Great Barrier Reef South – Yongala to Bundaberg

The central and southern Great Barrier Reef stretches from Townsville to Bundaberg. The headline dive is the SS Yongala, a 110 m passenger steamer lost in a cyclone in 1911 off Cape Bowling Green and now a Commonwealth-protected historic shipwreck zone with a 797 m radius; entry is not permitted into the wreck. Off the Whitsundays the outer reef (Hardy Reef, Bait Reef) is reached by day boats, and in the south the coral cays of the Capricornia group – Lady Elliot, Heron and Lady Musgrave – offer manta, turtle and reef-shark diving in Marine National Park (Green) zones. Near Bundaberg the Woongarra Marine Park offers rocky-reef shore and boat dives. All of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park is zoned, and divers pay the Environmental Management Charge (reef tax) through their operator. Coordinates of reef sites in this region are mostly island-adjusted estimates; operators publish exact moorings.

Facts

• Best season: Roughly May–November for Yongala visibility and manta season at Lady Elliot (May–July peak); October–May is warmer but includes the wet and cyclone season
• Water temperature: Yongala: 22–25 °C June–September, 25–29 °C October–May
• Marine park zones: The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park is zoned (Green = no fishing/collecting). Lady Elliot Island is in a Green zone. Divers pay a reef tax (EMC) with the trip (Yongala Dive lists AUD 22)
• Yongala protection: Protected zone: wreck plus seabed within 797 m radius; penetration and removal of artefacts prohibited; anchoring forbidden, moorings installed (Wikipedia/GBRMPA)
• Training level: Yongala Dive requires Advanced Open Water (or in progress), 10+ dives in the last 12 months and age 15+

Season

• Best months: May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov
• Acceptable: Apr, Dec
• Poor: Jan, Feb, Mar
• Water temperature: 22–29 °C

Drier, cooler season May to November; January to March is cyclone and wet season. Mantas peak at Lady Elliot May–July and appear in winter at Heron; turtles nest on Heron November–April.

Dive sites (10)

Capricornia Cays (Lady Elliot, Heron, Musgrave)

• Anchor Bommie (Lady Elliot Island, Green zone) – 14–18 m, beginner
• Heron Bommie (Heron Island) – 5–18 m, intermediate
• Lady Musgrave lagoon coral gardens – 5–10 m, beginner
• Lighthouse Bommies (Lady Elliot Island, Green zone) – 5–16 m, intermediate
• Wistari Wall (Heron Island) – 3–20 m, intermediate

Bundaberg – Woongarra Marine Park

• Barolin Rocks (Coral Cove, Woongarra Marine Park) – 3–12 m, intermediate
• Hoffman's Rocks (Nudibranch Park, Bargara) – 6–12 m, beginner

Whitsundays Outer Reef

• Hardy Reef – Reefworld pontoon (GBR Marine Park) – 3–18 m, beginner

Magnetic Island

• Moltke wreck, Geoffrey Bay (Magnetic Island) – 5–10 m, beginner

Townsville & Yongala

• SS Yongala – protected historic wreck (no penetration) – 15–30 m, advanced

Operators (4)

• Yongala Dive – dive centre, Alva Beach, Queensland (approximate marker)
• Adrenalin Dive Townsville – dive centre, South Townsville, Queensland (approximate marker)
• Heron Island Resort – dive centre, Heron Island, Queensland (departures from Gladstone)
• Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort – dive centre, Lady Elliot Island, Queensland

Yongala and Moltke positions come from Wikipedia; other reef positions are estimates adjusted to the island or reef and are for orientation only, never for navigation. Dive with a licensed operator; zoning and permits change.