Mistaken Cape (Maria Island)

Meet the site

Mistaken Cape, the easternmost point of Maria Island, is rated 9.5 out of 10 by the Marine Life Network guide, which calls it a real expedition-style dive. The site is a reef about 200 m wide with rock spires in 20-40 m of water and stunning visibility, reached only after a long boat trip from Dunalley or Orford via Darlington.

The guide describes yellow zoanthids covering rock faces up to 15 m high, sea whips, basket stars, hydroids and abalone, with leatherjackets, wrasse and clouds of butterfly perch. That profile - deep granite spires plastered with zoanthids and whips in clear oceanic water - is similar to the best Governor Island sites at Bicheno, but in a far more remote and rarely visited setting.

Maria Island is a national park with no permanent residents apart from rangers, and the Darlington settlement preserves convict-era buildings from 1825 onwards. The marine reserve along the island's northern and western shores has been no-take since 1991 and has been used for long-term studies of how protection affects rock lobster and fish numbers, so reef life inside it is noticeably richer than outside.

Maria Island's boat sites are rarely visited because there is no operator on the island and the eastern coast is a long way from the Triabunna ramp. Visitors with their own boats should carry oxygen and a radio, check the forecast for Mercury Passage as well as the open coast, and remember that the Royal Hobart Hospital chamber is roughly two hours away by road once back at Triabunna.

What you might see

Yellow zoanthids, sea whips, basket stars, hydroids, sponges, butterfly perch, leatherjackets, wrasse, abalone

Location

The easternmost point of Maria Island, with rock spires and a 200 m-wide reef in 20-40 m and exceptional visibility.

Facilities nearby

Darlington: toilets, showers at the Penitentiary accommodation, campground, ranger station, no shop or air fills. Triabunna: ramp, fuel, supermarket, cafes. Nearest air fills in Hobart.