Odyssey is 24m long catamaran that is more famous in fishing circles, as the vessel is renowned for its game fishing trips. However, they also run regular dive trips to the Capricorn Bunker Group and Coral Sea. Our trip to Marion Reef in June was on a fishing trip, but we were joining Dive Manager Julieanne Gregory to dive some of the sites the crew had already found and look for new dive sites.
Previous trips we had done to the Coral Sea always involve a long sea crossing, usually rough, to reach these remote reefs. But for this trip we had the luxury of catching a seaplane to Marion Reef, where Odyssey awaited us. The seaplane flight departed from Hamilton Island, and took one and a half hours to reach Marion Reef, giving spectacular views of the Whitsunday Islands, the Great Barrier Reef and finally Marion Reef.
Marion Reef is an amazing sig
ht from the air; the reef is 40km long by 20km wide, surrounded by the
deep blue waters of the Coral Sea. We landed in the lagoon and were quickly tied
up to Odyssey. After off loading the gear, meeting the crew and our fishing
companions, we were given a briefing on the boat and a quick tour. Odyssey
accommodates 16 passengers in five comfortable cabins; she has a large
dining/lounge area, a bar, a spacious back deck (set up for fishing, not diving
on this trip) and a roomy upper deck for sunbaking or relaxing.As we set up our camera gear, the fishermen got their tackle together and were soon off on their dories after GT’s and doggies (giant trevally and dog tooth tuna) for the rest of the afternoon. We had our own dory for diving, with Phil, the skipper, taking us out to explore one of the thousands of bommies that are found in the lagoon, which reaches depths of 60m.
Our first dive was on a bommie called Stone Henge. This bommie started just 4m below the surface and dropped to 35m. In the 30m visibility (we enjoyed 20m to 50m viz and 23C degree water) we slowly cruised this massive bommie seeing reef sharks, fusiliers, surgeonfish, angelfish, butterflyfish, coral trout and the usual reef fish. We saw our first sea snake within a minute, and would see quite a few on every dive, sea snakes are a feature of Marion Reef. Julieanne led us around numerous gutters and to a large ledge lined with lovely gorgonians. At the end of the dive we also found a pair of reef-top pipefish, which proved difficult to photograph as they darted about.
We then dived the shallow bommies under the boat in only 9m of water. Though small and barren looking, these were covered in life. We saw more sea snakes, anemonefish, a moray eel, cardinalfish, squirrelfish, shrimps, hermit crabs and a cute Moyer’s dragnet.
With a week on Marion Reef we had a chance to explore a variety of the dive sites on offer. The next morning, with only light winds we headed to the southern end of the reef for a double dive. On the way we were joined by a group of spinner dolphins, we jumped in for a quick glimpse of these majestic animals underwater. Our first dive was outside the reef on a wonderful coral garden. The corals here are spectacular and very healthy, and exploring the canyons we spotted a white tip reef shark, batfish, coral trout, jobfish, trevally and a shy Maori wrasse.
The second dive was more memorable as we dived in the channel back into the lagoon. Fighting a slight current we were buzzed by grey reef sharks and also saw seve
ral moray eels hanging out of holes. In the shallows there were many
sculptured outcrops to explore that formed caves and tunnels. We ran into a 2m
long tawny nurse shark resting in a gutter and saw an abundance of reef fish.We missed out on an afternoon dive as strong winds were forecast, so Phil moved Odyssey to the northern end of the reef. We enjoyed a hearty lunch instead; just one of the amazing meals that Rob the chef produced every day.
Before going on the trip we were a bit concerned being the only divers on a boat full of fishermen, but after some harmless banter, found that these trips on Odyssey are tag and release, with only a limited number of fish kept for the evening meal. This was no fish slaughter, with barbless hooks used and the fish winning most of the battles. Also, with weight limits on the seaplane, no fish could be taken home. We were also surprised to discover that many of the fishermen were also divers, and keen to ensure the future of the fish and the reef.
While at the northern end of Marion Reef we did a few exploratory dives. These are always a bit hit and miss, but at Marion the hit rate was quite high. Our only real miss was the morning dive on a largely dead patch of coral. For the second dive we headed to the channel leading out of the reef where we found walls of coral from the surface to 20m, numerous caves and ledges and countless bommies. As we slowly drifted along we saw reef sharks, sea snakes, jobfish, parrotfish, trevally and some huge coral trout.
