Located on the exposed eastern side of Brisbane’s Moreton Island, China Wall is an unusual dive site for the area as the reef is dominated by kelp rather than coral. Waving beds of brown kelp are more common in southern Australia and these ones look very out of place with tropical fish swimming around them.
However, the China Wall also has many pretty soft corals, gorgonians and black coral trees decorating its rocky terrain. In depths from 16 metres to 32 metres, this site has numerous caves, gutters, walls and a very pretty rock arch. In and around the kelp beds expect to see abundant reef fish, bullseyes, yellowtail, trevally, kingfish, blue gropers, wobbegongs and turtles.
Winter is the best time to dive China Wall as the conditions are generally calm and grey nurse sharks are often seen patrolling the gutters. During winter, divers are also likely to be serenaded by humpback whales for the entire time underwater, and if lucky may catch a glimpse of one of these giant mammals.
