Governor Island Marine Nature Reserve Rose Garden
The
Rose Garden is a mass of
broken boulders covered with large sponges, seawhips, zoanthids
and jewelled anemones.
Dive another site called The Hairy Wall to see fi nger sponges
in a spectacular setting.
But best of all… because this a marine reserve and a ‘no
take’ area, see big old crays.
Waubs Bay
Waubs Bay
offers ome 6 six shore dives in this area, and is an easy
diving option in Bicheno, Tasmania. Cruise along the reef wall
and you could see big bellied seahorses and weedy seadragons;
or explore
a reef that rises close to the surface that is home to yellow
zoanthids, boar fish, butterfly
perch and nudibranchs.
PARADISE REEF
The western side of paradise is covered with sea whips and is
on the way to the golden bommies. A very pretty dive, the
eastern side of paradise has more finger sponges than
the western. Both sides drop away to sand edges, and are definitely
worth a dive in their own right. Depth app. 30-40 m
HEDGE HOG
Hedge hog is a nice dive based around two boulders; one large
and one small. The smaller one loks like a head, the larger like
a body, and with the larger rock covered with sea whips. Together
the two dives have the appearance of a large hedge
hog. This dive is one of the deeper dives, and on the outer edge
of the rose garden.Depth app. 30-40 m
.
MR WHIPPY
As the name suggests, this dive is centred on a boulder covered
with sea whips; many of which are covered with jewelled
anemone, some as thick as baseball bats. The area also has some
large finger sponges, some covered with basket stars. This is
a pretty dive and you usually encounter schools of butterfly
perch, boarfish, banded morwong, old wives, trumpeter and gurnards.
Depth 33-36 m
.
MAGIC GARDEN
One of two deeper dives off Cape Lodi, the top of the reef comes
to within 5 m of the surface, and drops into a gully covered
in sea whips and sponges. As you come toward the end of the gully,
a right turn takes you to an undercut full of sponges
and sea whips. This leads you to a small cave, and when re-emerging
from this cave, it's like magically entering a new dive with
masses of sea whips and huge boulders forming small swim thru's.
A great dive.
Depth 33-35 m
.
TRAP REEF
Trap reef is on the northern entry to the Bicheno gulch. The
reef comes to about two metres from the surface; the dive begins
on top of the reef, and drops down a kelpie gully to a series
of broken boulders. There are a number of large finger sponges,
and all the rocks are covered with yellow zoanthids and sea whips.
Depth 30+ m
.
EASTER ROCK
Easter rock is in Governors Island marine reserve and is a
large boulder covered on one side with sea whips, and the other
with finger sponges. The surrounding area is broken boulders
also with finger sponges and sea whips. There is also a large
area of the rock that is covered with jewelled anemone and yellow
zoanthids.
Depth 30-33 m
.
CANUCK
Start this dive in a small cave, then move along the side of
the reef looking for nudibranchs and picnogonids. As you get
to the 20 m area, there is a really nice sponge garden. At this
point, turn around and head towards a large boulder; lots of
anemones and sponges. Head up the gutter to another large rock;
look for biscuit stars on the walls. Good dive for watching lobster.
Head back to the start point and slowly up the reef. Depth 20
m
HAIRY WALL
The hairy wall is a dive along a sea whip covered wall with
out-crops of sponges. A very colourful dive with a number of
small gullies to explore. On the way, the dive finishes at one
of the larger gullies where you can slowly ascend to your safety
stop while looking for picnogonids or nudibranchs.
Depth 30-36 m
STEPS
As you drop to the kelp, you can see the formation step down like
a staircase to the sand and broken boulders. This dive has sea
whip covered rocks, finger sponges, and sponges, and as you come
to the half way point, there is a zoanthid and sponge covered
wall that runs into a small cave system in 20 m. A nice fun spot
to end the dive before you ascend up the kelp for your safety
stop.
Depth 30-33 m
.
CANYON
Another nice dive with a bit of everything from walls to broken
boulders. This dive starts in about 15m of water, and drops over
part of the Hairy wall and runs along the Rose garden where you
turn across to Paradise reef, head back to the Hairy wall up
to a ledge full of lobster. It's then up to Mt Everest for a
safety stop. A pretty dive.
Depth 30-33 m
.
GUINEA PIG
Siting off Cape Lodi, the reef appears out of nowhere, and is
just a few metres under the water. This big circular reef is
normally teeming with fish life, and has some small swim thru's
which are encrusted with sponges and sea ships. Also a site where
you can see large pumpkin sponges.
Depth 30 m
.
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