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The Whitsunday Islands has some of the most famous fringing reefs on the Great Barrier Reef. With fringing reef surrounding all of the 74 islands there is a diverse and abundant number of dive sites on offer. Fringing reef grows directly from the shoreline and typically in the Whitsunday Islands its formed in around 1 metre of water to 20 metres.
The clarity of the water is not as clear as the outer reef due to run off from from the islands, tidal movements, rivers and wind. Visibility is generally clearest along the northern side of Hook and Hayman Island which are the sites Wings Diving Adventures will take you to. Nevertheless diving among the islands still has its advantages including calm waters in all weather, most sites have little to no tidal movement and the amount of sea life is amazing there is so much to see on every dive including; most small tropical fish you can think of, nudibranchs, Sea stars, sea cucumbers, feather stars and Christmas tree worms.
Dive depths are reflected on this and depths depend on the site visited. Water visibility ranges from 3-20 metres depending on winds and tide.
Located on the north-western side of Hayman Island Blue Pearl is known as the ‘Fish Bowl’ for its amazing variety of fish life including a resident friendly Maori Wrasse.
Snorkeling and diving is available from the beach taking you around coral bombies with soft weeping coral and hard brain to shelves of table coral.Located on the the northern side of Hook Island, this dive site has pristine colourful corals and a great array of marine life. Luncheon is a large bay with 3 different dives sites offering different dive dives for different levels of experience. Beach entries for beginner divers, deeper dives at Luncheon Bombie offering certified divers a more advanced dive. Large overhangs and swim through’s are on show at this site for both beginners and certified divers.
This site has the largest population of clown fish in the Whitsunday Islands so if you want to fulfil a childhood dream of ‘Finding Nemo’ then this is your opportunity!
Located on the northern side of Hook Island this bay is the next one along from Luncheon. The bay is a small protected bay offering only two moorings for vessels wishing to stay there.
This is a dive and snorkel site is a boat entry site. Fish life is once again abundant here with fish under the boat before you have even jumped in! Clusters of bombies, swim through’s and walls gives divers a diverse range of exploration. Snorkelers can just hang off the back of the boat to view Bat fish, Giant Trevally and Maori Wrasse.
Located between near Hayman Island in the northern end of the Whitsundays. Langford Island is a small island but boats a beautiful sand spit that is totally visible at low tide but virtually disappears at high tide. This dive site has a large amount of vitality due to the tidal movements, beautiful colourful soft coral swings in the current. Clusters of bombies and swim through’s are located at the north western side of the island. This is a very popular site to stop Green and Hawksbill turtles. Due to tidal movement this is more than likely to be a drift dive, meaning you can drift along with the tide and not have to use too much energy kicking through the water.
Another great site located on Hook Island. Some amazing formations of coral that you would’nt expect to see on fringing reef. Huge boulder corals that are 100’s of years old, mazes of coral, Reef sharks are often spotted here both white and black tipped. You also get the odd Maori Wrasse from another bay swim over to say hello! The wall between Manta ray and Wrasse Bay is fantastic with huge sea whips spiralling off the wall, if you look close enough you will see little Whip Gobi's running up and down the whips. Marble Ray and Spotted Eagle Rays are often spotted off this corner wall.
Located on the eastern side of Hook Island this is a real treat for all divers and snorkelers. Home to a large amount of turtles you are likely to be guaranteed to see one whether you are just sun baking on the boat or in the water. This bay has so much to offer for everyone. With little shallow sandy keyholes slopping onto amazing soft corals with turtles nestled in on the coral or deep walls with canyons and caves for the more advanced certified divers. Reef Sharks are spotted swimming past and you often find blue spotted lagoon rays resting on the sandy bottom.
With the outer reef only 34 nautical miles away from the Whitsunday Islands it is easily accessible to visit some of the spectacular dive sites of the Outer Great Barrier Reef. Emperors Wings offers this luxury giving guests the opportunity to visit the Whitsunday Islands and Outer Reef in a 2.5 day 3 night overnight dive and sail live aboard.
