Great Barrier Reef Far Northern Reefs Lizard Island Ribbon and Osprey Reef
Yonge Reef Port Douglas Cairns Holmes Reef Townsville
Outer Coral Sea Whitsunday Islands Swain Reefs Southern Coral Sea
Keppel Islands Heron Island Lady Elliot Island Bundaberg Sunshine Coast
Moreton Bay Gold Coast
Upon entering the water our group of divers was immediately surrounded by an enormous school of barracuda, which was quickly replaced by a massive wall of big-eye trevally.
Thousands of silver bodies were flashing past us. Mixed in with the school, were rainbow runners, mackerel, surgeonfish and tuna.
We finally reached the top of the pinnacle in 12 m and continued down its steep walls, passing incredible soft corals, sea whips and gorgonians."
"Wall to wall" Big - eye Trevally Caranx sexfasciatus are a feature of most of the Coral Sea Reefs. They are a favourite food fish of Bottlenose Dolphins. (photo: Neville Coleman)
The Best of Coral Sea Diving
"Upon entering the water our group of divers was immediately surrounded by an enormous school of barracuda, which was quickly replaced by a massive wall of big-eye trevally. Thousands of silver bodies were flashing past us. Mixed in with the school were rainbow runners, mackerel, surgeonfish and tuna. We finally reached the top of the pinnacle in 12 m and continued down its steep walls, passing incredible soft corals, sea whips and gorgonians.
Some of the coral heads ( Bommies) grow to the surface and on calm days are unable to be detected by boat crews. This is what makes it important to have a really experienced skipper who knows how to negotiate ways around, or through the masses of coral heads that make up the Coral Sea. (photo: Neville Coleman)
Suddenly from below two grey reef sharks shot up, charged past us and then disappeared through the schools of fish. We descended to 40 m and then looked at the spectacle above - fish, sharks and divers all circling around this office block-sized pinnacle. It is obvious why Watanabe Bommie is considered the best dive site in the Coral Sea."
Neville Coleman
Watanabe Bommie is but one of the many fantastic dive sites that have been found around Flinders Reef and the nearby Boomerang Reefs. Located some 200 km east of Townsville, Flinders Reef is one of the most accessible and regularly visited of all the Coral Sea reefs. Almost any week of the year, you will find a charter boat heading out to the area. Conditions are good year round, although spring is considered the best time to dive anywhere in the Coral Sea.
Divers today have an enormous of photographic equipment available to record their adventures and experiences. Good quality Underwater Video cameras are no longer out of reach for the avarage diver and some are even cheaper than a housed SLR. (photo: Neville Coleman)
Flinders Reef is a large circular structure and covers an area of 1000 sq kms. Most of the diving is on pinnacles, but there are also superb coral gardens and walls. The Boomerang Reefs offer the more dramatic wall diving, as all sides drop steeply into 1000 m of water.
Each visiting charter boat has its own preferred dive sites, but the following, discovered by Mike Ball Dive Expeditions, are the most well known.
Rock Arch
Rock Arch is a wonderful wall dive with many fantastic corals. The most interesting area to explore is a shelf at the end of the wall, where numerous large coral heads interconnect to form many caves. Prolific hard corals dominate the tops of these coral heads, and the walls and caves are adorned by soft coral, sea whips and gorgonians, including one 4 m in diameter. Ref fish are very common, but divers will also see trevally, turtles, mackerel, gropers and quite a few whitetip reef sharks.
Hanging off the walls and drop offs, brightly coloured Spiky Soft Corals Dendronephthya spp. reach out into the currents to catch the current - borne plankton upon which they feed. (photo: Neville Coleman)
Anemone City
This site consists of five large pinnacles with their tops covered in anemones. The walls of the pinnacles are lined with gorgonians and soft coral, and darting among them are angelfish, fairy basslets, butterflyfish, rock cod, hawkfish and filefish. A number of caves are found on the pinnacles and one in particular is lined with beautiful pink hydroids. Pelagic fish and reef sharks sometimes cruise by unnoticed by most divers who become totally engrossed in the anemones and their resident anemonefish.
