Location
80 Ft Reef is located approximately 1 nautical mile off the Gold Coast Seaway Entrance, in between Migaloo Reef and Campos Reef. As most of our Gold Coast offshore reefs, 80 Foot Reef is a nickname rather than an official name and relates to its depth of 24-25m.
History
The rocky reef has been a dive site since more than 20 years and was explored and named by offshore diving pioneers Southport Fish and Dive Centre who operated 2 dive vessels at the time.
How to dive there
Today, 80 Foot Reef is rarely visited by commercial diving operators due to its depth, being an advanced only dive and the close proximity of more popular and more diversified reefs including Palm Beach Reef. That being said, 80 Foot Reef is a beautiful dive and always an option as part of our Advanced Reef + Wreck Double Dive Tours. We do however never promise a specific site beforehand as we rather chose the best possible site of the day once we can fully assess the diving conditions.
The Dive Site
The 22-25m deep 80 Foot Reef is a rocky reef, consisting of boulders, bommies and sandy patches in between. The rock is mostly coffee rock and appears in pink colours in some places. The sharp edges provide the perfect habitat for octopus, anemone fish, nudibranchs, soft coral and wobbegong sharks. There are large featherstars and large schools of bait fish. A highlight of 80 Foot reef are the passing dolphins that feed on the reef and are frequently seen.
Other Dive Sites in the area
For our advanced diving certifications, we love to visit Campos Reef. It is similar in nature but provides depths up to 30 meters and sometimes better visibility as it is further offshore. For our Open Water Divers (18m) we, visit the nearby Migaloo Reef with depths between 16m and 19m and there is of course the historic wreck of the Scottish Prince.
To find out more about Gold Coast offshore dive sites, visit our dive site library with photos, maps and more information.
