Advice on sharks & Yongala

[covediver]

This may be a bit dated, but I did a trip with Yongala dive in November 2011. The accommodations at the lodge were great, the staff was very friendly and professional, the beach launch was different than anything I had done before (and I have done a lot of different diving), the dives were fantastic and the after dive bbq at the lodge was a great way to end the day. A class act all the way around.

 

[Wobbegong wannabe]

I also dived with Yongala dive in 2012 and they were great. I stayed in Ayr (twenty minutes drive away) which is a nice town, albiet small. Bear in mind that it's a half hour trip in an RIB to get there and the day I went it was rough. I wasn't all that nice to be around, and nor were a lot of other divers... :tmi2: Great dive though, and a good operator. Professional throughout the boat trip/dive and a very nice barbie lunch afterwards.

WRT reviews, I don't know what you've read but bear in mind that both operators to the Yongala are local Australian dive ops, not like the big tourist boats running out of Cairns and Port Douglas. I.e. you won't get a sundeck, hot buffet lunch and big fluffy towels. If that's what you're after then don't be disappointed, because that's the drill. IME you will get a safe RIB operation run by nice, professional people, and some beaut home baked cake during the surface interval .

If you're in SEQ, the former HMAS Brisbane off Mooloolaba has various friendly white tipped reef sharks that hang around the wreck waiting to say g'day to divers. There are two operators that go there and they're both good. It's about an hour's drive north of Brisbane.