The Giant Sea Fans almost always have one or more resident Long - nosed Hawkfish Oxycirrhites typus hidden amongst their branches. The pattern on these fish are thought to mimic the finer branch mesh - like fronds of Sea Fans. Certainly when they are on smaller Sea Fans the pattern on the fish does tend to blend in more. ( photo: Neville Coleman)
Soft Spot
Anyone wanting to see spectacular soft coral trees should request a dive at the Soft Spot. There are hundreds here, some 3 m long, hanging from the pinnacles that make up this site. Reef sharks, tuna, mackerel, coral trout, parrotfish, surgeonfish and invertebrates are plentiful.
Other dive sites worth a mention around Flinders Reef include the magnificent pinnacles at Lonely Eel and Midnight, a wall dive off Flinders Cay. Closer to the cay are wonderful coral gardens where there are plenty of turtles, stingrays and garden eels.
There is no doubt that wide angle strobe photography is able to display the true nature of the deeper reef sessile colonies such as Sea Fans, Soft Corals and Black Corals. For me I have always liked to shoot close ups of critters, because I was attempting to contribute to knowledge, as well as satisfy my need to shoot pictures. (photo: Neville Coleman)
Scuba Zoo
Mike Ball Dive Expeditions has a large shark cage moored in 14 m of water on Boomerang Reefs, located where they conduct action-packed shark feeds. All divers enter the cage and when in position, the crew opens by remote control a garbage bin full of fish pieces. The sharks which have gathered in the area rush in and devour the baits, giving divers a wonderful view of sharks feeding. Up to 30 sharks are frequently seen. Species include grey reef sharks, silvertips and whitetip reef sharks.
Just one of these Lunar - tailed Bigeyes Priacanthus hamrur is a brilliant subject, but when they are in a huge school ( as when they are mating) the scene is nothing short of sensational.(photo: Neville Coleman)
China Wall
China Wall, 1000 m of vertical wall located on the Boomerang Reefs, is studded with gorgonians, soft coral, black corals and sea whips. Many small ledges are found along the wall, good places to see small fish and invertebrates. Grey reef sharks, barracuda, mackerel, tuna, rainbow runners, fusiliers, surgeonfish and schools of trevally cruise the currents. At the end of the dive, the coral gardens at the top are worth a close look.
Because there is so much to see, and 30 metre plus visibility and everything is on such a huge scale, the humble nudibranchs are ofter not recognised, as they hide away in caves and on the walls sheltered from the sun. That does not mean they are not around. This Magnificent Chromodoris Chromodoris magnifica is just one of the hundreds of species recorded from the Great Barrier Reef. (photo: Neville Coleman)
Other excellent wall dives off the Boomerang Reefs include Whaler Station and Cod Wall, where you will see reef sharks, pelagic fish and a good range of corals. Exploratory dives are regularly conducted around both these reefs, and new walls and pinnacles are constantly being discovered by adventurous divers.
Great Barrier Reef Far Northern Reefs Lizard Island Ribbon and Osprey Reef
Yonge Reef Port Douglas Cairns Holmes Reef Townsville
Outer Coral Sea Whitsunday Islands Swain Reefs Southern Coral Sea
Keppel Islands Heron Island Lady Elliot Island Bundaberg Sunshine Coast
Moreton Bay Gold Coast
Neville Coleman's diving expeditions, fauna surveys, photographic fauna surveys and marine life identification courses include every major group of marine life.
Neville Coleman's expertise in living taxonomy and marine life identification extends to the identification of Algae, Sea Grass, Forams, Sponges, Stony Corals, Soft Corals, Sea Anemones, Sea Jellies, Zoanthids, Corallimorphs, Black Corals, Flatworms, Segmented Worms, Crustaceans, Barnacles, Shrimps, Rock Lobsters, Hermit Crabs, Squat Lobsters, Molluscs, Chitons, Univalves, Bivalves, Cephalopods, Octopus, Cuttlefish, Squid, Opisthobranchs, Nudibranchs, Sea Slugs, Bryozoans, Sea Mosses, Echinoderms, Sea Stars, Feather Stars, Brittle Stars, Sea Urchins, Sea Cucumbers, Ascidians/Sea Squirts, Marine Fish, Sharks, Marine Reptiles, and Marine Mammals, all found in the waters around Flinders Reef.
( Copyright Neville Coleman/Nigel Marsh)
