Mooloolaba · Australia · Reef
Wonderland
Shallow reef of nooks and crannies, anchor at 10 m
Area photo: Tanya Dedyukhina · CC BY 3.0
A shallow reef of nooks and crannies at 9 to 16 metres, with the boat's anchor sitting in about 10 metres of water. Scuba World calls it a perfect site for new divers or for those who have not dived for a while. There is a mini cave, though it is too small to fit inside, and the life is macro: nudibranchs, pipefish, clownfish and anemones.
Where it is and how deep
26.6516° S, 153.1518° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The anchor sits in about 10 metres of water, which sets the tone for the dive: down the line into the shallow part of the reef and along it from there. The site runs 9 to 16 metres and is full of nooks and crannies to explore, including a mini cave, though Scuba World is straight about the fact that you cannot fit inside it. This is a dive spent close to the rock.
Scuba World rates the site Open Water and points it at new divers and at anyone who has not been in the water for a while, so it often gets used as the first dive of the day. The life here is small: nudibranchs, pipefish, clownfish and the anemones they live in, all of which reward a slow pass with a torch rather than any attempt to cover ground.
Marine life and season
- Nudibranchs
- Macro critters
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Mooloolaba: Grey nurse sharks hold at Nurse Rock July–October, the months operators also rate clearest; summer is murkier and falls inside the November–April cyclone season.
Sources
- Mooloolaba Reef Diving — Scuba World
- Wonderland — Scubago
More dive sites in Mooloolaba
Reef
A 3 m hole dropping into a bowl of wobbegongs and groupers
Reef
Grey nurse sharks on the rock from July to October
Pinnacle
Two towers off the sand at 24 m, tops at 14 and 16 m
Wall
A 50 m wall with an overhang you shoot from underneath
Reef
A mini cave that usually holds pelagics and wobbegongs
Reef
A 12 m ledge where rays stop to be cleaned
Sheltered ledge from 16 m up to 5 m, thick with nudibranchs
Wreck
A 133 m destroyer on sand at 28 m, dived outside only
Similar dives elsewhere
Overhangs and boulders in a 10 m-wide inlet named for a car driven off the cliff
A 10-22 m reef of overhangs and swim-throughs
The southernmost reef where plate coral grows this thickly
The area's shelter dive, 800 m off Home Beach