Middle Earth is one of the Bougainville Reef sites named on Mike Ball Dive Expeditions' Far Northern Reefs expedition, alongside Dungeons & Dragons and Crystal Plateau, which suggests a Tolkien-minded crew was responsible for naming this part of the reef. Marinelife.org.au lists it among Bougainville's drift dives with The Sticks and Between the Wrecks, and Dive the World lists it as a possible site with limited description.

No detailed description has been published. The name, and its placement among the Bougainville drift sites, point to a wall or slope run as a drift, perhaps with caves or gullies like neighbouring Dungeons & Dragons. As at other Bougainville wall sites, divers can expect grey reef and whitetip sharks, schools of trevally, snapper and unicornfish, turtles, and a covering of soft corals and fans on the wall face. The clear oceanic water, typically 20–40 m visibility, is the constant at every Bougainville site.

Bougainville is a small, isolated reef that usually gets one day on Mike Ball's Coral Sea itineraries, so the crew chooses a handful of dives from the reef's many named sites according to conditions. Middle Earth appears most often on the longer Far Northern expedition.

This record is provisional. The depth range and location should be confirmed with the operator. It suits intermediate divers comfortable with drift technique and ascending away from a mooring line, and it should be treated as an occasional site rather than a regular one, with the crew briefing as the authority on route and conditions.

Liveaboard only. Mike Ball's Spoilsport visits Bougainville on its 4-night Osprey fly-dive (Cairns departure Thursday evening, return by flight from Lizard Island), 5-night Coral Sea & Cod Hole and 7-night Coral Sea expeditions; the overnight run from Cairns is roughly 230 km of open ocean. Bougainville is not guaranteed on every itinerary and is usually allocated one day.

Middle Earth is listed on Mike Ball's Far Northern Reefs expedition and is run as a drift or moored dive depending on the current.

Bougainville is a small, isolated Coral Sea reef about 230 km north-east of Cairns and 150 km south of Osprey, with no land to shelter behind, so the surface can be choppy in any SE trade wind over about 20 knots, common June to August. Conditions broadly follow Osprey's, though Bougainville is sometimes calmer when Osprey is windy. Currents are generally mild but can pick up on the corners and walls.

September to December usually gives the calmest seas and best visibility (20–40 m); December to April is cyclone season.

Follow the crew briefing. Typically drop up-current, descend to about 20 m along the wall, drift with the reef on one side and ascend under an SMB at half gas.

Mike Ball Dive Expeditions (Spoilsport) – Far Northern Reefs and some Coral Sea expeditions.