The Pines is a coffee-rock wall that runs north-south about 100 m off the beach on the western side of Moreton Island, between Bulwer and Cowan Cowan. The Adreno guide puts its length at around 500 m, and it is usually run as a drift dive on the incoming tide, which carries divers along the wall past ledges, overhangs and scattered bommies. Depths range from about 6 m on the top to 25 m, with most of the interest around 14-15 m.

Coffee rock – compacted sand and organic material that erodes into ledges and holes – gives the wall a textured, undercut profile that suits wobbegongs, and they are common here. The fish life is plentiful for an inshore bay site: large schools of trevally, batfish, fusiliers and barracuda, turtles and gropers, stingrays on the sand below the wall, and lionfish in the overhangs. Nigel Marsh also notes pineapplefish and nudibranchs for those who look into the cracks.

Because the dive covers ground, it offers variety in a single tank and makes a good second dive after the deeper Curtin Artificial Reef, a short hop to the south. It is also used for night dives. Visibility is typically 8-10 m, which is normal for Moreton Bay.

Divers should be comfortable with drift techniques – staying with a buddy, controlling buoyancy in current and deploying a DSMB – but the depth and profile make it manageable for open-water divers under guidance. It is one of the more reliable bay dives when the ocean side is blown out.

Boat access. Brisbane charters (Brisbane Scuba from Manly Boat Harbour; Go Dive Brisbane; Brisbane Dive Academy) cross Moreton Bay to the western shore of Moreton Island in roughly 45-60 minutes. Private boats launch at Scarborough Boat Harbour, Manly or the Port of Brisbane-area ramps (Wynnum, Victoria Point for the south) and run north-east across the bay; the run is sheltered from ocean swell but can be choppy in fresh south-easterlies.

Divers with 4WDs can also take the MICAT vehicle barge from the Port of Brisbane to the Tangalooma area and drive the western beach (QPWS vehicle permit required). The Pines lies about 100 m off the beach between Bulwer and Cowan Cowan and is normally dived as a boat-supported drift.

Best dived as a drift on the incoming tide, when the current runs along the wall and the water is clearest; slack high water suits divers who prefer to stay put. The ebb brings turbid bay water. Sheltered from ocean swell, but westerly and north-westerly winds blow directly onto this shore and make the pickup rough.

Visibility averages 8-10 m, better in winter and after southerlies; poor after heavy rain.

Enter up-current, descend to the base of the wall at about 15 m and drift along it with the incoming tide, dropping onto the bommies and ledges as you go. Deploy a DSMB well before ascending so the boat can follow and pick you up down-current.

Brisbane Scuba, Go Dive Brisbane and Brisbane Dive Academy – regularly paired with Curtin Artificial Reef; Supercat Charters.