South East QLD Scuba Diving Sites
Adreno Journal
South East QLD Scuba Diving Sites
Click one of the following links to jump to that location and find out more about dive sites in that area:
Bargara
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Brisbane (including Stradbroke and Moreton Islands)
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Gold Coast
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Lady Elliot Island
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Mooloolaba
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Noosa
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Redcliffe
More coming soon!
Bargara
BAROLIN ROCKS - Bargara - Queensland
This site is south of an elevated headland, maybe 20 minutes from the Baraga Dive shop. Stop and ask them for accurate directions, as we got lost several times looking for it based on reviews!
This open water site is incredible! It’s really not very deep, ranging between 5 and 9 metres and is accessible by entering and swimming out – it’s not a hard swim at all. The site appears to be visited by everyone, all levels of diving, because it’s in a bit of a protected area, behind a headland. It’s not the best place to come on a hot day, because the whole area will be really REALLY busy, but on ‘off days’, you may find it ok to dive, even when other places would be inaccessible due to currents.
One of the absolute BEST areas is a place called ‘the Moon pond’. I was told about it before we dived, and it was where we entered and exited – calm, even when the sea was a bit high. The current here was nice – the bottom seemed to be made of basalt and sand and was also very pretty – the backdrop was gorgeous and highlighted lots of fish. There was lots of soft coral, that ranged out way past the 40 or so metres that we swam from the front edge – another person on the dive with us told us on the shore that it was 50-60 metres wide in places. The coral was incredible – which is why though this site is accessible by novices, it might be better if they dive in other places – it’s very easy to get it wrong and ruin the area.
I saw lots of fish, clown fishes, sea horses, lots and lots of fish I didn’t recognise, some cod, moray Eels. There was a vast array of rays too – and some turtles that swam close enough to touch on the outside edge of the coral reef. In the coral, I found lots of macro life, and got the fright of my life when a sea snake popped up.
2 MILE ROCKS - Bargara - Queensland
Accessible only by boat, this site is about 10 minutes from Burnett Heads., and is an open water rated dive site. Max depth is a manageable 15 metres, and there’s lots of fish life to see and enjoy – an overabundance in fact. If you don’t do well with lots of excitement and get overstimulated by colour and movement, you will find this dive incredibly difficult. I was excited and enjoyed every minute of this dive, once I got down there.
There’s a massive amount of spiked coral growing down there, along with lots of sponge – though, there seemed to be some fishing line ravelled around and through some of them – which detracted somewhat from the dive. The average visibility of 10 metres meant that we could see lots of things. One of the cutest things I saw while there was something that I think were called Rock fish, or Stonefish – they were amazing – I didn’t realise how many of them there were around till I saw one – then suddenly, they were all over the whole reef.
I’ve seen this site described as an oasis and I’d agree – surrounding by gently banking sand, the reef is somewhere short of five metres high and maybe 150 metres across – it’s a lovely site to explore, and can be traversed and enjoyed over the course of an afternoon. If you’re a macro photographer, this is the site for you – there’s lots of macro life, along with stuff like cod, and moray eels, mackerel, coral shrimp and more. We were taken by Baraga Dive Centre, they are experts on the area, and can advise divers and even take them out. They told us we might see dolphins but in our case, we didn’t – and the Shark Drum Lines didn’t create or cause any sharks to come nearby – which was a pity, as I’d hoped to see one.
4 MILE REEF - Bargara - Queensland
Another open water site, near Bargara, though this one is about 3 miles off Coonarr Creek – Baraga Dive centre runs dives to the area, and you can spend quite a lot of time down there, as the max depth is an easy to manage 13 metres. Average depth is a shade less than 8 metres, but the visibility is crystal clear, from the boat to the bottom – and appears to be about 15 metres while in the water.
Rubble and sand seem to make up the bottom – which seems to rise slightly to a coral reef, of sorts, at eight metres – in which there are also several craters. While we were exploring the first one, we were rather surprised to see sharks shooting past us – our guide told us they call this ‘buzzing’ and they seem to think it’s something to do with the Spearfishing that goes on off one edge of the reef – it wasn’t scary but we’re reliably informed that they can be pretty aggressive – not just sharks, but dolphins and whales too. We were told that there were fewer sharks than people predicted, because they’re only there when there’s spearfishing and they’re caught between the reef and fishers. Given the region is famous for its spearfishing you need to be careful while you’re down there – there’s no danger of being speared, but the area does get quite stirred up.
