Travel

Manta rays at Stradbroke Island’s famed Manta Bommie dive site are used to divers and often get very close—provided no one swims onto the cleaning station (Canon EOS R5 Mark II, Nauticam housing, Canon RF 24–50mm f/4.5–6.3, Nauticam FCP, dual Retra Flash Pro Max II strobes, f/13, 1/200s, ISO 160)
 

At the last OzTek/ADEX Australia dive show, I caught up with Dan Fitzgerald and James Griffith from Manta Lodge, a dive center based on North Stradbroke Island, a short ferry ride from Brisbane, Queensland. They regaled me with tales of schooling eagle rays, masses of spinner sharks, and even safety stop humpback whales. To say my curiosity was piqued would be an understatement. This sounded like Galápagos-level action on the doorstep of Australia’s third-largest city. I had to see it for myself and, in September 2025, I finally did.

Manta Lodge sits at the northern tip of North Stradbroke Island—called “Straddie” by locals. Getting there is straightforward: a 25-minute ferry ride from Cleveland, south Brisbane, which is about a 45-minute drive from Brisbane International Airport. The dive center also operates as a youth hostel, where I stayed in a comfortable private room with a shared bathroom. Dorm options include four-bed and six-bed rooms. If you’re after more privacy or a more upmarket feel, there are plenty of accommodation choices elsewhere on Straddie—only a short drive away—but I appreciated the convenience of staying right next to my dive gear.
 

North Stradbroke island on an ideal weather day: The popular Manta Bommie dive site sits near those foreground islets
 

A simple but convenient private room, just above the dive center and a mere 400 feet from a stunning beach
 

Dive briefings took place in the shade of eucalyptus trees after the boat was loaded. They were always informative and entertaining—especially on the morning a koala above us woke up and decided to get on with his day!
 

Every dive starts off on the sandy beach—with a tractor used to launch and recover the boat!

Tech-Diving Friendly

My wife Lena and I had dived with Manta Lodge once before—just prior to the start of the COVID pandemic—and we still remembered the adrenaline-charged experience: beach launches with a tractor, and the exhilarating marine life at Manta Bommie. Back then, Manta Lodge was primarily a recreational dive operation, and our rEvo rebreathers definitely stood out on the boat.

In the years since, they’ve evolved into one of Australia’s most active tech-diving centers. They rent and train divers on the Mares Horizon SCR and rEvo CCR, and have recently added the Halcyon Symbios CCR to their training offerings. Twinset and sidemount divers are welcome, too. Drysuits and diver propulsion vehicles are among the other “cool toys” you can try during their annual Tech Diving Weekend. (Ladies, take note: They also run a girls-only tech weekend.)

Importantly, Manta Lodge hasn’t dropped its recreational offerings. They run guided recreational boat dives almost daily, but their fleet of three boats gives them flexibility: They can run tech-only boats, where the standard “two × 50-minute dives” is replaced by a single 90–120-minute dive.
 

Manta Lodge is one of those few dive centers where you can have a bubble-free dive guide. Here, Taylah is kitted up with a rEvo CCR and showed me around during a great two-hour dive (Canon EOS R5 Mark II, Nauticam housing, Canon RF 24–50mm f/4.5–6.3, Nauticam FCP, dual Retra Flash Pro Max II strobes, f/13, 1/80s, ISO 320)

Manta Bommie

The aptly-named Manta Bommie is regularly ranked among Australia’s top dive sites—and for good reason. Reef mantas are consistently seen here from October to April when they visit the bommies (an Aussie term for large underwater coral heads/rock structures) for parasite cleaning. With only two dive centers visiting the site, it feels far less crowded than many famous manta locations elsewhere in the world. Divers are allowed to settle near the cleaning stations, and the mantas remain relaxed, as long as everyone stays low and avoids swimming directly at them.

Once everyone has had their manta fill, your guide leads you away from the bommies to a wide stretch of white sand that extends as far as the eye can see. This area is typically exposed to a fast-flowing current. It feels like an underwater highway and you’re essentially invited to merge into traffic for an exhilarating 700–1,000-feet ride before taking the next exit, and swimming back to the bommies.
 

I was happy enough to spot this cowtail stingray, which I began photographing, only to be photobombed by two manta rays gliding through the background! Fun fact: Manta season normally starts in October and they weren’t supposed to be there yet. I guess they didn’t get the memo—we saw five of them on September 21st! (Canon EOS R5 Mark II, Nauticam housing, Canon RF 24–50mm f/4.5–6.3, Nauticam FCP, dual Retra Flash Pro Max II strobes, f/13, 1/60s, ISO 320)
 

James Griffith, owner of Manta Lodge, guiding us on his Symbios CCR. He spotted three giant guitarfish right as we got down to the site and one of them is visible on the far left of the photo (Canon EOS R5 Mark II, Nauticam housing, Canon RF 24–50mm f/4.5–6.3, Nauticam FCP, f/13, 1/125s, ISO 500)
 

When the current is running, this “highway” reliably delivers an assortment of marine megafauna. On every visit, I’ve encountered the critically endangered giant guitarfish, and I’ve also had a manta ray and a squadron of mobula rays “fly” over me. On that sandy stretch, leopard sharks are commonly seen during the summer months, from December through February, and I even saw my first reticulate whipray in the same area. The best part? All of this is accessible to recreational divers, with a maximum depth of 50 feet—brilliant!
 

