No dive holiday to Tasmania is complete without a visit to the East Coast. While there are many places to dive here, some of the best dive sites Tasmania has to offer are located within the boundaries of Governors Island Marine Park, which is located at Bicheno, about fifty kilometers north of Coles Bay. Although there are more than fifteen dive sites to choose from, some stand apart from the rest. Let’s head down to forty meters to experience just a few of these amazing dives.
The Golden Bommies
A challenging site with plenty of thrills, and for experienced divers only, the Golden Bommies are a pair of massive granite monoliths out on the eastern edge of the main granite reef formations. Each bommie is approximately ten meters high, and each is coated with brilliant yellow zoanthids and bouquets of sea whips. The whips themselves host small jeweled anemone. Clouds of butterfly perch, massive boarfish, cowfish, and others swarm busily about the bommies, which are at forty meters.
Your dive often ends with a safety stop atop Mount Everest, which rises from forty meters to within five meters of the surface. Here, you’ll find more striped trumpeters, plus plenty of other fish and invertebrates, and you may even encounter Southern Right Whales or a pod of Dolphins.
Hairy Wall
The Hairy Wall is a magnificent thirty-five meter wall, which is coated in sponges and soft coral, plus sea whips and sea fans. There are lots of wonderful invertebrates all over the wall, some of which take shelter inside the finger sponges that proliferate all along its surface. As you explore the wall, which attracts clouds of vibrant reef fish, including schools of butterfly perch, you are likely to encounter some of the very large crayfish that enjoy the protection that life in a marine reserve affords them!
You’ll often end your dive along Hairy Wall with a fifteen meter swim through an adjoining site known as The Castle. This fairytale-perfect structure is home to beautifully delicate sea anemones, which give off a mystic glow as your light touches them. The entire area offers huge boulders and overhangs, all of which hold magical mysteries just waiting to be explored.
The Canyon
Massive sponges, some that are the same size as a human being, plus brilliant hydroids and ascidians, sea whips and sea fans decorate the rocks that fill the cliff-bordered valley that makes up The Canyon. Every color of the rainbow can be found here; of particular note are the bright yellow zoanthids, which give off a golden glow.
All manner of invertebrates, including big rock lobsters, massive sea spiders, and huge basket stars in different shapes and colors can be found here, and the fish life is simply incredible. This is not surprising, as the area has been protected for ten years, and is in pristine condition!
The bottom of the canyon is at 35 meters, and your dive will end with an ascent up the cliffs, where trumpetfish and butterfly fish, plus some very large boarfish and others await.
Without a doubt, these are some of the most incredible natural dive sites in the world. You’ll need to be a capable diver, as reef hooks and anchors are forbidden here, and as most of the diving is done from live boats. A great reason to improve your skills, and the trip of a lifetime!