One of Bundaberg's Best Places to Scuba Dive!
Cochrane Artificial Reef Dive Trip
My name is Daniel Chadwick and I am a PADI dive master with over 1200 dives. I recently scuba dived with DIVE Bundaberg on one of their dive trips at the Cochrane Artificial Reef. Jarrod Banks, the skipper of the dive charter boat is a top bloke; not only was he extremely professional but he was a great laugh and made my scuba diving trip very enjoyable.
Spectacular Scuba Dive Trip
The day of our dives was spectacular. I have never seen such a blue sky in my life and the water was so calm. After a short safety briefing we began our 10 minute journey out to the reef. When we arrived I saw a pod of dolphins making their way past the boat, followed by a large school of tuna chopping at the surface.
We then proceeded to gear up and enter the water. About five or six meters down I stared in awe as a squadron of eight Eagle Rays swam below us. As we continued to descend to 18 metres I saw a large shadow in front of me and then like in a movie the wreck of Lightship One appeared in front of us. There was a spectacular school of Butter Bream and Trevally circling above the wreck while Coral Trout and Batfish swam below.
Wreck Diving
After exploring the Lightship our divemaster beckoned us to follow him towards another wreck. We follow a brick trail that Jarrod has nicknamed "The Yellow Brick Road" and came across our second wreck for the day, a small plane called the Kingair. Inside the plane were two large green sea turtles, the largest purple Tuskfish I have ever seen and a large olive sea snake just cruising the wreck.
From there we swam to a second and much larger plane; the Brenda. As we swam towards it we saw two large fish swimming towards us and as they got closer I realised that it was the two huge Queensland Grouper Jarrod had been talking about earlier "VW" and "Combie". They hung around for about five minutes then swam off into the distance.
No Time for Food at this Dive
During our surface interval myself and the other divers could barely eat the nibbles Jarrod had supplied as none of us could stop talking about the dive. After we pulled up the anchor we moved on to our second dive for the day, the wreck the Porteous.
Ship Wreck Surrounded with Marine Life
Once again the wreck was situated in about 18 meters below the surface. As we descended to the wreck we were surrounded by baitfish and when we got to the wreck we were greeted by six large Potato Cod, two large sea snakes and a monster 2.5 meter Shovel Nosed Ray. We spent about 25 minutes on the Porteous then followed the divemaster to a large sunken water tank. Sitting on top of the water tank were two baby Wobbegong Sharks and also a magnificent Lion Fish.
Just then I heard our divemaster tapping on his tank and as we all kneeled on the sand he pointed out a shape in the sand; a Leopard Shark about two metres in length.
Plans to Dive Again
It was one of the most memorable days of diving I have ever done so I would like to thank Jarrod and Tom the divemaster.
Next year I'm planning my holidays so I can dive the Artificial Reef again!
Thanks Jarrod.
Daniel Chadwick
PADI DM.