A reticulate whipray partially buried in the sand. The species is recognizable by the maze-like patterns on its back (Canon EOS R5 Mark II, Nauticam housing, Canon RF 24–50mm f/4.5–6.3, Nauticam FCP, dual Retra Flash Pro Max II strobes, f/13, 1/160s, ISO 250)
 

As I was slowly approaching the giant guitarfish (right of the photo), a reef manta ray suddenly appeared above me. Two days later, we had four mobula rays swim over us at the same spot. Manta Bommie certainly ranks amongst my very favorite dive sites (Canon EOS R5 Mark II, Nauticam housing, Canon RF 24–50mm f/4.5–6.3, Nauticam FCP, dual Retra Flash Pro Max II strobes, f/13, 1/100s, ISO 200)

Stradbroke on Rebreather

Over the past decade and a half, I’ve dived almost exclusively with rebreathers. They allow you to dive in silence and get closer to marine life, especially shy species like giant guitarfish. That said, at Manta Bommie itself, the diving is so exceptional that I don’t feel that I necessarily saw more animals than open-circuit divers did.

It’s a different story, however, at some of the other sites frequently visited by Manta Lodge. At these locations, the crew has observed encounters that they either don’t see on open circuit—or see in much lower numbers—and that’s exactly what they wanted to show me during my September trip.
 

You will likely see giant guitarfish at Manta Bommie on open circuit, but a rebreather makes it far easier to approach them for a photo (Canon EOS R5 Mark II, Nauticam housing, Canon RF 24–50mm f/4.5–6.3, Nauticam FCP, dual Retra Flash Pro Max II strobes, f/13, 1/125s, ISO 200)
 

On my first visit to Roaring Deep, a site running along the bottom of Flat Rock Island at around 100 feet, we encountered a swarm of spotted eagle rays. I admired them from a distance, only to watch them disappear despite the silence of our CCRs. I assumed they were simply too wary to photograph, even on rebreathers. However, Dan signaled me to wait—and to remain completely still. No swimming around to look for other photographic subjects, just stay very still. I followed his advice, and the adrenaline hit when I saw one ray return, then two, then three, and finally the entire school, passing right overhead at touching distance. In fact, they swam over us three separate times!

By then, we’d accumulated roughly 20 minutes of decompression time and began ascending. On the way up, we were buzzed by a bull shark, then encountered a large marbled ray, then barracudas and schooling fish in the shallows—even a lone gray nurse shark cruised past. All on a single dive.
 

Spotted eagle rays are naturally curious but you’d typically see one or two glide near you before disappearing. Having this school come back over us three times was truly special (Canon EOS R5 Mark II, Nauticam housing, Canon RF 24–50mm f/4.5–6.3, Nauticam FCP, sinlge Retra Flash Pro Max II strobe, f/14, 1/200s, ISO 500)
 

Barracudas circling above Dan as we started ascending (Canon EOS R5 Mark II, Nauticam housing, Canon RF 24–50mm f/4.5–6.3, Nauticam FCP, f/13, 1/100s, ISO 400)
 

The author, getting up close and personal with a leopard shark, courtesy of diving on a rebreather. Leopard shark sightings become common later in the year, but during our September stay, we were the only ones to see them, quite deep, while diving rebreathers (Nikon D500, Nauticam housing, Tokina 10–17mm f/3.5–4.5 Fisheye, dual Backscatter Hybrid Flash strobes, f/9, 1/160s, ISO 500)
 

The second time I dived Roaring Deep, we saw three leopard sharks lounging at depth. September is earlier than they’re usually spotted in the season. Further away, we encountered three large marbled rays accompanied by a swarm of bannerfish, and as we ascended past 50 feet, we saw something we’d heard on almost every dive: a humpback whale leisurely swimming by.

Dan later told me that more and more humpbacks seem to linger around Stradbroke Island each year in August and September, and some of them seem to take an interest in divers. The staff even run an informal contest to see who racks up the most whale encounters on scuba. My guide Taylah was leading the pack—this was her sixth whale encounter just this year!

On our third CCR visit to Roaring Deep, we had a “fever” of cownose rays pass by—and when we looked up, about 50 feet above us, we spotted a school of spinner sharks cruising slowly through the blue. They kept their distance, but I’m told that later in the season, they become more confident, and divers drifting during extended safety stops can end up with plenty of sharky company. Later on that same dive, we tacked on a lemon shark and another gray nurse shark to the elasmobranch tally.

