In June 2006 several Terrigal Underwater Group (TUG) members ventured to the Southern Barrier Reef Bunker group of islands out from Bundaberg, Queensland. Under the leadership of Peter Hudson the trip was a great success. Paula and I were on that trip and decided during our return passage to the mainland that we must return - sooner or later.

Lady Musgrave was calling - just a few months later we would return. It was not hard to convince fellow TUG members to come along - after all, they were all excited by the many trip reports, photos and videos from the June adventure. Our fellow dive buddies were Tim, Yvonne, Jane, David, Chris, John, Steve, Allan, Robb and Bob. Bob had also been on the June Trip with Paula and myself and like us, eagerly anticipated further encounters with the local manta rays.

Our departure from Sydney was less eventful than on our previous trip to Bundaberg. There was no fog to delay flights and all baggage arrived at Hervey Bay airport on the same flight.

With all the excitement of the trip, I seemed to have forgotten the rigour of the 1 1/2 hour bus journey from Hervey Bay airport to Bundaberg. The land trip takes longer and costs more than the flight, but the bus is convenient and conveyed all of us and our dive gear at the one time.

If you so wish you can take optional side trips to the Bundaberg Rum Distillery and the local ice cream factory. Since many of us had previously ventured to this part of the world and tasted these delights we elected not to visit the attractions on this trip. If you are planning your trip to this region I would highly recommend visiting these attractions.

The banter of dive stories and the bus driver’s traveller anecdotes make the 1 ½ hours fly by. By the time you sit down for a beer at the local Bundaberg pub (the waiting point for our dive charter host) the trip quickly fades from memory. It is possible to get a flight into Bundaberg but this necessitates making a connection from the Sydney leg at Brisbane airport. From experience, making this connection can be time consuming at the Brisbane end and as I have implied, can led to missing luggage and much needed diving gear.

We all enjoyed the food from the pub bistro while watching the preparation for the evening karaoke entertainment. However, we could not stay to see the promising show. At around 8 p.m. our dive charter host dropped by to make sure we were all ready for the trip. A final and important preparation included instruction for the bus driver to drop by the local wine shop for necessary stores. Soon we were on the bus on our way to board the dive vessel, Venus 2 at Bundaberg harbour.

Forty minutes later we had all boarded Venus 2 and completed the mandatory safety brief. Our dive master, Mitch, the chef, boat crew and Ashleigh the captain provided further information to ensure our comfort and enjoyment for the three day live-a-board trip. The crew are very efficient at settling people into their cabins.

Venus 2 caters for several sleeping arrangements.  There are four spacious, air-conditioned guest cabins (1 x four berth, 3 x three berth) with en-suite facilities and ample storage space. All bed linen and two towels are provided for your convenience. All cabins are very comfortable particularly when travelling with known diving companions. The saloon and dining area are suitably sized to cater for 12 to 14 people. There is plenty of deck room to manage diving and camera gear and if the need arises, to escape into your own privacy or read a book1. A desalination unit provides fresh water. As for safety, the crew encourage passengers to use a man-overboard notification device if you venture out on the deck, particularly if you are there alone and at night.

The lights of Bundaberg disappeared within minutes of the Venus 2 engines firing-up. While several of our dive buddies made fine adjustments to their cameras, others chatted in the saloon. Soon we were all consumed by tiredness and within half an hour had retired to our cabins.

The gentle sway of the boat put me to sleep very quickly. Before I knew it morning had arrived. I awoke to the chatter of fellow divers who had already been topside, investigating the days diving schedule and the breakfast menu.

Day 1

Our first venture into the water was at Scarlett’s. For Paula and I this was a 21 metre dive (maximum depth) with best visibility to 15 metres at one of the shallower bommies. The hour long excursion felt marvellous in the 24 degree water. Typically for this area of the Great Barrier Reef there were lots of clown fish, garfish, coral trout, cod and triton shells. We also sighted barramundi.

After a surface interval of 1 hour 40 minutes we entered the water at Manta Bommie. We had all set up our cameras for big critters and were all excited to get into the water. On the June trip manta were everywhere at this site - not surprising that the site is known as manta bommie. From where the captain positions the boat at the southern end of the island we swam south into 20 metres of water where several bommies lie in a row in an east-west direction. The bommies are described as ‘elephant droppings’ and they are easy to identify. A moderate current allowed schools of large fish to manoeuvre around the bommies. Paula and I did not see any manta rays like many of our fellow divers but we did see large schools of very big snapper, big-eye jacks, turtles and a great barramundi. Overall it was a fantastic dive, even without seeing the manta rays.

