MICHAELMAS REEF
Location: Northwest reef back
Depth Range: 1-20m (3-66ft)
Access: Boat
Expertise Rating: Novice

Michaelmas Reef is 10km (6 miles) long with a sand cay — an important rookery for sooty and crested terns. It has enormous potential for diving. This site description is an amalgamation of many sites here, but is demonstrative of most dives available.

Giant clams are the most common and delightful feature of this reef. You will see them whether snorkeling the shallows or diving to 20m, although they are more prolific in shallower areas. Also look for soft corals with hard bases that contribute to reef growth throughout this area.

Walls, swim-throughs, gullies, small caves and overhangs are found in most areas and are often homes to whitetip reef sharks. Snorkeling takes you over shallow reeftops riddled with holes, crevices and many giant clams. Smaller burrowing clams are common and tend to be more iridescent and varied in colour. Blue-spotted rays and sea cucumbers are common on the sandy floors, with schools of damsels and fusiliers all over the corals.

If you dive or snorkel near the beach of the cay, you’ll have the disconcerting experience of fish, and sometimes even small sharks, dashing in and ‘biting’ at your heels as you walk on the sand. Fear not! They are merely trying to catch the shrimp and other animals lifted from out of the sand as you walk, having learned that humans are useful for something. The faster or more vigorously you move the more excited they will become, as you stir up more food for them!

As you explore the bommies, you’ll encounter batfish, cleaner stations, nudibranchs, crayfish, turtle weed clumps and a constantly changing parade of life.

On lucky days you may see the cow- tail ray, eagle ray, or schools of pelagics cruising by in deeper water. Anemones are scattered all over, thickets of blue and brown staghorn corals adding colour to all activities.

HOLMES REEF — AMAZING
Location: Holmes Reef
Depth Range: 5-40m+ (16-130ft+)
Access: Moored boat only
Expertise Rating: Intermediate

From the sheer walls and pinnacles, swim-throughs and sandy floors to the abundant life throughout the whole area, this site is truly amazing in its appearance from the surface and as you dive it. There are many dive sites on each of these Coral Sea reefs with elements of Amazing, often with great pelagic action in clear waters.

If the whitetip reef sharks haven’t overly distracted you as you descend, you may see thousands of tiny ‘umbrella handles’ sticking out of the sand, seemingly dancing and disappearing as you approach. Take your time and approach slowly; you’ll seldom get closer than about 4m before they vanish into their burrows.

Down the slope at 35m are two large coral outcrops called The Matterhorn, resembling mountains protruding from snow. These have glorious sea fans, soft corals, fairy basslets and cruising grey reef sharks. Be careful of your depth here as it drops away to 60m and into the abyss.

Back up the slope, the reef starts at 25m and rises quickly to 10m. This wall is where awesome swim-throughs can be found. On a sunny day they have a laser show of sunbeams streaking through the holes above, so you don’t need a torch for daytime entries. Watch for several resident potato cod and spotted sweetlip schools. Banded coral shrimp also give themselves away with their long white antennae poking out of crevices.

As you finish your dive with a safety stop at the top of the mooring pinnacle, entertainment is often provided by clownfish, passing bluespot trevally and occasionally giant trevally.

Night diving here is easy due to the shallows and complex of gullies and swim-throughs. If you face your torch toward yourself (so the beam is hidden), you’ll see a spectacular display of flashlight fish.

HASTINGS REEF — THE FISH BOWL
Location: Mooring
Depth Range: 0-16m (0-53ft)
Access: Boat
Expertise Rating: Novice

Hastings is a large, popular diving and snorkeling reef, with over 13km of reef edge and back reef sand floors to explore. Upon entering the water at The Fish Bowl, head to the wall that runs along the reef’s back edge and drops to a sandy floor at 8m to 12m (as you move along the wall it is possible to go left out to a series of bommies).

Anemones and clumps of staghorn coral are regular features, with giant clams perched in the shallows on the reeftop and bommies. Sweetlip, cod and trout are regulars and schools of damsels are common. Pairs of butterflyfish and angelfish feeding among the coral add more splashes of colour. The wall winds around and along, bringing you to more clams and a good swim- through up into the reef. After exploring here, go left around the group of bommies. Note also the giant clam on the outer edge’s base in 12m.

By making your way back along the wall, you can return the way you came or take a different depth or route out over the floor. Whitetip reef sharks and lagoon rays are often seen, along with less common turtles.

On some of the coral patches you will see long white tentacles extending out over the sand. These are the feeding threads of a Terrebellid worm and if you get close enough to the ribbonlike tentacles, you will see lumps of food being carried along inside them. Also notice the daytime coral, with polyps out about 6cm to 10cm. You will often find broken off satellite pieces establishing new colonies.