Turtle Bommie

Turtles are often encountered on the dive sites off Cairns and a good place to encounter one is Turtle Bommie. This magic dive site is located off Saxon Reef, with the terrain made up of coral gardens and a collection of small and large bommies in depths to 15 metres.

The largest bommie at the site is Turtle Bommie and is a cleaning station where reef fish gather for their daily cleaning service. A squadron of cleaner wrasse are always busy here, picking parasites and other debris off the assembled fish. They are fascinating to watch, especially when they boldly enter the gills and open mouth of their clients.

Turtles also visit the bommie to get cleaned, and can be found resting amongst the soft corals. Turtle Bommie is also a good location to see pelagic fish like barracuda, mackerel and trevally. And if you search between the corals you are likely to find nudibranchs, octopus, flatworms, sea stars and occasionally a broadclub cuttlefish.