Australia

Want to know the best spots to dive on the Great Barrier Reef? In the concluding part of this two-part feature, Deborah Dickson-Smith asked Master Reef Guides to choose their top 12 dives on this iconic dive location

PHOTOGRAPHS BY MICHELLE BARRY, DEBORAH DICKSON-SMITH AND ANDREW WATSON

Reef sharks getting up close and personal

MARINE WORLD WALL, MOORE REEF

Master Reef Guide: Sam Gray Dive it with: Reef Magic This section of Moore Reef is heart-warming comeback story, one that graced the cover of the Weekend Australian Magazine some 12 months ago. The ‘Wall’ is located on the far side of the reef where the ‘Marine World’ pontoon is moored. In 2011, this part of Moore Reef was hammered by Cyclone Yasi, so much so that in parts, it was virtually stripped bare of coral cover.

In late-2020, Reef Magic’s GBR Biology team conducted Eye on the Reef Rapid Health Indicator Surveys, and were delighted to discover that coral cover was back to pre-Yasi levels. The reef now boasts 80 percent coral cover, with layers and layers of plating coral competing for space with branching corals and providing shelter for an increasing population of reef fish such as coral trout and lizard fish.

The Wall is horseshoe-shaped, which (under normal weather patterns) protects the coral cover from the elements, even though it faces open ocean. It is best dived as a drift dive, jumping in at ‘Pressure Point’ where you’ll likely see large schools of pelagic fish including drummer, rainbow runners, snub-nose dart fish and fusiliers. As you drift along, the coral cover changes from candy-coloured soft corals to hard branching and bushy corals in the more protected areas.

Look out into the blue for the larger pelagics such as whitetip reef sharks, tawny nurse sharks, the occasional manta, and up close on the coral for nudibranchs, Ascidians and feather stars.

Top Tip: while Sunlover Reef Cruises and Reef Magic are known more as a specialist for non-divers with guided snorkel tours and glass bottom boats, they are also a great choice for certified divers as you will usually find yourself in a very small group.

Snorkelling over pristine reef Vibrant soft corals

CORAL GARDENS, FLYNN REEF

Master Reef Guide: Pablo Cogollos Dive it with: Passions of Paradise, Silverswift, Pro Dive Cairns

Flynn Reef has some of the best coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef, in fact Master Reef Guide Pablo Cogollos compares it to Lady Elliot Island for its coral density and diversity. Huge boulder corals fight for space with plate corals, branching and bushy corals, and this diversity attracts a diversity of fish life.

Exploring the gardens, you’ll come across coral trout, sweetlips, trumpetfish, several different angel fish, damsels, chromis and anemonefish.

NORTH HORN, OSPREY REEF Master Reef Guide: Pablo Cogollos and Michelle Barry Dive it with: Mike Ball Dive Expeditions, Spirit of Freedom Known mainly as a shark feeding dive, the location of this site means you could expect plenty of pelagic (and shark) action regardless of whether they are fed. Located at the northern-most tip of Osprey Reef, food-rich currents from the surrounding deep water attract large pelagics such as grey reef sharks, white tip and silver tip sharks, hammerheads and the occasional thresher shark. You’ll often see large smooth rays dosing on the sandy sea floor and manta rays gliding past in the blue – even whale sharks have been sighted here.

The shark spectacular itself happens at the tip of the reef, with divers seated around natural coral amphitheatre while the sharks are lured in for a thrill (and a photo opportunity) with a bucket of chum. And it’s not just sharks that are attracted, with large numbers of trevally, cod and other smaller fish circling the sharks like a tornado, keen to sweep up the scraps. Once the sharks have had their feed, drift along the Western Wall, which is festooned with vibrant soft corals and forests of gorgonian fans while clouds of purple anthias add to the whole rainbow of colours.

SOFT CORAL WALL, OSPREY REEF

Master Reef Guide: Michelle Barry Dive it with: Spirit of Freedom, Mike Ball Dive Expeditions

This drift dive runs along the outer edge of Osprey Reef, dropping down to unimaginable depths. Normally a tender will drop you at the start of the drift where you descend to about 30-40m. Drift along past huge gorgonian fans and soft corals of all sorts, and in all sorts of candy colours – yellow, pink, orange, blue, red… populated by clouds of reef fish.

About halfway along the drift, wall becomes inverted, transforming into an overhang, while everything below you falls away and you find yourself in a candy-coloured hanging garden. The inversion adds drama to this beautiful underwater landscape, the kaleidoscope of colours further enhanced by all colourful reef fish including fusiliers, chromis and damsels.

Be sure to look out into the blue for sailfish, hammerheads, dogtooth tuna, eagle rays and big schools of big-eye jacks, barracuda and herds of bumphead parrotfish. The drift ends with a finale of sharks at North Horn, where even the odd whale shark has been sighted.

Snorkeller with giant clam

Reef sharks swarm round a bait box

SCAN ME

TO START YOUR NEXT ADVENTURE!

