Together with the crew from Sunreef in Mooloolaba I am organising a trip to dive the wreck of the ex-HMAS Brisbane on 3rd September 2016. I have never dived this site before myself, but people are considering it one of Australia's best wreck dive sites.
From 1967 on the ex-HMAS Brisbane was 133m long destroyer in the Royal Australian Navy. After 34 years, serving in both the Vietnam and Gulf war, the ship was decommissioned in 2001. Then in July 2005 the ship was sunk just off the Sunshine Coast as a artificial reef and dive site. Meanwhile the wreck has been colonised by sponges, soft corals, and hard corals, while over 200 different species of fish have been sighted in the area.
Since the bottom of the wreck lies in about 27m depth and there will be no guides, this trip is for experienced divers only, which means that in order to come along you must hold an advanced diving certificate, as well as have done 30+ dives and seen 10+ dive sites.
I have chartered the whole boat from Sunreef, which means that there are 14 spots on this trip. The costs will be AUD$ 100 for the charter and AUD$ 20 for tanks with the option of a free upgrade to Nitrox for anyone certified, which adds up to AUD$ 120 in total for a double dive at the wreck. Apart from weights and tanks, gear hire will remain your responsibility.
The preliminary plan for the day will be to leave from the shed at about 9:30 am to arrive in Mooloolaba sometime between 11:00 am and 11:30 am. We will then set our gear up on the boat and leave for diving the wreck. I expect to be back in Brisbane at about 7:00 pm at the latest.
If this all sounds good, go ahead a register and save your spot on this trip. As soon as the participants list has filled up, I will ask you pay a deposit of AUD$ 100 for the charter. Furthermore we will have a briefing on Thursday prior to this trip, on 1st September 2016.