411 Dive Log Australasia April 2025

Bougainville. Here we found magnificent coral formations with abundant small fish life, a large Eagle Ray and reef sharks hovered about everywhere. After another wonderful dinner and more story telling amongst the crew and guests we were heading to Osprey Reef, 85 to 100 nautical miles to the North of Bougainville. Osprey is a submerged oval shaped atoll, measuring 12km by 25km and covering just under 195 square kilometres (75 sq mi). It has a perimeter of 70km (43.2 mi) consisting of almost vertical reef walls, rising from a depth of 2,000m (6,600 ft). Because of its size, Osprey has numerous highly desirable dive sites such as those with descriptive names like: ‘Rapid Horn’, ‘Trout Forest’, ‘Shark Reef’, ‘Fairy Grotto’, ‘Big Blue’, ‘The Abyss’, ‘Round the Bend’, ‘Fast Eddies’, ‘Halfway’ and ‘West End’. Many like ‘Nautilus’ have swim-throughs and steep drop-offs where schooling Barracuda and reef sharks abound. After several trips to Osprey, ‘Admiralty Anchorage’ and ‘False Entrance’ are our favourite dives in the Coral Sea. Admiralty Anchorage has a multitude of canyons, caverns and swim-throughs that are full of various fish species. Moray Eels, often with Cleaner Wrasse, Leopard, Grey and White Tipped Reef Sharks and palegics out in the blue complete a brilliant vista. Meanwhile, ‘False Entrance’ is a cluster of small bommies coming to within 5 m of the surface. The variety and condition of the corals there are spectacular including massive yellow soft corals and giant orange Gorgonian

For the wreck diving enthusiast there is the wreck of the SS Atlas located on the northern face of Bougainville Reef. On November 9, 1945, she became stuck on the reef and was abandoned. Today she is well-preserved with remnants that extend above the waterline and thus is a popular dive site although it is known for the strong currents that surround it. Therefore, when diving the SS Atlas the divers are clearly briefed, made aware of the potential dangers and to take conservative measures to avoid any risk. There is also the wreck of the SS Antonio Tarabocchia: an Italian steel cargo ship built in 1956. She had a single diesel engine, a length of 140m and a beam of 18m. On the November 13, 1961, she hit the seaward side of Bougainville Reef. While there was no loss of life and ocean-going tugs were deployed to save the vessel, by mid-December, she had broken up considerably and was declared unsalvageable. Parts of the vessel can still be seen on the reef, especially at low tide. Underwater we dived the ships boiler, engine block, anchor and chain and in just 5m of water the ships propellor. One of the most amazing things about dive excursions to remote areas, especially when the conditions are just right, there is always the potential to discover new dive sites. We were able to anchor on a lee side of the reef at a site we named: ‘Weather Station’ as it is immediately adjacent to the weather station

Propeller of the SS Antonio Tarabocchia

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DIVE LOG Australasia #411- April 25