Once we had gotten past the buzzing and staying still because we didn’t want to antagonise them, we swam from crater to crater, admiring the differences between them. There were different species in each crater, which amazed us. We didn’t get vortexed by fish either, though another man on our dive group said he’d had that happen before. We saw some cod, lots of banner fish, about a half dozen varieties of angel fish, some butterfly fish too. I saw one turtle and several mantas – apparently there have been lots of sightings of more of the bigger creatures.
Brisbane - Moreton Bay (inc. Stradbroke and Moreton Islands)
The Moreton Bay region on the south east Queensland (SEQ) coast, stretches 125km from Caloundra to the Gold Coast. Brisbane boats many fantastic dive sites accessible by boat from Brisbane or from Moreton Island and Stradbroke Island.
Brisbane Scuba Dive Sites Map:
Stradbroke Island Scuba Dive Sites Map:
Manta Ray Bommies – Stradbroke Island – Queensland
Manta Bommie is a rocky reef off Brisbane’s North Stradbroke Island, and is ranked in Australia's top 10 dive sites. Manta Bommie attracts marine life like a magnet, especially over the warmer months – with manta rays, as the Bommie’s namesake, the main attraction.Accessible only from a boat (approach the site from the south), this is an open water dive site with a maximum depth of 18 metres (averaging around 10 metres) and visibility of approximately 10 metres.
This is an intermediate diving site so you need some experience in real water before diving, or alternatively you could take a buddy with you who has a little more experience. One of the main challenges to divers is heavy surge. Located off North Stradbroke Island, Mantra Ray Bommies is a rocky reef site that has a large amount of underwater wildlife to entertain divers.
As the name of the dive site suggests, an abundance of mantra rays are the main attraction here. However if you want to swim with sharks, this is a great dive site to visit because there are a number of different species to be found here including leopard sharks and wobbegong sharks. Eagle rays, sting rays, and turtles mingle with the fish life (especially in the outcrops of rock at the bottom) to provide a site that’s full of interest and colour.
Shag Rock – Stradbroke Island - Queensland
Shag rock is an open water dive site off Stradbroke Island in Queensland. Accessible by boat, this is a site that has an average depth of 10 metres, and a maximum drop of 15 metres. Visibility is a low 7 metres.
You can see Shag Rock from Cylinder Beach so it’s easy to find. Just launch your boat there and head straight for it. There are two islands and unless the sea conditions don’t make this possible, you should be able to leave your boat moored up between the two islands on the north west side. If it isn’t possible to moor the boat, there’s also good diving near the shore at end of the rocks where you should see many squid.
With gullies and swim-throughs, there’s much to see at Shag Rock, and as it’s a relatively easy dive, it is perfect for beginning divers and makes a good choice for a second dive. What you need to watch out for however is the large amount of sea urchins that tend to live in the shallower water. One particular feature worthy of a special mention is a 4m gully on the south eastern side – follow the gully and then go west towards a narrower gully. Here you’ll see a diverse variety of invertebrates. Shag rock is also a good choice for night diving.
Flat Rock– Stradbroke Island - Queensland
Flat Rock is one of Brisbane's most popular scuba diving sites, mainly because of the natural rocky environment and the diverse range of coral and fish that you are likely to encounter. You can see anything from tiny clown fish to the docile giants of the sea, the grey nurse sharks.
Boat Rock– Stradbroke Island - Queensland
Boat Rock is a 30m meter pinnicle featuring caverns and a plethora of species of fish. It is a dive site best suited to Advanced divers, as it often has strong current. We have had the simply amazing scuba dive experiences here playing with curious wild dolphins at 30m. Max depth is 30m with visibility averaging 15m.
Tangalooma Wrecks– Moreton Island- Queensland
These wrecks are filled with a great abundance of marine life from giant Trevally to Crayfish. The dive is best completed in a drift so that in a 40-minute dive you see all the wrecks along the wall. Tangalooma offers every diving environment in 1 dive, including reef, wreck, drift and naturalist, all in about 12 metres of water.
