I’m probably a little late and you have already been and gone But for what its worth the dive shop I did work at won Padi" Worlds best dive shop" in 2011.Abyss at Ramsgate just google abyss and it will come up.The best dive boatfor the great barrier reef is Mike Ball (scuba hall of fame alongside Jacques costeau) the best price is through Abyss.Lots of good diving in Sydney for the beginner or the advanced and up and down the coast.Abyss does a lot of dive travel and all the exotic locations.Galapagos is the next bid trip for me ,just been to the Maldives and it was mindblowing.So if Australia is on your agenda check out there website,you will not be disappointed.Or you can drop me a line happy to help if I can
regards peter