Silver Drummer Wall

This reef wall running NE/SE is off Bateau Bay, dropping ~13m down to 20m. It is quite barren on top as you'd expect for the depth.

The wall is not solid as such but a distinct reef edge made up of very large boulders that step down to the bottom of the wall at 20m where there is further scattered reef, kelp and sand. There are cracks between sections of the wall and plenty of things to look around inside. It is a sparse site from a fixed growth perspective but there is gorgonian, zooanthid and sea tulip growth present.

This is a fish watching site. On my fish dive on the site we were surrounded by a school of approximately 30 juvenile Southern Silver Drummer who kept us company for much of the dive. You can also expect to other schooling fish as Yellowfin Pike, One Spot Pullers and Sweep. I have also encountered the other following species:

• Ornate Wobbegong
• Port Jackson Shark
• Six Spine & Black Reef Leatherjacket
• Blue Grouper
• Maori wrasse
• White-eared Parma
• Bulleyes

Dive the site by exploring up and down the wall and in the reef cracks towards the SE. As the interesting parts of the site are in the 16-18m range this is not really a good site to dive when there is a swell running. Visibility will be effected by the sand at the base of the wall and it will likely be a surge present.

Anchoring at the base of the wall is no problem as there are lots of options for solid holds. The GPS Mark for the site is S33º23.215' E151º29.950' (WGS84 hdddºmm.mmm').