The Great Barrier Reef is renowned for its spectacular diving, with unparalleled coral diversity and reef life. Some of the reefs accessible from the Whitsundays offer diving on a par with the best along the length of the Great Barrier Reef.
Among the sites mostly visited by Emperors Wings, Bait Reef is the best for water clarity, variety of dive sites and the diversity of fish life due to Bait Reef being a no fishing zone. Visibility ranges from 6 to 30 metres depending upon the winds, tides and location. Surface conditions vary depending on wind and tide, but low tide can often provide protection from uncomfortable surface conditions. Tides are unavoidable offshore but our dive instructors plan the dive sites in order to avoid strong currents where possible.
You will not come back disappointed after a dive on the Stepping Stones. This dive site is made up of 16 large coral bombies and clusters of smaller ones. Stretching over a kilometer this site is broken into 3-4 dive sites. Some of the bombies start in 20 metres of water and stretch up to the surface, there diameters range from 15 metres to as large as 50 metres, some of these bombies are the size of houses! Schools of colorful fish swarm on the tops of the stones and large wrasse cod travelly and trout cruise around the stones. The diversity of fish life that lives on the reef is amazing. This site includes swim through’s, huge arch ways, over hangs and key holes.
Moving south from the stepping stones you will arrive at the Cathedral. A crevice into the hard coral of the reef wall opens into a large dimly lit cavern, sunlight reflects onto the back of the cathedral illuminating the back wall. The opening of the cathedral is draped in bright green grape soft coral giving the appearance of green ivy hanging over the opening. From the Cathedral heading south onto the fingers you will wined around bombies blanketed in large anemones and soft corals . The topography bodes well for an interesting dive swim over the top of the bombies and you will encounter mimic file fish, yellow box fish, schools of yellow tail fusiliers and green turtles head deeper on to the sloping bottom and you will encounter reef sharks, rays and mackerel.
This is a fantastic dive for all levels although diving on a slack tide is recommended to avoid strong currents.
Wings Diving Adventures has its on private mooring located in this secluded lagoon. This is an easy site offering two very different dives. Inside the lagoon is a great dive for snorkeling and Discover Scuba Divers with no tidal movement and sheltered from choppy surface conditions. The lagoon depths is from 6-14 meters beautiful coral formations, turtles and clown fish are seen nearly on every dive. The outside of the lagoon takes you to a different dive site of large walls and bombies with a slopping bottom that can take you to 30 meters. Fish life can be reasonably big in comparison to the smaller reef fish located in the lagoon including flowery cods, mackerel, rays and reef sharks current is also noticeable once outside the protected lagoon.
This is one of the best dives at Bait Reef and one of the best dive sites on the Great Barrier Reef. A spectacular vertical wall dive from 5 to 30 meters, with soft corals and Gorgonian fan corals displayed along the side of the wall. This site has an amazing array of crevices, caves, chambers and chimneys that penetrate the wall. The marine life is everlasting from schools of yellow tail fusiliers to reef sharks and large rays. Macro in on the wall and you will see a colourful display of nudibranchs, flat worms, pipe fish sea stars and feather stars. This dive site is exposed to southerly winds and strong currents so is not always accessible.
Very similar to Manta Ray Drop Off the southern drops away on a sloping gradient to 30 metres in places. Beautiful whip corals spiral up from the hard corals and many different soft corals sit on the top of the reef. The slope cuts into the coral providing channels and trenches where you will find moral eels, lion fish and puffer fish and the occasional resting stingray.
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Wings Diving LocationPlease visit our reservation staff for a pre-departure briefing the day before your boat is due to depart:Wings Diving Adventures Phone: 1300 859 853 Address: 4 Airlie Crescent Airlie Beach, Queensland 4802 |
