Brother Islands/Daedalus/Elphinstone
The Brother Islands belong to the greatest dive-sites of the world. Both brothers are towering out of the depth of the sea and are located around 150 km off the coast.
The Little Brother lies around 1 nautic mile away from Big Brother, is roundish and circa 50 m in diameter. The north-plateau is suited for watching sharks, which are regularly passing this area. After watching the sharks you let the current decide at which side you will dive to go back to the moorings at the south-plateau. The east- and west-side are assembled with a rich flora and fauna. The more protected east-side is having more soft-corals with the west-side offering more hard-corals because of the breakers. A little bit deeper a splendid seafan garden is waiting for you. You will find different kinds of sharks and mantas. Also a lot of smaller fish which are bustling around the reef. Even during the safety-stop under the boat you will not feel bored because of the silky sharks circling around.
The Big Brother is 400 m long and 90 m wide. Here, you will find a lighthouse which was built in 1883 and is currently used by the army.
Up north, the wreck of NUMIDIA is located. This steamer was 150 m long. The wreck stretches from the surface down to 80 m. The ship sunk around 100 years ago and is now home to a variety of corals.
The sunken ship offers a fascinating view during the early-morning. After you have reached the wreck you can watch sharks, which are circling the open sea. A wonderful experience. But Big Brother offers more. Frames, covered with soft- and hard-corals and big seafans. The variety of fish is enormous. You will find, amongst others, groupers, snappers, breams and goatfish, as well as small groups of trevallies. Have a look into the open sea and you will see sharks and barracudas.
Another highlight is the 82 m long wreck of AIDA which sunk 1957. It is lying between 30 - 65 m and an ideal place for taking underwater photos.
At the Brother Islands it is not allowed to dive during the night. Seize the opportunity to visit the island in the afternoon. You can enjoy the view from the lighthouse and drink tea with the inhabitants of the island.
The Brother Islands are suitable only for experienced divers. Because of strong currents and the possibility of high waves it is not easy to dive at Brother Islands.
Daedalus-Reef - a huge reef formation - will meet all your expectations. You won't find many other boats here because the coastline is arround 4 hours away.
This is the reason why the dive-sites at Daedalus are nearly untouched. Around the big reef-plateau the reef is steeply falling off.
Go north by zodiac. It takes longer, but you will make a fantastic dive. Hammerhead sharks are often spotted here. Underwater life is sensational. Morays, turtles or napoleonfish are common here and you will particularly enjoy the populous "city" of sea anemones.
At the legendary Elphinstone-Reef hammerhead sharks, reef sharks and sometimes the oceanic whitetip sharks are coming across. The walls are steeply falling off. You will find a lot of colorful corals and different kind of fish. Also mantas are passing by.
(from: www.art-of-active.com)
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