Gladstone area diving

[BrianM]

Hi everyone.
thanks for the info on Micronesia (Yap) I'm planning to visit there
hopefully later next year.

Before then, we are going to stay a few days at Gladstone where
my daughter lives, and then work our way on up to Cairns.
Browsing thru the many websites about the Gladstone area, there
are two islands that we want to visit - Lady Elliott and Lady Musgrave.
From what I've seen sofar, Lady Elliott appears to be the pick with some good
shallow diving around bommies and the chance of seeing some Mantas.
Does anyone on the group have a website with some photos? or perhaps
some diving experiences in this area they would like to share?.

appreciated

Brian

---------------------------------------
"A single tank? you must be joking"
me, onboard the NZ Navy diving
training vessel Manawanui, 1965

[Jeff]

Not quite Gladstone, but this is in the Bundaberg area and might be of some
interest to you. From the dives I've done, this would be a better dive than
around Gladstone. You can also travel to either island from Bundaberg (by
boat or plane) it's not a wasted trip. The Bundaberg Artificial Reef's site
is http://www.badarai.bravepages.com/

They are currently diving with dolphins on the reef, along with various
other fish.

Cheers,
Jeff.

Post by BrianM
Hi everyone.
thanks for the info on Micronesia (Yap) I'm planning to visit there
hopefully later next year.
Before then, we are going to stay a few days at Gladstone where
my daughter lives, and then work our way on up to Cairns.
Browsing thru the many websites about the Gladstone area, there
are two islands that we want to visit - Lady Elliott and Lady Musgrave.
From what I've seen sofar, Lady Elliott appears to be the pick with some good
shallow diving around bommies and the chance of seeing some Mantas.
Does anyone on the group have a website with some photos? or perhaps
some diving experiences in this area they would like to share?.
appreciated
Brian
---------------------------------------
"A single tank? you must be joking"
me, onboard the NZ Navy diving
training vessel Manawanui, 1965

[BrianM]

Post by Jeff
Not quite Gladstone, but this is in the Bundaberg area and might be of
some interest to you. From the dives I've done, this would be a better
dive than around Gladstone. You can also travel to either island from
Bundaberg (by boat or plane) it's not a wasted trip. The Bundaberg
Artificial Reef's site is http://www.badarai.bravepages.com/
They are currently diving with dolphins on the reef, along with various
other fish.
Cheers,
Jeff.

thanks Jeff. Good to hear that the two islands are worth a visit - I
liked the look of Elliott Island. IIRC they can both be accessed by
boat from town of 1770 which is not that far from Gladstone.
Very interested in your link to the artificial reef - I wasn't aware of
its existence until now and from the photos it looks like a pretty damn good
wreck dive. There is an organisation here where I live on the coast
which is raising funds to build an artificial reef - not using hard
objects like sunken ships etc - but building a sandbank using sand filled
nylon sacks. The object is to encourage the local fish population
for recreational use, barracuda, silver trumpeter (type of shark) kahawai,
cod, mullet etc. It would be useless for diving as its a shallow sandy bottom with
low low vis, although Orca pods come in pretty close on their migration
route. They must be wearing goggles.

cheers
Brian

[Jeff]

Post by BrianM

Post by Jeff
Not quite Gladstone, but this is in the Bundaberg area and might be of
some interest to you. From the dives I've done, this would be a better
dive than around Gladstone. You can also travel to either island from
Bundaberg (by boat or plane) it's not a wasted trip. The Bundaberg
Artificial Reef's site is http://www.badarai.bravepages.com/
They are currently diving with dolphins on the reef, along with various
other fish.
Cheers,
Jeff.

thanks Jeff. Good to hear that the two islands are worth a visit - I
liked the look of Elliott Island. IIRC they can both be accessed by
boat from town of 1770 which is not that far from Gladstone.
Very interested in your link to the artificial reef - I wasn't aware of
its existence until now and from the photos it looks like a pretty damn good
wreck dive. There is an organisation here where I live on the coast
which is raising funds to build an artificial reef - not using hard
objects like sunken ships etc - but building a sandbank using sand filled
nylon sacks. The object is to encourage the local fish population
for recreational use, barracuda, silver trumpeter (type of shark) kahawai,
cod, mullet etc. It would be useless for diving as its a shallow sandy bottom with
low low vis, although Orca pods come in pretty close on their migration
route. They must be wearing goggles.
cheers
Brian

No worries Brian. Town of 1770 is about halfway between Bundaberg and
Gladstone, and you can get to either island by boat from there, or from
Bundaberg itself.
Its a good looking reef, well worth the dive.

Cheers
Jeff.