Rocks and the probability of thunderstorms.

Yes, if it is raining our dive and snorkel tours will still operate, you’re going to get wet anyway ☺! If there is a chance of thunderstorms, then this may result in the tour being cancelled.

We run our tours all year around (sea and weather conditions depending) and experience fantastic conditions and wonderful marine sightings all year around too! In addition to the three species of turtles, over 400 species of fish and sharks and rays, during our summer months we having regular sightings of leopard sharks and manta rays and in the winter months we spot grey nurse sharks as well as witnessing the annual humpback whale migration.  Check out our season animal encounter chart on our homepage.

The average water temperature at Julian Rocks in the summer months is between 22°C to 27°C and in the winter months it is between 18°C to 23°C.

Each vessel can accommodate a maximum of 13 passengers, this will be a mixture of crew and customers depending on the type of activities running.

Yes! We have three vessels in total and can accommodate larger group bookings over these. Please contact us directly on (02) 6685 8333 as total numbers depend on your chosen activities.

We can also accommodate conference and school bookings for our tours, please contact us for more details.

All our vessels are launched from ‘The Pass’, Byron Bay. This is a popular surfing beach in Byron Bay and we take extreme care and caution on each vessel launched whilst providing a unique experience.

Yes! Please make sure it is waterproof and if you are diving it is suitable to the depth you will be diving too (certified divers max 18m, introductory divers max 12m). For all dive courses (including introductory dives) it is the instructor’s discretion as to whether you can take your camera on the dive. Please note that flash photography is not permitted on any of our tours. 

All our tours are conducted within the Cape Byron Marine Park and Julian Rocks Nature Reserve, which is classed as a sanctuary zone, the highest level of protection for natural, cultural and biodiversity features. The marine park contains many subtropical habitats, including protected and threatened species, it is therefore essential that minimal impact behaviour is adhered to during all our tours. We ask all participants to not touch, collect or harass any marine animal or plant. You can take as many photo’s as you would like but we ask you to leave the area how you found it and interact with the marine life through sight.

We ask all participants to please follow all rules and regulations put in place by Byron Bay Dive Centre and the NSW Department of Primary Industries to ensure minimal impact is left on all natural areas’s visited. Our tour and course briefings cover everything you need to know and guide you on best way to maximise your enjoyment of our products.

The conservation and protection of our local environment is super important to us and we ask all customers to ensure you play your part to leave Julian Rocks Nature Reserve and the Cape Byron Marine Park in the same way you find it! We please ask that any substance that may be harmful to the environment is avoided e.g. certain sunscreens and insect repellents. Check out our webpage ‘Interpretation and Education’ to learn more about our local environments.

We have a 48 hour cancellation policy (7-days for all courses). This means that if you need to cancel or reschedule your booking for any reason, we need to know 48 hours (7-days for all courses) before the activity is due to commence. If a cancellation or reschedule is made after that time, we charge a 100% cancellation fee. No-shows and cancellations within 48 hours (7-days for all courses) will be charged the full price.

We offer a free snorkel lesson in our on-site heated training pool for anyone that has not snorkelled before. This lesson starts 30 minutes prior to your tour check-in time and is required for anyone without any snorkelling experience.

The tour takes 2.5 – 3 hours from start to finish, with 1 hour in the water snorkelling. The time before the snorkelling is made up of completing paperwork, a snorkel tour briefing, equipment gear-up, bus ride to the beach and boat ride to the snorkel site. The time after the snorkelling consists of the boat ride back to the beach and bus ride back to the dive centre where there are hot showers and changing areas.

Yes, we require all participants to wear a wetsuit for the duration of the snorkel tour. We have a range of different sizes in both long (5mm thick) and short (5mm thick) varieties.

Yes, definitely! Included in the cost of your snorkel tour is; fins, mask, snorkel and wetsuit. However, if you have this equipment yourself and would prefer to use them, you are more than welcome ☺.

Yes, we have a range of prescription masks for prescriptions ranging from -2 to -6. Unfortunately, we do not have masks with + prescriptions however you are able to wear contact lenses with standard masks.

Our sea turtles are resident to Julian Rocks and we see them all year around! There is no time of the day when they are more active, and we commonly have sightings on all our tour times of these amazing creatures. Whilst we cannot 100% guarantee a turtle sighting, it is very unlikely to not see one!

We have lifejackets on-board our vessels for all passengers, however the purpose of these lifejackets is to keep your head above and out of the water, which makes it very difficult to snorkel. We would instead recommend a long wetsuit as they are more buoyant than short ones and also taking a pool noodle, which provides extra flotation and make for an easy and comfortable snorkelling experience.

Seeing a whale during one of our tours means that we encounter at least one whale within 500 metres and it surfaces multiple times.

Please note that humpback whales are wild animals and although we are unable to predict their behaviour we do everything possible to give you a memorable experience.  We are also obliged to recognise the current Australian National Guidelines for Whale and Dolphin Watching.

In the unlikely event that we do not encounter humpback whales, the whale guarantee allows each whale watcher a further whale watching tour (issued as a voucher) within the same year as the initial booking.

No, you can come on separate days if you like.

In the unlikely event this happens, we issue you another voucher. We repeat this process until you do see whales.

Yes, you can. It’s necessary that you call us at least two days before the new trip is booked to inform us about this change. We will need the personal data from the person who is going to do the activity.

No, sorry. We do our best to give you an as close and realistic look at humpback whales and this incurs certain costs.

No, the voucher is valid only for the year it is issued in, unless your tour is in the last 4 weeks of the season in which case we will extend it until the next season.

The whale season is from June to October.