Queensland, which occupies Australia’s northeastern section, is often referred to as the Sunshine State. Offering warm weather all year, and featuring amazing diving conditions and world-class dive sites, it is not surprising that a trip to one or more of the area’s beautiful, bountiful reefs often makes it to the top of the proverbial diving “bucket list”. Let’s take a quick look at three of the best reefs the “Sunshine State” has to offer.
Osprey Reef
Located in the tropical Coral Sea, which is situated in the North Queensland Area, this is one of the world’s very best dive sites. Whether you love watching fat, healthy sharks cruise past, or if you enjoy underwater photography, this is an excellent place to pursue your passion.
North Horn, which is the most popular portion of the reef, features an incredible underwater amphitheater, with a comfortable twenty meter depth, which is used as a feeding station for reef sharks and other large fish. Here, you can witness grey reef sharks and white tip reef sharks, as well as massive potato cod, dogtooth tuna, and even seasonal schools of streamlined Scalloped Hammerheads engage in feeding activity. These creatures are all familiar with humans, as the area has been used as a feeding site for the last fifteen years.
Besides the magnificent creatures that gain the most attention here, you are very likely to encounter large octopus, rainbow runners and mackerel, and a gorgeous array of smaller reef fish, all set against the magnificent backdrop that consists of soft coral trees and other life, which is beautifully pristine. A trip to remember, Osprey Reef is normally accessed by dive operators from Cairns or Port Douglas.
Wheeler Reef
Located near Townsville, Wheeler Reef is a platform reef which is precariously perched near the drop-off that marks the continental shelf. The reef’s positioning provides it with an upwelling of nutrients from the deep abyss below, and attracts all manner of life. This reef is perfectly circular, and is made up of a white, sandy bottom, which is punctuated by a series of bommies inside, and bordered by magnificent steep walls on the outside.
Experienced divers can explore the walls and meet up with massive pelagic visitors, while newer divers can circle the reef at about ten meters, marveling in the wonders that unfold on every square inch of this incomparable reef. Popular day and night, and with lovely coral gardens as well as cleaning stations and more, this is truly a dive into paradise. Bull rays, all kinds of sharks, massive potato cod and other big fish, and a kaleidoscope of reef fish enjoy the idyllic conditions here.
Bait Reef
Positioned near Whitsundays, Bait Reef is normally accessed from Airlie Beach on the mainland, or from Hamilton Island. Often called an oasis for all kinds of marine life, this site is well known for its turtles and manta rays, as well as for its underwater terrain, which is an absolutely spectacular system of canyons and walls, swimthroughs and coral gardens.
Very popular with snorkelers and divers alike, this magnificent reef boasts coral gardens teeming with small reef fish and colorful invertebrates in the shallows, at about ten meters, and more challenging areas, like the popular “Stepping Stones” dive site, which is a series of almost twenty beautiful pinnacles that soar up to within three meters of the surface from their origins at thirty meters.
You’ll have your choice of several well-equipped and very professional dive operators when you visit any of these reefs. Be sure to plan in advance, as these popular destinations are some of Queensland’s best, and book fast! Most of all, enjoy yourself – you’re sure to want to return again and again.