South Wall - Gold Coast Seaway

The ultimate area is the South Wall which is usually entered from the shore at the Short Pipe where a cement slab leads to the waters edge. 40 metres east of here is the Sand Pipe which traverses the sea way. Between these two pipes and out along the Sand Pipe and the Eagle Ray Cleaning Station is the greatest display of marine biodiversity in one location in any Australian city.

The normal time to access the South Wall area is when the visibility is best and the current the lowest. This is usually on the high tide time but can extend another 30 minutes past the high tide depending on wind direction, wind speed and the height of the tide.

High tides generally range between 0.8 and 1.8 metres, the lower end may be accessed much earlier. But it really comes down to level of experience and fitness when to enter the seaway, as with many locations if you want to see the big pelagics then while the current is still coming in is a good time, if you want less stress and aren’t so fit wait until the current stops running.

Sand Pipe

The coffee rock and sandy bottom of the seaway don’t support a lot of life, but the rocks and the pipes do, especially the sand bypass pipe that crosses where the seaway is 340 metres wide.

The Sand Pipe (as I call it) exits the South Wall at a depth of 6 metres and is supported off the seafloor by 10 vertical posts for 260 metres before entering the sandy bottom and continuing under the sand for 50 metres before again exiting the sand 24 metres south of the northern wall.

The exposed pipe is totally encrusted in barnacles and cunjevoi, the high current flow suiting them well and this sets the base for the ecosystem that lives on the Sand Pipe.

The main attraction here for divers is not the life living on the pipe but the fish that come to be cleaned by the Striped Cleaner Wrasses. On average over 500 Bigeye Trevally congregate here daily hanging-out at the Sand Pipe travelling back and forward alongside the pipe; several will be seen to drop down along side each upright where the cleanerfish are standing by to give them the once over. These trevally are so used to divers that generally it is possible to just swim among them for as long as you like.

In the late afternoon/evening they disappear and return in the early hours, sometimes they will disappear for a few days but they always return to this their safe haven.

As well as the trevally, but not as regularly, large QLD Gropers, Mulloway, Barracuda and the occasional White Spotted Eagle Ray will be seen lined up at the cleaning stations. More often though the eagle rays at the Sand Pipe will be seen chewing on the cunjevoi shroud as they have their own favourite cleaning station east of the Sand Pipe in a coffee rock outcrop where I commonly see 4 or 5 eagle rays lined up for a cleaning.

These other fish at the Sand Pipe are much more timid than the trevally and often the first divers out along the pipe will cause them to stand-off for a time but they will usually return to continue their cleaning.

On the Sand Pipe the incoming current can be quite strong even after the official high tide especially on the higher tides, so diving in current skills are essential and be aware you will use more air than usual.

Even though the Sand Pipe is a great navigation aid (north-south) it is highly recommended to carry a compass as when the pipe is out of sight it is easy to become disorientated.

I usually don’t bother to dive on the Sand Pipe at night as the Trevally and other big fish usually aren’t there but on the occasions I have, on half of them I have encountered an eagle ray chewing on the cunjevoi and octopuses at the base of most of the upright sections.

On the Sand Pipe there are 3 main congregation areas for the visiting fish, the exit point at the South Wall to the 2^nd upright support, between the 5^th and 6^th upright supports, and the 8^th upright support. Unless the current has completely stopped it is recommended that divers have advanced training before attempting to leave the South Wall and travelling out along the Sand Pipe. The 8^th upright support is where you are more likely to see the QLD Gropers and large Mulloway.

The Short Pipe

The Short Pipe is actually a treated effluent water outlet but I decided it would be more appropriate to name it in reference to its length. The “B” grade treated water is pumped out approximately 1-1/2 hours after the official high tide and by then most divers are out of the water as the outgoing current has a reduced visibility. The Luderick and other algae feeders gather in large numbers ready for this event.

Around the Short Pipe and adjacent rock wall is a very healthy ecosystem with over 150 species of fish that are residents or regular visitors and is a photographer’s paradise. To park your car and walk 15 metres to have this level of diving is quite unique and something to be cherished.

The Short Pipe extends out 40 metres from the cement slab, the top of the horizontal section of pipe is at 7m and the deepest seafloor point along pipe is 11 metres at the end of the pipe. This area and around the adjacent rock wall is ideal for the new diver.

It is an intense cleaning station in fact at times so many fish line up that the Long Fin Bannerfish often join in on the cleaning and out number the cleaner wrasses.

The Short Pipe is more of interest in the fish that live in the surrounds but it too is graced by some of the larger visitors, I suspect it is when the Sand Pipe cleaning stations are over loaded. A five foot Mulloway was lined up here for a couple of days earlier this year.

Here we often find the special creatures that entice photographers such as the Ghost Pipefish, Cockatoo Waspfish, Stick Pipefish and Zebra Lionfish.

This area has a large range of butterflyfish but unfortunately we don’t yet have protection laws and the aquarium trade is putting a high toll on the luxury fish. In fact, of recent times I have not seen the Common Lionfish at this site where previously, we would see several.

It is a shame because we are in a time when the community needs to be more aware of the marine life that may be affected by our daily actions and this is the one place on the QLD coastline where a high density community can access the marine world in relative ease and safety. It would be great if those snorkelling in the shallows could be exposed to the full extent of the fish life endearing them to the marine environment but at this point there are species missing or they quickly retreat from approaching divers.

The Eagle Ray Cleaning Station

The Eagle Ray Cleaning Station is 70 metres east of the Sand Pipe and being a coffee rock outcrop it doesn’t support benthic life well but where the coffee rock has crumbled there are nooks and crannies for fish to hide. If there is little or no current you are not as likely to see the eagle rays here as they like to hang in the current just above the cleaner fish for their cleaning.

Travelling east this is the point where the deep channel exceeds 15 metres in depth, in some sections reaching 20 metres.