BRISBANE GETS REALITY ONE

Big Cat Reality is a Brisbane diving institution, offering wonderful liveaboard trips each weekend. But to expand and diversify their business, Reality Cruises have recently added a day boat to their fleet, the 19m long Reality One.
    Reality One is a 40 tonne steel catamaran and was previously working as a dolphin/whale watching boat in New Zealand . Reality Cruises purchased the vessel in June and then had an epic adventure bringing the boat across the Tasman over four days. Since arriving in Brisbane the vessel has been overhauled so it can be used for eco-trips (offered each Friday and Saturday) and for day diving trips on Sundays. I was lucky enough to join a group of divers from Pro-Dive Brisbane on the very first dive charter of Reality One in early September.
    Once on board I had a good look around the new vessel and found her to be well laid-out and spacious, having a 7.3m wide beam. This is a great dive boat, surveyed for 24 divers, plus crew, she has a huge air-conditioned lounge room, a bar, a large upper sundeck and wide dive deck. On the dive deck are two wet toilets and two hot showers, which proved to be very popular.
    After the usual signing of waiver forms and safety brief, we departed Scarborough to explore Moreton Bay . With a cruising speed of 19 knots, and top speed of 23 knots, it took less than an hour to reach our destination, Curtin Artificial Reef. The plan had been to head offshore to explore some of Brisbane ’s more spectacular reefs, however with a large swell and strong winds we had to stay inside Moreton Bay , not that I was complaining as Curtin Artificial Reef is one of the best dive sites off Brisbane .
    For those that have never dived Curtin Artificial Reef the site consists of dozens of ships in 15m to 30m that are swarming with marine life. The site is the world’s oldest artificial reef created for divers with the first objects scuttled by the Underwater Research Group of Queensland in 1968.
    We did the wrecks as a drift dive, as it is tidal, and enjoyed 12m visibility and had fun exploring several of the ship’s hulls. A multitude of reef fish and invertebrate species inhabit the reef, and the site is also a great place to see rays, wobbegongs, pelagic fish and giant Queensland gropers, all of which we saw.
    Between dives we enjoyed cake and the hot showers. We then enjoyed another wonderful drift dive at Curtin seeing even more of the wrecks and marine life. Once out of the dive gear, and after another hot shower, a smorgasbord lunch was served and we headed home, relaxing in the warm and comfortable lounge room.
    Now she is up and running Reality One is offering diving day trips each Sunday to the best sites around the Moreton Bay Marine Park , departing at 9am and returning by 4pm.

Article appeared in Dive Log No.268 November 2010

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