Yolanda and Shark Reef

The site consists of two small reefs; Shark Reef and Yolanda Reef, which are joined by a saddle with vertical drops on the seaward side, of 750 metres. On the east side of Yolanda Reef between the shore is a tiny reef, known as Satellite Reef. It is between these two reefs that the cargo of the Yolanda can be found. The Yolanda, a Cypriot merchant ship hit the reef in April 1980. It lay in the shallow waters until violent storms in 1987 pushed the wreck into the Abyss to where it currently lays today at about 200 metres. The wreck of the Yolanda is famous for its sanitaryware; Many toilets, sinks and stacks of bath are clearly visible.

This is a really fantastic dive but the strong currents, which feeds the prolific soft corals making the site worthy of its top ten ranking, means the dive is not of the faint hearted.

Generally you start your dive at Shark reef and you let the current take you around to Yolanda reef. The views are spectacular! However, it was not until our fourth visit to this site that we made it to the wreck due to unfortunate head currents. We only saw the wreck on the fourth time because we were dropped in directly on top of it. We have since visited the wreck twice, starting at Shark Reef, and didn't encounter a head current at all, possibly due to the fact that we approached it from deeper.

The life in this area is amazing. Huge shoals of batfish, unicornfish, barracuda and snappers inhabit the seaward side. Out in the blue, if you are lucky, are blacktip, grey tip and hammerhead sharks. By the reefs and on the saddle you can spot morays, scorpionfish and, on our most recent visit, a huge feathertailed ray.

This site is briiliant even if you don't get to the wreck!

June 2010

The recent weather has been good for diving, light winds and/or northerlys which means that the vis has improved. The plankton bloom is going fast and the water is getting warmer.

After a couple of years of failed attempts (weather!), we finally managed to dive the Mixon Hole this weekend, not once but twice and it was fantastic, we had no idea that there was such diverse topography just off our shores.

We were dropped in on the northern ledge which we touched at about 5m. The vis was 10-15m and the colours were breathtaking. Outbreaks of kelp and other species, all manner of greens and browns against a backdrop of vivid green water being illuminated by the sun and a clear blue sky. Then we looked behind us and only a few metres away from us was the edge. We descended over the edge and followed a wall down to about 10m. The wall was made up of soft mud/clay and was home to lots of edible crab. Then a sloping bank continued downward. Even at 20m we could easily tell when clouds passed overhead. On the second dive we encounted a Gurnard and lobster as well as many more breathtaking views of the wall and ridge above us. At one point there is an overhang which is spectacular.

We are looking forward to getting back there with the cameras as soon as we can.

Thank you to Mulberry Divers for the most excellent diving.