Flinders Reef– Moreton Island - Queensland
Finders Reef has an amazing diversity of fish and marine creatures including more than 175 species of fish, many species of Turtles and in the winter months, the migrating Whales. Flinders reef also has many pinnacles, swim throughs, ledges and even a sunken trawler.
Curtin Artificial Reef– Moreton Island - Queensland
Curtain Artificial Reef is comprised of more than 20 ships deliberately scuttled by the Underwater Research Group of Queensland. The first was sunk in 1967 and even today more are still being added. Curtin is famous for the family of giant groper that inhabit these waters, some of which can weigh up to 500 kg. If you're lucky enough, you can see 4 or 5 in one school so keep an eye out.
Roberts Shoals – Moreton Island - Queensland
Roberts Shoals is located east of Cape Moreton Lighthouse. There are many sites of open water and even some advanced sites that offer little by way of exploration challenges, but this site is strictly for those who know what they’re doing. If you’re an adventurous diver, this is a must-dive for you! The average depth is around 20 metres, but it does drop down to 35 metres in places. Visibility is around 17 metres. You’ll need a boat to get out to Roberts Shoals, but you’ll find it’s worth the time it may take to secure one!
Imagine a landscape of ruined cathedral, and then place this on the ocean floor – and you get an idea of the kind of terrain that awaits you in the Roberts Shoals dive site! It’s an underwater divers’ playground of arches, overhangs, caves, grottos and spires. Although swells can create a problem, currents are not usually an issue at this dive site.
Sea life is prolific and diverse in this area, including wobbegong sharks and the bigger pelagics. If you go down to approximate 25 metres, you should be rewarded for your efforts by spotting some giant cod that inhabit that area and depth.
Rosswall – Brisbane - Queensland
Rosswall dive site can be found north of Flinders in Brisbane, Queensland. A major point to keep in mind before choosing to dive at Rosswall however is that this is an advanced dive site. It’s not for novices, or divers without much in the way of actual ocean diving experience. The history of this site’s name is that it was named by Ross, who was first to dive there from the Oceancat charter boat and discovered a west-east journeying wall. Average depth in this site is around 22 metres and it drops down to approximately 25 metres with around 15 metres of visibility. You’ll need a boat to get out to the site.
Once down you’ll find overhangs and caves to explore. Rosswall is a good site to drift, but if you prefer stationary diving, that works too! It’s a relatively new site but it’s well worth the effort because there’s so much to see. Coral in particular is in abundance here. You’ll see large plate as well as other varieties. There is a wide range of small reef fish such as trumpet fish, angels, fusileers, squirrel fish and painted crays. Pelagics can also be seen in this area.
If you’re unsure if you have the right kind of experience for Rosswall, ring a local dive shop and ask them what other divers have to say – they’ll also be able to recommend a boat ride to help you get out to the site if you need one!
Smith Rock – Moreton Island - Queensland
Smith Rock is an advanced dive site Close to Cape Moreton Lighthouse between Capre Moreton and Flinders Reef. Although it’s not a deep site, dropping only to 21 metres at its deepest point and averaging around 18 metres, and also that it has 20 metres average visibility, there are challenges to this dive site that make it completely inappropriate for novice divers. The main problems are connected to the swell and strong currents that are common in the area so even advanced divers are advised to dive when the water is slack.
The site itself comprises pinnacles of granite that come up from the ocean floor until they taper off approximately 6 metres below the surface. Below the water, the site is full of swim-throughs and little caverns. It’s not a popular site with divers and so there is a large amount of fish – especially crayfish that play in the coral. Should you be lucky, you may see bulldozers also at this site. If shipwrecks interest you (there have been 3 well known ones around here), you’ll also find a lot of ship debris on the sea floor – the remains of the ships that came to a watery end at this site.
The Pines – Moreton Island - Queensland
Moreton Island, Queensland is where you’ll find The Pines dive site. It’s a site with an average of 14 metres average depth, but dropping to a reasonable 25 metres. Visibility is usually around 10 metres. For those of you with GPS devices, you’ll find the dive site by keying in WGS84 27:05:727 (Lat) and 153:21:959 (Lon). If you aren’t so technically gifted, you need to make your way to the northern shore marker (artificial) at Curtin, and then spot the tallest tree that’s approximately 300 metres north of there! From that point swim out until you find the wall. Alternatively, if you are accessing the site by boat, move your vessel in until you see it.