Aerial shot of the fringing reef

CRYSTAL PLATEAU, BOUGAINVILLE REEF

Master Reef Guide: Pablo Cogollos Dive it with: Mike Ball Dive Expeditions

Bougainville Reef is on the ‘Fair Weather’ Coral Sea itinerary for Cairns’ based liveaboards, being one of the more remote reef systems in the Coral Sea. The reef here is one of the healthiest in the Coral Sea, and even in the shallows you can expect to see large schools of drummer, trevally, barracuda and bumphead parrotfish.

There is a fantastic drift dive here between the western reef wall and a row of five or six pinnacles where you’ll drift by large schools of fish before reaching the end of the slipstream to be greeted by the friendliest (yet to be named) potato cod. TWO TOWERS, RIBBON REEF 10 Master Reef Guide: Michelle Barry, Pablo Cogollos Dive it with: Spirit of Freedom, Mike Ball Dive Expeditions

Two Towers is located on the northern tip of the Ribbon Reefs, and there are several reasons it is one of Michelle Barry’s favourites.

She said: “The coral cover at Two Towers is beautiful and it is also a minke whale hotspot, but the main reason I love this reef is because it’s a comeback story that gives us hope for the Reef.”

In 2013 and 2014, this reef was hammered by two cyclones and a devastating crown of thorns seastar outbreak. The reef was so badly damaged there was hardly any coral cover left at all. When Two Towers was surveyed in the 2020 Great Reef Census, Michelle and a team of marine scientists which included Dr David Wachenfeldt, head of research at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GRBMPA), where overjoyed to find a reef in considerable recovery.

In just six years, the coral cover on the shallower parts of this once dead reef is dense and diverse. There is a higher density of fast-growing branching and plating corals, bringing with them all the fish species that love the fast growers, such fusiliers, chromis, damsels, blue line snapper, turtles and black anemonefish. These corals on the top levels of the reef are now beginning to spill over into deeper water, replenishing coral density at depth.

Another reason to love Twin Towers is that its unique topography forms a perfect nursery for brooding dwarf minke whales. Between this long section of reef and the mainland, there are no large reefs or bommies, just a wide open paddock with a sandy sea floor, protected from the open ocean by Ribbon Reef 10 – the perfect nursery for dwarf minke mums to rest with their calves before the long trip south. n

Vast shoal of snapper

Most divers will be aware that our oceans are under threat, with climate change, overfishing, plastic pollution, and coastal development all threatening coral reefs and other marine habitat. But there is hope for our oceans yet, with many tourism operators leading the charge to save our oceans. Here are just a few examples of the research and nurturing programmes being managed by some of our favourite dive resorts and tour operators.

THE GREAT BARRIER REEF Passions of Paradise is one of five Great Barrier Reef operators participating in the Coral Nurture Programme. This partnership between tourism and science has introduced coral planting into these operators’ Reef stewardship. How guests can help. The Eye on the Reef programme is a citizen science monitoring program that enables anyone to contribute to the Reef’s protection by reporting what they see using a simple App - passions.com.au

MALAYSIA In Sabah, Gaya Island Resort’s Turtle Rescue programme rescues turtles injured by ghost fishing nets, plastic pollution or boat strike, rehabilitates and releases sea turtles back into the ocean, while its Coral Reef Restoration programme nurtures the fringing reef, collecting broken or non-viable coral fragments, monitoring them in a coral nursery before they are replanted. How guests can help. The resort encourages guests to become involved in outreach programs as volunteers or sponsors - gayaislandresort.com THE MALDIVES In partnership with Coral Reef Protection, Anantara’s Dhigu and Veli resorts manage a coral regeneration programme called Holistic Approach to Reef Protection (HARP). The resorts now boast the healthiest corals in the Maldives.

How guests can help. Guests can sponsor and transplant a ‘coral rope’ with help from the resident marine biologist, and perhaps make a return trip to see how much it has grown - Anantara.com/en/dhigu-maldives

PAPUA NEW GUINEA Based at Conflict Islands Resort in Papua New Guinea, the Conflict Island Conservation Initiative Trust (CICI) manages several marine initiatives, with three main research programmes: sharks and rays, sea turtles and coral reef health. How guests can help. CICI runs a volunteer abroad programme, inviting interns to stay for a couple of weeks (for a fee) and contribute to the foundation’s research - Cici.org.au

FRENCH POLYNESIA Stay on any of the resorts on Moorea in French Polynesia and you can contribute to the Coral Gardeners initiative. A team of surfers, free divers, and fishermen are actively working to restore coral cover and they are inviting eco-warriors from across the globe to help.

How guests can help. For €25 you can adopt and name your own piece of coral which will be cultivated then planted on a reef in Tahiti - coralgardeners.org

FIJI Fiji’s Kokomo Private Island Resort has established the Kokomo Coral Restoration project to ensure the surrounding reef continues to thrive. To date, the resort, with help from guests, has transplanted over 300 corals back onto the House Reef and currently houses over 1,300 corals in their nursery.

How guests can help. With help from the Marine Biology team, guests can learn how to identify heat resilient corals, before planting them into a nursery and transplanting them back onto the Kokomo House Reef - kokomoislandfiji.com

To book a holiday with a sustainable dive resort that contributes to marine conservation, contact the team at Diveplanit Travel. 1800 607 913 diveplanit.com enquire@diveplanit.com