Up close and personal with a wobbegong carpet shark at Shag Rock, a dive site off North Stradbroke Island

My first Australian diving experience was based out of Brisbane and North Stradbroke Island in Queensland. First I did a Nitrox course with Dive World at Tweed Heads. Although there isn’t a ton of amazing reef life, there were some impressive schools of fish and a cute Buddha statue to be seen. There were some heavy currents so it was hard to take pictures, but I did snap a few.

Then I ventured off to North Stradbroke Island to dive with Manta Lodge. I did two days of diving there, both at Shag Rock which is a site just off their beach. I saw a few rays there as well as wobbegong sharks and massive schools of butter bream. It was an awesome experience thanks to the great staff at the lodge and it got me all geared up for my Great Barrier Reef liveaboard next week!