Night Dive on the wreck of the HMAS Brisbane

You’ve dived Her plenty of times … you know Her intricate maze of corridors and spacious holds … you know Her fury in the current and Her taunting gestures in the surge that throw you about her rooms … you know Her humbling effect as you look up at her bow … you know her peace and comfort as you float about the engine room … you know She provides a home and meals for her children of the sea … you think you know Her like the back of your own hand … but you don’t know Her at night …

Like a raging river the adrenalin is pumping through your veins.  As the sun withdraws below the horizon the ocean embodies a stillness that is calming.  Your first dive is replaying in your mind: a collage of king fish chasing schools of bait fish, groupers bigger than you, lionfish, nudibranchs, guitar sharks and rays, masses of bulls eyes … you felt like you were a kid in a candy shop.  You’re still devouring the sweetness of that first dive as dusk makes way for darkness.  The lights of the dive boat are comforting as you roll into the water with all your gear attached.  You switch on your dive light and fin to the mooring line at the surface.  There is no chop … there is no noise … you can hear your own heart beating as well as your buddy’s.  You signal and descend into the watery depths.  The beam of your dive light slices the water so you can easily focus on following the mooring line to your destination. 

It’s as if fog is lifting as the outline of a ghost ship appears.  Emerging from the darkness is a wondrous 130m long structure; once a symbol of war and battle, now a humbling graveyard of steel that has given birth to and sustains so much life.  She beckons you to come closer.  She has changed since your fast-paced dive an hour ago.  Now tranquil and inviting you are drawn onto Her deck and you and your buddy begin to gently explore Her.  She is grateful of your presence; your company is reassuring to Her now that all Her fish are asleep.  You are wary not to startle the giant grouper sleeping as you swim past.  Something dazzles in the light of your torch – pelagic's have ventured in for the night. The smaller creatures begin to make their presence known.  Cleaner shrimp are busy socializing on the roofs of Her holds.  Octopus are stalking prey and lionfish are hunting.  On closer inspection the splashes of blue covering the surfaces of Her hull are painted crayfish twice the size of your hand.   

You are entranced by the peace, beauty and serenity that She has encased you in.  Unfortunately, you must leave Her.  You feel a twinge of sadness overcome you as you begin your steady ascent – the time with Her was not long enough.   

 You will return … as you realize you really don’t know Her at night. 

General Inquiries: info@evolutionoceanscuba.com.au