Queensland: Warm, clear water, amazing diving conditions just about every day of the year, and some of the best, most memorable underwater experiences you’ll ever enjoy – the perfect place for any diver to take a break and truly relax. One of Queensland’s top ten dive sites is the famous Cod Hole, which is home to massive Potato Cod, plus several other species. Let’s take a quick trip down to twenty meters, and meet these incredible creatures.
Quick Facts About Cod Hole
Located in the Ribbon Reefs system, in tropical North Queensland, Cod Hole is normally accessed via Cairns or Port Douglas, where there are many excellent dive operators that routinely make trips to the site.
The underwater environment is primarily composed of a sandy-bottomed seabed, dotted with coral bommies, which are amazing in their own right. Here, dive masters bring the cod and other fish in close with food, which initiates a feeding frenzy.
The cod are gentle, once they have stopped feeding. They are well accustomed to the attention of divers, as they have been fed here for twenty years, ever since Ron and Valerie Taylor, a pair of famous underwater photographers, publicized the site. They will even let you pose right next to them – just incredible, since some of them weigh as much as 150 kilograms!
Besides the Potato Cod and massive Maori Wrasse and Red Bass that live here, you are likely to encounter white tip reef sharks, schools of brilliant pyramid butterfly fish, and lovely invertebrates, such as feather stars. The area is a cleaning station for fish, and is also home to some giant clams.
A Typical Dive
Before you enter Cod Hole, you’ll be briefed about the fish, and cautioned about the fact that they are typically very enthusiastic and eager to feed until after they have eaten. You don’t want to collide with one of these monsters, but don’t worry about them biting you. Their teeth are very small in relation to their bodies, and are designed to scrape, rather than to bite down!
One of the first impressions many divers have, upon entering Cod Hole, which is on the inside of the reef, is that the water is amazingly clear; visibility here is routinely up to thirty meters. The cod and other fish often come up to the surface to greet you, and the second they see the bin that contains the food scraps that are used to feed them, they go wild. Try to snap a photo of your divemaster trying to get the bin into position – or better yet, take a video!
You can descend to twenty meters, and position yourself just off the reef wall. The cod and other fish will consume the food frantically, even though they are very well-fed! Once the bait is gone, they’re content and lazy, and you’re free to explore the coral bommies and watch the rest of the fish that occupy the area.
Even if you were to subtract the massive Potato Cod from the picture, you would probably agree with us that Cod Hole is an intriguing and beautiful dive site, not to be missed. Be sure to book your trip ahead of time, as this world-famous adventure is much in demand!