Gladstone area diving

Hi everyone.
thanks for the info on Micronesia (Yap) I'm planning to visit there
hopefully later next year.

Before then, we are going to stay a few days at Gladstone where
my daughter lives, and then work our way on up to Cairns.
Browsing thru the many websites about the Gladstone area, there
are two islands that we want to visit - Lady Elliott and Lady Musgrave.
From what I've seen sofar, Lady Elliott appears to be the pick with some good
shallow diving around bommies and the chance of seeing some Mantas.
Does anyone on the group have a website with some photos? or perhaps
some diving experiences in this area they would like to share?.

appreciated

Brian

---------------------------------------
"A single tank? you must be joking"
me, onboard the NZ Navy diving
training vessel Manawanui, 1965

Not quite Gladstone, but this is in the Bundaberg area and might be of some
interest to you. From the dives I've done, this would be a better dive than
around Gladstone. You can also travel to either island from Bundaberg (by
boat or plane) it's not a wasted trip. The Bundaberg Artificial Reef's site
is http://www.badarai.bravepages.com/

They are currently diving with dolphins on the reef, along with various
other fish.

Cheers,
Jeff.

"BrianM" <bmorris@nilads.co.ny> wrote in message
newsan.2003.08.23.01.34.58.142503.1978@nilads.co .ny...
> Hi everyone.
> thanks for the info on Micronesia (Yap) I'm planning to visit there
> hopefully later next year.
>
> Before then, we are going to stay a few days at Gladstone where
> my daughter lives, and then work our way on up to Cairns.
> Browsing thru the many websites about the Gladstone area, there
> are two islands that we want to visit - Lady Elliott and Lady Musgrave.
> From what I've seen sofar, Lady Elliott appears to be the pick with some
good
> shallow diving around bommies and the chance of seeing some Mantas.
> Does anyone on the group have a website with some photos? or perhaps
> some diving experiences in this area they would like to share?.
>
> appreciated
>
> Brian
>
> ---------------------------------------
> "A single tank? you must be joking"
> me, onboard the NZ Navy diving
> training vessel Manawanui, 1965

On Mon, 25 Aug 2003 13:52:36 +1200, Jeff wrote:

> Not quite Gladstone, but this is in the Bundaberg area and might be of
> some interest to you. From the dives I've done, this would be a better
> dive than around Gladstone. You can also travel to either island from
> Bundaberg (by boat or plane) it's not a wasted trip. The Bundaberg
> Artificial Reef's site is http://www.badarai.bravepages.com/
>
> They are currently diving with dolphins on the reef, along with various
> other fish.
>
> Cheers,
> Jeff.
>

thanks Jeff. Good to hear that the two islands are worth a visit - I
liked the look of Elliott Island. IIRC they can both be accessed by
boat from town of 1770 which is not that far from Gladstone.
Very interested in your link to the artificial reef - I wasn't aware of
its existence until now and from the photos it looks like a pretty damn good
wreck dive. There is an organisation here where I live on the coast
which is raising funds to build an artificial reef - not using hard
objects like sunken ships etc - but building a sandbank using sand filled
nylon sacks. The object is to encourage the local fish population
for recreational use, barracuda, silver trumpeter (type of shark) kahawai,
cod, mullet etc. It would be useless for diving as its a shallow sandy bottom with
low low vis, although Orca pods come in pretty close on their migration
route. They must be wearing goggles.

cheers
Brian

"BrianM" <bmorris@nilads.co.ny> wrote in message
newsan.2003.08.25.08.16.29.330622.1920@nilads.co .ny...
> On Mon, 25 Aug 2003 13:52:36 +1200, Jeff wrote:
>
> > Not quite Gladstone, but this is in the Bundaberg area and might be of
> > some interest to you. From the dives I've done, this would be a better
> > dive than around Gladstone. You can also travel to either island from
> > Bundaberg (by boat or plane) it's not a wasted trip. The Bundaberg
> > Artificial Reef's site is http://www.badarai.bravepages.com/
> >
> > They are currently diving with dolphins on the reef, along with various
> > other fish.
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Jeff.
> >
>
> thanks Jeff. Good to hear that the two islands are worth a visit - I
> liked the look of Elliott Island. IIRC they can both be accessed by
> boat from town of 1770 which is not that far from Gladstone.
> Very interested in your link to the artificial reef - I wasn't aware of
> its existence until now and from the photos it looks like a pretty damn
good
> wreck dive. There is an organisation here where I live on the coast
> which is raising funds to build an artificial reef - not using hard
> objects like sunken ships etc - but building a sandbank using sand filled
> nylon sacks. The object is to encourage the local fish population
> for recreational use, barracuda, silver trumpeter (type of shark) kahawai,
> cod, mullet etc. It would be useless for diving as its a shallow sandy
bottom with
> low low vis, although Orca pods come in pretty close on their migration
> route. They must be wearing goggles.
>
> cheers
> Brian
No worries Brian. Town of 1770 is about halfway between Bundaberg and
Gladstone, and you can get to either island by boat from there, or from
Bundaberg itself.
Its a good looking reef, well worth the dive.

Cheers
Jeff.