Blow Hole

The east side of Lady Elliot is one long ledge running through a depth range of 10 to 25 metres, and the Blow Hole is the site everyone comes for. There are two ways in. The upper entrance is on top of the reef at 14 to 16 metres, a short distance from the mooring; the main one is a large opening on the reef wall at 20 to 25 metres. The cave itself is L-shaped and about 20 metres long, dropping down from the top and exiting out the side of the ledge at around 22 metres.

Inside and around it the ledge holds lionfish and wobbegongs, with huge gorgonian fans, angelfish, anemones full of clownfish, turtles and schools of reef fish covering the wall outside. Come out of the cave and the dive usually turns into a drift: the current runs south along the ledge to Tubes and then to Hiro's Cave, and a relaxed diver can link all three in a single dive without hurrying.

This is protected ground — the island sits inside the Green Zone of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, the highest classification the park authority designates, so nothing comes off the reef. In a cave that also means keeping fins clear of the gorgonians on the way through.