Reef & Wreck Double Dive - Gold Coast

Palm beach reef, is located close to its namesake beach on the Gold Coast,is a large reef of varying depths, perfect for any diver. With sections of the area as shallow as five metres, and other sections dropping to depths of 24 metres, there are lots of different environments here to explore. It is also the largest coral reef system on the Gold Coast. The reefs footprint is about 2-3 times larger than the exposed part of Cook Island and it would take about 10-20 dives to explore the site in its entirety.One of our favourite sites is Clown City, it is a colourful site with as you can guess, a large population of anemone fish. From there you can drift towards the Gutters, the hot spot for leopard sharks in summer.

On 3 February 1887, under the command of William Little, the Scottish Prince was proceeding northward along the east coast on the final stages of a voyage from Glasgow to Brisbane. At 11:40pm the master left the deck, leaving the second mate in charge—who had never sailed these waters before. Shortly after midnight the vessel ran aground. Several unsuccessful attempts were made by the steamers Tweed, Otter and Gunga to tow the Scottish Prince off the bar. Within a few days, as south-easterly weather conditions deteriorated, the vessel keeled over and was abandoned. Over the following weeks the decks opened up allowing cases of cargo including sewing machines, drapery, whiskey, beer and mineral waters to be washed ashore.The bow of the iron hull is pointing towards the shore and is broken into three main sections. The bow and stern are both reasonably intact; however the side plates and decks have collapsed.

The Scottish Prince’s underwater superstructure is a habitat which provides food and shelter for a variety of marine life including,sponges, corals, pelagic and reef fish, rays, octopus and wobbegong sharks.