During my fourth dive at Roaring Deep, the whale song grew louder and louder. I looked up again, partly hoping for spinner sharks, and instead saw a massive shadow glide past. My second humpback encounter on scuba—only two days after the first!
 

In the last eight years, I have spent hundreds of hours diving along Australia’s east coast and heard singing humpbacks on many dives, but this was the first time I’d had a whale come within a photography-friendly distance. The visibility was about 50 feet that day (Canon EOS R5 Mark II, Nauticam housing, Canon RF 24–50mm f/4.5–6.3, Nauticam FCP, dual Retra Flash Pro Max II strobes, f/13, 1/125s, ISO 400)
 

Turtles are frequently seen around Flat Rock, too, especially near a shallow overhang spot aptly named Turtle Cave (Canon EOS R5 Mark II, Nauticam housing, Canon RF 24–50mm f/4.5–6.3, Nauticam FCP, dual Retra Flash Pro Max II strobes, f/13, 1/125s, ISO 320)
 

For my fifth dive there, visibility dropped below 30 feet, and we couldn’t see as much in the open water. Still, as Tee (my CCR buddy for the day) and I glided along the reef at dusk, the place felt electric. Schooling fish were everywhere, and several times we were buzzed by a sandbar shark and a couple of curious spotted eagle rays. At one point, we moved away from the sloping reef in the hope of finding spinner sharks again. We didn’t get a close pass, but we did catch the faint glint of a few distinctive dorsal fins right at the edge of visibility. I was told I’ll need to return around October or November for closer encounters.
 

The oversized dorsal fin of the sandbar shark is quite distinctive. This one was curious but wouldn’t come close enough for a true fisheye shot, and the murky water made it impossible to get a clean shot that day. That’s where having the right gear and software makes all the difference: The Nauticam FCP offers ample zoom-through flexibility, and BackscatterXTerminator made all particles disappear, letting me keep a usable shot of that first-time encounter (Canon EOS R5 Mark II, Nauticam housing, Canon RF 24–50mm f/4.5–6.3, Nauticam FCP, dual Retra Flash Pro Max II strobes, f/13, 1/80s, ISO 640)
 

I almost forgot the sizeable potato groupers! We saw these charismatic fish on every single dive around Flat Rock (Canon EOS R5 Mark II, Nauticam housing, Canon RF 24–50mm f/4.5–6.3, Nauticam FCP, dual Retra Flash Pro Max II strobes, f/13, 1/80s, ISO 500)

Elasmobranch Bonanza

Sharks and rays are among my favorite subjects to photograph, and over six days of diving with Manta Lodge, I saw an impressive total: six shark species (bull shark, gray nurse shark, lemon shark, wobbegong, spinner shark, and sandbar shark) and eight ray species (reef manta, mobula ray, cowtail ray, reticulate stingray, giant guitarfish, marbled stingray, spotted eagle ray, and cownose ray).

While manta rays, turtles, wobbegongs, and gray nurse sharks are easy enough to approach on open circuit, a rebreather gives a clear advantage for better photo opportunities with some of the other species listed above. And you never know, if you happen to glance up every once in a while, perhaps you’ll be rewarded with a humpback whale singing above you.
 

Gray nurse sharks congregate near Straddie in winter before migrating south as the water gets warmer (Canon EOS R5 Mark II, Nauticam housing, Canon RF 24–50mm f/4.5–6.3, Nauticam FCP, dual Retra Flash Pro Max II strobes, f/13, 1/80s, ISO 400)
 

The team at Manta Lodge deserve to be commended not only for the quality of the diving, but for the positive, energetic, and genuinely welcoming atmosphere. It’s one of the few operations I’ve seen that truly blends recreational and technical diving in a way that makes everyone feel included and well supported. In hindsight, their effort to get more of their staff rebreather-certified likely plays a big role in that. On that note, if you’re considering completing your IDC somewhere in Australia, Manta Lodge should definitely be on your shortlist.
 

My rebreather buddies on my final dive on Straddie: Chelsea (left) flying her Mares Horizon SCR, and Tee diving her KISS Sidewinder CCR (Canon EOS R5 Mark II, Nauticam housing, Canon RF 24–50mm f/4.5–6.3, Nauticam FCP, dual Retra Flash Pro Max II strobes, f/13, 1/100s, ISO 320)
 

The author would like to thank Manta Lodge for their hospitality during a one-week stay filled with memorable diving.
 

About the Author: Nicolas Remy is an Australia-based pro shooter and founder of online underwater photography school and community, The Underwater Club, with members in 18 countries. He serves as an ambassador for Nauticam and Mares, and chairs the jury of the prestigious DPG Masters photo competition. Nicolas’ images have been widely published in print and digital media, and have won over 40 international photo awards. To see more images by Nicolas and his wife Léna, visit their website, www.nicolaslenaremy.com.