Wheeler Reef is our first dive site off Townsville. Getting used to 30m visibility and 25degC temperature is achieved instantly. That’s what tropical diving is all about, plus corals, colourful fishes and giant clams.
The bommies are surrounded by thousands of fish and covered in corals. A bonus on our dive is an encounter with cuttlefish. As we watch they change colour and display an amazing variety.
We finish with a night dive on the sand just below the bommie. A tiny volute shell pops up and crawls across the sand. Most of the fish have vanished although a few parrotfish lay immersed in the safety of their cocoons. A huge crown of thorns starfish, about a half-metre across, emerges from under the corals and begins to feed.