Around 2 ½ hours later we were diving The Trench out from the neighbouring Lady Fairfax Island. This is a shallower dive at around 16 metres to the bottom of the trenches. The site is great for photographing turtles.

For our 4th dive of the day we returned back to Lady Musgrave Island and dived the Big Bommie. This is again a shallower dive which allows for a longer bottom time. Big Bommie is large with multiple fingers of reef radiating out. There were lots of great stag-horn coral and many schools of big-eye trevally, turtles and anemone fish. A small tiger shark was seen just outside the lagoon passage.

Day 2

The islands coral fringed reef and currents facilitate a fair amount of drift diving in this area. On the very first dive of day two we were dropped off at Scarlett's and drifted our way to Archies. The depth for this dive was around 22 meters with an average visibility of 15 metres in 24 degree water. The usual large turtles were about and several divers saw a banjo shark and a dusky shark. The coral and reef growth was plentiful and included thick stag horn and blue cabbage corals, retracting polyps, anemone and an incredible brain coral. Black cod and cardinal-fish were everywhere.

Just on two hours later we entered the water at the bommies on the backside of Jackson's Bommies, Lady Fairfax Island. The visibility was a little less - down to 10 metres probable due to a moderate current stirring up the sand. Here Maori wrasse, spanish dancers, bull rays and midnight snapper were about. This is an area we were advised to keep a lookout for wreckage and armaments - resulting from military target practice many years earlier. We did not see any evidence of either.

Still at Lady Fairfax we entered the water for our third dive of the day. This site was called Rip Reef and is situated off the southern point. It was an ideal site for the third dive of a multi-dive day. Tomato anemone, surgeon fish and of course turtles were present at this site. A 3 1/2 metre dusky shark spooked a few of the divers.

During the afternoon break we took the opportunity to walk through and around Lady Musgrave Island. At this time of the year its possible to witness nesting black headed noddies in the tree branches overhanging the well maintained walking tracts. It is also the time of the year that green turtles lay their eggs above the high water mark. As we walked along the beach we discovered it was the turtle eggs that were attracting the large number of gulls and other sea birds to the area.

We returned to the boat around dusk. By 7 p.m. we were back in the water for a night dive. This was a very shallow dive site within the boundaries of the lagoon. Just like the June trip the skipper anchored just off one of the lagoon inner bommies. After descending to the anchor it was easy to navigate to the bommie wall and go in any direction. We easily navigated around several of the neighbouring bommies before returning to the boat about 50 minutes later. We did not need to swim far to see lots. Paula and I became great spectators of the many lobsters  scrambling in and out of rocky cracks.

Day 3

Our last day of diving came all too quickly. We were up early so we could be in the water by 7 a.m.  The night before we had elected to dive early, follow with breakfast and complete our last dive by 10 a.m. This would allow an early return to Bundaberg. This was drift dive from Smurf Hut to the lagoon channel markers. The depth at this site is 18 to 20 metres. Visibility had improved to 20 metres. You could see approaching fish and turtles very easily. Around Smurf Hut several large Maori wrasse hovered and seemed to become excited by our approach. Toward the end of the dive we came across some very pretty walls of coral which were harbouring several lion-fish.

Our last dive was at a site known as the Coral Gardens. We splashed into the water just before 9 am to a depth of 16 metres. We had reasonable visibility and the water was still a balmy 24 degrees. The sea bed was framed by gutters where emperor fish, butterfly fish, six banded angelfish and banner-fish could be seen.

Where were all the mantas we had seen on the June trip? Apparently, manta sightings are less frequent during summer, favouring the area as a southern hemisphere winter play ground. We saw lots during the June trip and suggest this would be the best time to visit for manta sightings.

A short time after surfacing we were on our way to Bundaberg. We enjoyed lunch during the return passage. By late afternoon we had arrived at Bundaberg city.

We all stayed at the Cellblock Backpackers accommodation. This was a great place to stay. The facilities were very good; offering a swimming pool, outdoor bar and unique rooms which have earned it the reputation of being a five star backpacker resort. The Cellblock is so named because of its past history as a police holding centre. This 125 year old police station is said to still echo its haunting past through the corridors and jail cells. Paula and I stayed in one of the padded cells more to protect ourselves from ‘the past’ than anything else.

Lady Musgrave and surrounding islands are a great place to visit and offer some fantastic diving. We found that a live-a-board experience is an easy and comfortable way to explore the area. Divers and above the water adventurers can easily access Lady Musgrave on a day trip pass to the island. There are camp grounds that accommodate individuals and groups. Fellow divers from Terrigal Dive on the NSW Central Coast have camped and dived here on several occasions in the past. Divers contemplating a trip to the island need to make their own arrangements for air compressors, scuba gear, tent accommodation and food.