We are planning to go for a double dive with Gold Coast Dive Adventures (GCDA) to Palm Reef and Scottish Prince. These sites are just a 15 minutes boat trip from Runaway Bay Marina in the Gold Coast.
We have 10 total spots including 5 spots for Open Water divers who will enjoy two guided dives with a GCDA guide. The remaining 5 spots can be taken by Advanced Open Water or equivalent divers who are confident to self-guide in buddy pairs or groups.
Palm Beach Reef is the largest coral reef system on the Gold Coast and ranges from 5m to 24m, with lots of different environments to explore. There are many different sites here that can be explored, depending on the conditions and the time of year, as different sites are better suited to different wildlife. In the summer, leopard sharks frequent the reef and grey nurse sharks are occasionally seen in the winter. Stingrays, eagle rays, wobbegongs and turtles are frequently seen, and the site is well known for nudibranchs. Large schools of tropical fish are common and the shallower parts of the reef offer a good variety of tropical fish.
The Scottish Prince was an iron-hulled barque ship with three masts, built in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1878. It was a passenger and cargo ship that operated between the UK and Australia. It ran aground at the end of a voyage from Glasgow to Brisbane in 1887, without loss of life, and now lies 800 metres off the Southport Spit. Now, what remains of the 64-metre ship is covered in soft corals and sponges, and is a haven for crayfish, shovelnose rays, catsharks and wobbegongs, as well as plenty of tropical fish.
The cost is $175 including two tanks, weights and snacks. Gear hire is not included (if you need hire gear, please check out our loans webpage https://www.unidive.org/diving/loans/).
Club gear hire may be limited this weekend, but the operator has offered full gear hire for an extra $40. Please factor this in.
If you have a gear subscription, please let me know.
To iron out the details, we will meet at the shed on the Thursday before the trip at 6:15 p.m.
If you have any questions about the trip, please email dive@unidive.org.