Dive Types
With 29+ dive sites to choose from, there are a variety of marine wildlife and wrecks to explore, including the rare rhinopias and the MV Pal 2.
North Patch Bommie
Distance from Loloata - 1.5 nautical miles Best Diving Depths - 6 to 12 meters Best Time / Tide - High tide. Highlights - Lovely hard coral garden. Many varieties of not so common hard corals growing in fine formations on this small reef.
Nadine’s Passage
Distance - 7.6 nautical miles Best Diving Depths - 5 to 50 meters. Massive gorgonians, expansive fields of soft corals mixed with pink seawhips. Walls and ridges adorned with beauty unsurpassed. Good chance of finding pygmy seahorses.
The Pinnacles
Highlights - Passing pelagic fish quite common. Magnificent corals, especially gorgonian fax, pink seawhips and branching soft corals. Rich variety of resident reef fish. Pygmy seahorses. Sea snakes quite common. Excellent site for photographers.
A 20 Havoc (WWII Wreck)
Distance - 1 nautical mile (from Jetty) Best Diving Depths - 5 meters (reef) 18 meters (airplane wreck). Highlights - Fully intact WWII American A 20 Havoc bomber on sand bottom. Pretty hard coral garden in the safety stop zones.
Sandy Passage
Highlights - Abundant fish life waiting for passing morsels. Usually a good chance of seeing sharks, eagle rays and possibly mantas. Large gorgonian fans, barrel sponges, seawhips and huge tubastraea trees
Lion Island
Distance from Loloata - 0.8 nautical mile Best Diving Depths - 3 to 25 meters Best Time / Tide - Any. Several dive sites in a small area. Highlights - Reef, sand, seagrass, "muck" dives and scuttled wrecks. The weird and wonderful abound here. I
Loloata Island Jetty
Distance from Loloata - on site Best Diving Depths - 0 to 10 meters Best Time / Tide - early morning or night dive. High tide Highlights - Dwarf lionfish and red (black) firefish, ringed pipefish, colorful patterned black sea urchins, razorfish, mantis
The End Bommie
Distance from Loloata - 3 nautical miles Best Diving Depths - From 10 meters down Best Time / Tide - Any. Highlights - Sheer wall, large gorgonian fans in deeper water, chance of seeing sharks and rays. Abundant fish life, including pygmy seahorses.
MV Pal 2 (Wreck)
Highlights - Scuttled in 1982 for sport divers, 25 meter steel prawn trawler. Masts are thick with black corals, soft corals and tubastraea trees. Good quantities of fish life on and around the wreck Red lined anthias and Harliquin ghost pipefish found.
Pacific Gas (Wreck)
Highlights - Scuttled in 1986 for sport divers. Ship is 65.1 meters long. Tremendous quantities of fish surrounding the wreck. magnificent corals particularly on the mast. Resident lionfish, leaf scorpionfish and ghost pipefish. red lined anthias is found
The Tunnel
Distance - 2.9 nautical miles Best Diving Depths - 5 to 15 meters Best Time / Tide - Any. Highlights - Small tunnel swim through in 12 meters, usually packed with fish. Sloping wall with seawhip gorgonian fans and soft corals.
Quayles Reef:
Distance from Loloata - 3.2 nautical miles Best Diving Depths - 4 to 12 meters Best Time / Tide - Any. Highlights - Color! Every conceivable colour splashed across the reef. Resident Rhinopias (Merletts Scorpionfish) and Harlequin ghost pipefish
Lilians Patch:
Distance from Loloata - 2.7 nautical miles Best Diving Depths - 6 to 20 meters Best Time / Tide - Can be effected by spring tides. Highlights - Pretty stands of various hard corals and corkscrew sea whips. Colorful soft corals and fan corals. Scorpionfish
Suzies Bommie
Distance - 3.3 nautical miles, Highlights - Pristine bommie situated on white sand. Plethora of corals and fish life. Superlatives cannot describe this dive site. Good site for pygmy seahorse
South Patch
Distance from Loloata - 2.5 nautical miles Best Diving Depths - 4 to 15 meters Best Time / Tide - High tide. Often effected by currents during spring tides. Highlights - Pillars of hard corals, often with undercuts and small caves underneath lots of color
MV Pal 2 (Wreck)
Highlights - Scuttled in 1982 for sport divers, 25 meter steel prawn trawler. Masts are thick with black corals, soft corals and tubastraea trees. Good quantities of fish life on and around the wreck Red lined anthias and Harliquin ghost pipefish found.
The Big Drop
Distance - 3 nautical miles Highlights - Sheer wall, large gorgonian fans in deeper water, chance of seeing sharks and rays. Abundant fish life, including pygmy seahorses.
The Pumpkin Patch
Highlights - Chance of seeing sharks. Abundant reef fish. Good coral cover, black coral trees, soft corals, gorgonian fans, staghorn corals, plate corals, ships. Many excellent cover shot opportunities.
The Chimneys
Distance - 6.8 nautical miles Best Diving Depths - 6 to 30 meters Best Time / Tide - Slightly exposed location, subject to moderate currents.Highlights - Pelagic fish often seen cruising off the side of the bommie. Good macro life for those with keen eyes
Baldwins Bommie
Highlights - Something for all lens sizes, from extreme wide angle right down to extreme macro. Chance of encountering sharks and rays. Hard and soft corals abound. Large schools of fish with right current.
P.J.'s Passage
Distance - 21 nautical miles Best Diving Depths - 10 to 40 meters - Usually a drift on a incoming tide, but can be done as an outgoing drift. Inaccessible in any but good conditions. Highlights - Home of eagle rays, occasionally mobula and sharks.