Cod Hole

Meet the site

The Cod Hole is the dive that put the Ribbon Reefs on the world map. It lies at the very northern tip of Ribbon Reef No. 10, where the long outer barrier breaks up into a series of coral ridges and sand gutters facing Cormorant Pass. The star attraction is a resident group of potato cod (Epinephelus tukula), the second-largest grouper in the Indo-Pacific, which can reach two metres and 100 kg. Operators report anywhere from one to eight fish on a dive. Decades of controlled feeding under permit have made them remarkably relaxed with divers, and they cruise within centimetres of a mask, following people across the sand like large, curious dogs.

The site itself is more varied than its reputation suggests. Below the mooring is a sandy arena at 12–15 m bordered by long coral ridges that guides call the 'Supermarket Aisles'. The reef was badly damaged by Cyclones Yasi (2011), Ita (2014) and Nathan (2015), but by the 2020s Mike Ball's guides were describing new Acropora colonies everywhere on the shallow ridges and healthy growth on the eastern side. Deeper, the terrain drops to about 30 m, where gorgonian fans host pygmy seahorses. There are caverns and swim-throughs, a section known as Shark Alley for its whitetips, and a lagoon side worth exploring on a second dive.

Beyond the cod, the Cod Hole is a genuine big-fish site. Queensland groupers gather in the deeper sections in spring and summer, flowery and camouflage groupers are common, and diagonal-banded sweetlips can form aggregations of several thousand in spring. Schools of bumphead parrotfish, red bass, sailfin snapper, grey and whitetip reef sharks, lacy scorpionfish and anemonefish round out the list, and whale sharks, manta rays and great hammerheads turn up occasionally. It suits every level of diver; the shallow sand arena makes it an easy dive, while the ridges and deeper fans keep experienced divers and photographers busy.

What you might see

Potato cod, Queensland grouper, flowery cod, camouflage grouper, diagonal-banded sweetlips (spring aggregations), bumphead parrotfish, red bass, sailfin snapper, grey and whitetip reef sharks, Maori wrasse, lacy scorpionfish, pygmy seahorses (on fans near 30 m), giant clams, spinecheek and pink anemonefish; seasonal whale sharks, manta rays and great hammerheads

Location

Northern tip of Ribbon Reef No. 10 on the outer Great Barrier Reef, about 50 minutes by boat north-east of Lizard Island and roughly 240 km north of Cairns.