The Pines is a north-south wall site that’s around 500 metres long. With a diving range of between 6 and 25 metres, you’ll find the most interesting part of the site at about 15 metres down. Pay attention as it’s easy to lose the wall behind the sand and you have difficulty finding it again. Drift diving is the best way to experience this site, and you can even safely dive this one at night as your boat can follow the lights and collect you when you reach the end.
Sea life in the area includes wobbegong sharks, stingrays, turtles, lion fish and large schools of fish.
This isn’t a site with great visibility because of the silty base, but it’s more than adequate and the dive itself is well worth the effort.
Cement Co –Moreton Island - Queensland
The Cement Co was a former coral barge and has been sunk to form a small artificial reef near Flinders in a depth of 25-35 m. The wreck is now as popular a site as the reef itself. It is covered in abundant large fish schools and healthy corals, all with the plus of the mystery that can only come from diving large wrecks. The vessel is upside down leaving massive machines hanging from the top, therefore penetration should only be done with appropriate training.
China Wall – Moreton Island - Queensland
China Wall is located at the eastern side of Moreton island and with its depth to 30m, it is more suitable for experienced divers. The outstanding feature is a tall vertical granite outcrop with a 2 m wide swim-through at the top. The area is covered with a thick layer of broad leafed kelp providing protection for crayfish and slipper lobsters, but also making navigation quite challenging. You will also see sea whips, fans, schooling fish, pelagics (tuna, mackerel and barracuda) and the occasional shark cruising by. From May to October the whales are normally sighted here as well and if you are lucky, they swim with you.
Henderson's Rock -Moreton Island - Queensland
Henderson Rock is located 4.5 km from the ocean side of North Moreton Island and consists of extensive granite outcrops. From the top of the pinnacle, which lies in about 12 m, the rock drops gradually at first but then more steeply to about 24 m. Before the 24m mark there are several ledges, overhangs, and caves whose entrances are often obscured by thick kelp. To the south and east of the base of the pinnacle there is a long deep gutter that leads roughly south to about 22m and it is here that grey nurse sharks are often encountered. The areas is characterised with Kelp beds on the western site and bare rock on the top going in to 2 m high walls with swim-through hidden in them. There are also large caverns further out in water around 25m deep.
Cherub's Cave -Moreton Island - Queensland
Cherubs-cave is a true jewel among Brisbane's dive sites located on the east side of Moreton Island. It's a hidden cave which is surrounded by rocky gullies and smaller caves and measures around 15 by 20 m in the accessible area and about the same in the inaccessible part. With 20-30 m depth this site is for the more experienced divers to enjoy the beauty of sea life including big schools of fish, turtles, wobbiegongs, critters and crawlers and the grey nurse sharks that just love this spot.
Gotham City -Moreton Island - Queensland
Gotham city is located 8.5 km North of Cape Moreton, and 1 km North of Flinders Reef. Gotham City is one big block facing East West and is 50 m long by 25 m wide. It comes up along a steep wall out of the sandy base at 37 m, the top of the wall is at around 26 m and the top of the rock is 22 m deep. The wall facing the East is overgrown with black corals. On the Western site of the rock just before the western edge there is at 28 m a small cavern. In the cavern there is a memorial plague of a favourite dive buddy. The rock is overgrown with barnacles, turf algae and some soft coral. Tropical fish can be seen swimming around the edges. Large schooling sweetlips are hanging in the lee of the rock hiding for the current. To the South West of the main rock system there is an granite ridge in deeper water which worth while exploring. The site is known as a deep site and its beauty best viewed with clear water. Although the site is a small site the dive depth limits it from long exploratory dives.
Gold Coast
Palm Beach Reef – Gold Coast - Queensland
Queensland’s stunningly gorgeous Gold Coast is home to the Palm Beach Reef dive site. This site has an open water rating so it’s not too challenging for less experienced divers. The average depth here is approximately 17 metres but at its deepest point it drops down to around 22 metres. Visibility in this dive site extends to around 15 metres. Although Palm Beach Reef is accessible by boat, it’s actually situated between 800 and 1000 metres from the Palm Beach shore.
The reef
