Source: The Courier-Mail
QUEENSLAND'S Great Barrier Reef has been snubbed in 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 has released its list of the world's top 10 dive sites but could find no place for the world-famous Barrier Reef, instead listing Cocklebiddy Cave, buried deep beneath the Nullarbor Plain, 1200km east of Perth.
The inclusion of a silty marshland in Papua New Guinea also raised eyebrows and, adding insult to injury, even our neighbours across the ditch got a guernsey, with the wreck of the original Rainbow Warrior slipping in at No.10.
Col McKenzie, the executive director of the Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators, said the Barrier Reef had several sites worthy of the list.
"When you talk to serious divers, the Great Barrier Reef is on everyone's bucket list, so it's ridiculous there's not one site mentioned," he said.
"There are diving experiences you can have on the Barrier Reef that you can't do anywhere else in the world.
"There are at least a couple of sites that should be on the list for sure."
Mr 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.
His comments were backed up by Mike Ball, who has run Mike Ball Dive Expeditions for more than 40 years.
"The Yongala is a dive site on steroids," he said. "It's one of the most amazing dives."
Lonely Planet spokesman Adam Bennett said the list was open to debate and meant no disrespect to the Barrier Reef.
"The list was not intended to be definitive, but rather a representative selection of diving sites from all around the world," he said. "It was selected by our online editorial team in London and designed to inspire a global audience.
"Lonely Planet has a long history of recommending the Barrier Reef to travellers."
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