Flinders Reef

Most of Moreton Island is a national park with a few small settlements.  The main dive sites are off Cape Moreton on the north eastern corner of the island.  The most popular dive sites here are Flinders Reef, Smith Rock and the wreck of the St Paul.  Click here to see a large scale chart of the area. When conditions are rough in the open ocean, we dive on the inside of Moreton Island at sites called Comboyuro Drop Off, The Pines, Curtin Artificial Reef and Tangalooma Wrecks.

Curtin Artificial Reef

For the wreck enthusiasts, the “U.R.G.Q. Curtin Artificial Reef” is an astonishing success. Commenced in 1968, it is well established as a home to a wide variety of friendly fish. The huge size of the Queensland Blue Grouper will surprise most divers. Large schools of turrum, trevally, and mackerel block out the daylight as you swim around the wrecks. Some of the fish you will find here include coronation trout, potato cod, blue angelfish, butterfly fish, kingfish, red emperor, bream, whiting, tuskfish, parrots, wrasse, wobbegong sharks and thousands of small tropicals.

Divers need several dives to cover the 371m X 123m rectangular patch now covered with over 30 wrecks, hundreds of tyres, car bodies and pontoons. Curtin Artificial Reef is a very popular site for keen photographers, wreck enthusiasts, and adventurous divers. An information packed, double-sided chart of the artificial reef can be obtained from the Underwater Research Group of Queensland.

Specialty Courses

Various dive shops use Curtin Artificial Reef for wreck diving courses as several are large enough for safe penetration. The tugs Melbourne and Loevenstein and the gravel barges Estrella del Mar and Barrambin are great to explore. Depth minimum is 14 metres, and maximum 25 metres. This is an excellent site for introducing students to reels, twin tank diving, using slings and pony bottles on their deep diver course. The depth is also ideal for Nitrox training and the best time to dive is at high tide.