Hi divers, 

We plan to go for a double dive around Stradbroke Island, hopefully including Manta Bommie, on the 9th of April.

Most divers would be surprised to discover that one of Australia’s best manta ray dive sites is located just offshore our door steps.

Situated off North Stradbroke Island, or Straddie, Manta Bommie is a collection of rocky outcrops surrounded by a rugged rocky reef in depths from 3m to 15m. This rocky reef is riddled with ledges and home to a good variety of invertebrate species, such as octopus, crayfish, nudibranchs, shrimps, cowries and crabs. But most of these critters are overlooked by visiting divers that are looking to encounter manta rays.

This is a development trip for boat crew and we may visit sites that have increased depths, and as such we will want a balance of experience and skills.  As such the boat handlers will have final say on the participants. Please ensure that you fulfil the requirements outlined below before you sign up. 

This is a trip for Experienced divers.

Each diver must:

• Be a current Unidive member, medically fit to dive, who passed the swim test.
• Have dived in the last 6 months.
• Have an Advanced certification or equivalent from a recognised agency.
• Have a minimum of 30 dives at 10 different dive sites.
• Have proven experience diving in moderate current from a moored boat (ie not drift diving with a live boat that picks you up).
• Have proven ability to navigate an unfamiliar site with ability to return to the anchor point.
• Dive with a DSMB, cutting device and whistle.
  Note: These items are NOT supplied.
  Note: A DSMB is different to a "safety sausage", and you need to have proven ability to deploy a DSMB from your safety stop, ie 5m below the surface.
• Ensure that they have all required dive gear.
  Bring your own mask, snorkel and fins, as Unidive does not provide these.
  If you need to hire other equipment such as BCD, reg, wetsuit, it is your responsibility to hire these before the trip (typically at the Unidive shed on Thursday night before the trip). There will be no time to sort out gear hire on the day of the trip.
  There's no need to hire tanks and weights, as these are included in the trip and will be loaded from the shed on the day.
• Dive within their certification and capability.
• Follow instructions given by the Boat Handlers, the Dive Supervisor, the COVID Safety Delegate, and / or the Operator.
• Help out throughout the whole day.
• Agree that contact details of participants will be provided to Qld Health upon request for the purpose of contact tracing.
• Notify the Dive Officer and Trip Organiser of any changes to their personal circumstances as declared in the event registration form.
• Attend the trip meeting (usually on the Thursday beforehand at 6:30 pm at the Unidive shed, or on Zoom).

If you have any questions about the trip, please email dive@unidive.org.