Pier dives are generally thought of as being for beginners, it’s easy to access them, the water is shallow and the currents are fairly gentle, so why do people say this is one of the best dives in Australia – the other side of the continent has the Great Barrier Reef! Pretty much because of its marine life. Fishing has been prohibited around the pier for ages and it shows, corals have colonised the pier’s legs and the fish and other life have followed. And it’s not just the Barrier Reef which attracts colourful fish, here dwell lion and scorpion fish, stargazers, nudibranchs and trevelly and lots of bright, little guys darting in and out. The circle of life dictates that the next step up the food chain will be here in abundance as well: octopuses, eels, flatworms, white tip sharks, eagle rays, manta rays and the wobbegongs – unique looking carpet sharks who live on the bottom and look like a kind of ray/ shark hybrid, with soft looking ray like skin. Beautiful and unusual creatures these guys are quite tempting to touch, but don’t - they’re sharks and they will bite you if you bother them. I’ve been out with a guy who was bitten and once engaged they cling on.

Only about 10 metres from the surface, even at the deepest point, 300 metres from the shore, visibility isn’t more than 10 metres, but it’s a small space so it seems better. This is a great dive to do at night.

Written by  Nick Shaw.

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