Between dives we had three dwarf minke whales surface beside Odyssey. The crew have previously enjoyed a number of close encounters with minke whales, but unfortunately this pod didn’t hang around. But one of the fishing groups were lucky enough to have a pair of minke whales circle them for an hour.
The next day we again anchored off the northern end of the reef. Below the boat we explore a maze of coral ridges in 20 to 30m of water. The fish life was excellent and the coral very pretty with numerous soft corals and gorgonians. Swimming from ridge to ridge we saw a large dark shape, a big bommie. As we got closer we could see a Maori wrasse and schools of stripey snapper and fusiliers on the bommie. Standing 10m tall, the bommie was undercut with ledges and lined with sea whips, soft corals and gorgonians. As we explored this colourful bommie we suddenly saw silver flashes in the distance, which soon materialized into a school of hundreds of chevron barracuda. For five minutes we were mesmerised by this massive school of fish as it circled us and the bommie. A
ll too soon our bottom time was up and we returned to the boat, but not
before seeing several reef sharks and a black blotched stingray. We named this
site Barra Bommie and planned to dive it again the next day.Before lunch we explored more of the northern channel, jumping in we were buzzed by half a dozen grey reef sharks. None of the sharks were bold enough to come close enough for a full frame photo, but it was great to see such a healthy shark population at Marion Reef (the fishermen also reported plenty of sharks attracted to their activity). At this site we also explored some interesting canyons and caves, seeing a very large barracuda.
In the afternoon we explored more of the bommies in the channel, finding several large giant moray eels, reef sharks, sea snakes and trevally. One large bommie was decorated with some lovely gorgonians on one side and a forest of staghorn coral on the other, which sheltered schools of stripey snapper and yellow-finned goatfish. We also spotted a shy hawksbill turtle, the only turtle we saw during the week.
The following day we returned to dive Barra Bommie, but must have just missed the marks. Instead did two dives exploring more of the coral ridges at this site. We found coral gardens covered in schools of pyramid butterflyfish, caves lined with gorgonians, curious sea snakes and numerous coral trout. Helen had a close encounter with a giant trevally that swam straight up to her for a portrait. This GT was bigger than any that the fishermen had managed to catch, and was definitely the catch of the day.
Moving back into the lagoon we anchored off Carola Cay, where there is an automatic weather station, and did a dive on the shallow bommies. In only 7m of water we explored numerous small bommies seeing sea snakes, mantis shrimps, hermit crabs, nudibranchs, pipefish and plenty of other small species.
Our final day of diving arrived all too quickly. Groper Channel was our first dive and a very exhilarating one at that. This channel leads out of the reef and we enjoyed a fast paced drift dive in this 25m deep channel. As we zoomed along the channel we encountered schools of big eye trevally, dog tooth tuna, red bass, fusiliers, Maori wrasse and many other fish species. We found a small bommie completely covered in colourful soft corals and also a wall decorated with rows of pretty gorgonians.
Our final dives gave us a chance to explore a few more of the massive bommies in the lagoon. The first one we dived on was like a giant mushroom, rising from 30m to 5m. We encountered grey reef sharks, a huge Maori wrasse, parrotfish and trevally. But we named it Goat Mountain after the massive school of yellow-finned goatfish that were swarming around a large patch of cabbage coral. This coral was also home to squirrelfish, rock cod, snapper and anemonefish. The usual sea snakes were seen, including two that followed us around for most of the dive.
The next bommie was just as good, a tower of coral rising from 25m to 4m. The walls of this bommie were coloured with gorgonians and soft corals and cut by numerous ledges. Schooling around the bommie were dog tooth tuna, fusiliers and a thick school of big eyed trevally – leading to the name of Big Eye Bommie. After being buzzed by a grey reef shark for a while we checked out a cave filled with sea whips and big eye trevally, while deeper down could see sleeping reef sharks and some massive 3m wide gorgonians. We also found a good collection of invertebrate species around the bommie; nudibranchs, sea cucumbers, spondylus clams, sea stars and some very colourful featherstars.
All too soon our week on Marion Reef ended, we had found some wonderful new dive sites and left knowing we would return to explore more of this amazing Coral Sea reef.