BRISBANE - HOME OF THE BIG STUFF

Queensland is blessed by having the Great Barrier Reef skirting the majority of its coastline, but Queensland diving doesn’t end on ‘The Reef’. South of the Great Barrier Reef are many other wonderful diving destinations, and surprisingly Brisbane , the capital of Queensland , has some of the best, located in and around the Moreton Bay Marine Park .
    In some ways the diving off Brisbane is better than many parts of the Great Barrier Reef . For a start there are many rocky reefs and coral reefs to explore, but divers can also descend on wrecks and artificial reefs. But for us the stand out feature of diving Brisbane is ‘the big stuff’ – as gropers, pelagic fish, sharks, rays and turtles are common to the area.
    Moreton Bay is where every diving adventure off Brisbane begins. The bay is a huge body of water, dotted with countless islands and home to sea birds, dugongs and an estimated 20,000 turtles. Inside the bay are broken up shipwrecks and small reefs, but the two most popular dive sites here are artificial reefs.
    The Tangalooma Wrecks were scuttled in 1963 to form a breakwater for small boats. Seventeen vessels, including old barges and dredges, form the breakwater, in depths from 2m to 10m, and are great fun to explore. The wrecks are encrusted with corals and sponges and thrive with invertebrates and fish life. Commonly seen at the site are flatheads, wobbegong sharks, stingrays, trevally and reef fish, but also keep an eye out for stonefish that lie hidden in the rubble.
    The wrecks at Curtin Artificial Reef are found in 15m to 30m and offer one of the best dives off Brisbane . The Underwater Research Group of Queensland has been sinking ships, and other items, at this site since 1968, making it the oldest and largest artificial reef in Australia . You could spend a dive on just one ship at this site, but most divers investigate several at a time. The ships are decorated with corals and home to stingrays, moray eels, octopus, shovelnose rays, wobbegongs, turtles and nudibranchs. Reef fish inhabit the ships in large numbers and cruising above them are pelagic fish like kingfish and trevally. But the biggest residents of the wrecks are giant Queensland gropers, some reaching almost 3m in length. Visibility inside the bay is generally around 10m, and all sites here are affected by tidal flow, so best dived on the high tide.
    The outer edge of Moreton Bay is formed by two large sand islands – Moreton Island and North Stradbroke Island . Each weekend dozens of dive boats venture outside the bay to dive the reefs and wrecks scattered out here, where the visibility is rarely less than 20m.
    Flinders Reef is an all weather dive site off Moreton Island and a true coral reef, a little bit of the Great Barrier Reef off Brisbane . The coral gardens here are very pretty and support a wide range of reef fish, such as angelfish, butterflyfish, parrotfish, wrasse, lionfish, grubfish, hawkfish and many other species. Pelagic fish also cruise the reef and divers regularly encounter gropers, stingrays, moray eels, turtles and a diverse range of invertebrate species. Wobbegong sharks are common here, as they are at all Brisbane dive sites, and three species of these camouflaged bottom dwelling sharks are found in the area – the ornate, spotted and banded wobbegong. Depths at Flinders Reef vary from 3m to 20m.
    Smith Rock is another colourful reef with caves and canyons to explore. This reef has also claimed three ships over the years; Aarhus , St Paul and Marietta Dal. The Aarhus is a historic shipwreck that sank in 1894. The wreck sits on the sand at 21m and is completely broken up, but there is still the bow structure, hull and much of the ship’s cargo to be seen. The St Paul was a French freighter that sank in 1919; it is a great dive, but rests in deep water at 42m. The Marietta Dal sank in 1950 and littered Smith Rock with her cargo of tractors and other pieces of machinery, making for a fascinating dive in 12m.
    Another wreck nearby is the Cementco, a hopper barge that was to be scuttled as an artificial reef near Flinders Reef, but sunk in rough weather and landing on the bottom upside down. The ship is still a great dive, siting on a rocky reef at 25m, and is home to gropers, reef fish and pelagic visitors.
    Other wonderful reefs off Moreton Island include Henderson’s Rock, China Wall, Hutchinson Shoal, Gotham City and Brennan Shoal, but one of the must do dives is Cherub’s Cave. This rocky reef is riddled with caves and ledges in depths from 15m to 30m and is coloured by some spectacular soft corals, gorgonians and black coral trees. This reef is swarming with reef fish and pelagic fish and a great place to observe grey nurse sharks over winter.
    North Stradbroke Island , or ‘Straddy’, not only has some of the best diving off Brisbane, but some of the finest diving in Queensland . Dotted off the northeast end of the island are small rocky islands that offer exceptional diving. Shag Rock is the most sheltered of these sites, and the least appreciated. The rocky reef around the island is covered in coral and home to vast numbers of reef fish, but divers will also see turtles, cuttlefish, octopus, wobbegongs and brown banded catsharks. The sand around Shag Rock is populated with flatheads, shovelnose rays and stingrays, but watch where you put your hands as numbrays reside here and can give you a nasty zap, 200 volts!
    Middle Reef and Boat Rock are deeper reefs off Straddy and a good place to see eagle rays and giant Queensland gropers, but nearby Flat Rock offers more shelter and the chance to explore walls, gutters and ledges in depths from 10m to 33m. There are a number of great dive sites around Flat Rock, with Shark Alley the most popular. This deep gutter is home to grey nurse sharks each winter with up to a dozen seen on some days. But diving anywhere around Flat Rock you have the chance of seeing eagle rays, wobbegongs, gropers, turtles, manta rays, barracuda, trevally, stingrays and even bronze whaler sharks.
    Straddy’s most famous dive site is one of the best in Australia ; Manta Bommie. Over summer and autumn this shallow rocky reef, 5m to 15m deep, pulsates with marine life. On a typical day divers will see schools of stingrays, turtles, wobbegongs, shovelnose rays, eagle rays and dozens of leopard sharks. Invertebrate species, reef fish and pelagic fish are also common, but the main stars are the manta rays. Up to a dozen manta rays can be seen cruising the reef or hovering to get serviced by cleaner wrasse. Manta Bommie is a little unpredictable, it is washed by currents and sometimes gets dirty water, most days it is a great dive, but on some days, when it all comes together, it can be one of the best dives you will ever do!
    Brisbane has numerous dive shops and charter boats that operate each weekend, and midweek on demand. While day charters are the most common, divers can also explore Moreton Bay on liveaboard vessels as well.
    If you are heading to Queensland to dive the Great Barrier Reef, don’t bypass Brisbane as you will be depriving yourself of some of the best diving off the Sunshine State .

Article appeared in Dive Pacific No.120 Oct/Nov 2010