Gold Coast Dive Industry Partner SHIP

Gold Coast dive site pieces under construction ahead of its sinking off Narrowneck in July 2021. Picture: Gold Coast City Council

THEY don’t look like much but these metal pipes are the Gold Coast’s newest tourist attraction.

Images released by the Gold Coast City Council on Monday show construction of the $5m dive precinct is well under way and ahead of its expected opening in July.

It is being fabricated in a factory at Maryborough. The pieces will then be transported to Brisbane and barged to the Gold Coast where it will be installed in its final resting place 2.5km off Narrowneck.

Mayor Tom Tate said the floating artificial dive site was on track to open on time.

He renewed his calls for the public to contribute to the attraction’s name.

“We want to hear what you think the site should be called,” he said. “Time is running out so log on to our City Facebook site.”

More than 100 suggestions already have been lodged with the council to replace its working title, WonderReef.

Among those already suggested are DiveWorld, GCSea and GOAL (Gallery Of Aquatic Life). The attraction is the first of its kind

– a floating dive site with the spiral flutes anchored to the seabed. The design will enable divers to experience the flutes, from 10m to the lowest point of almost 30m. Council is already discussing plans to further expand the dive site, with a second stage in the works.

GC reef update. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NUkv6mt52Q&t=116s

Gold Coast Dive Attraction A dive attraction business case has been informed by a 12 month monitoring study of the Main Beach site by International Coastal Management (ICM), in partnership with the Griffith Centre for Coastal Management (GCCM).

In the GC Bulletin 13th March 2021
Dive site name floated.
PAUL WESTON

Call for public input with Wonder Reef suggested as early frontrunner

THE Gold Coast’s new dive precinct is favoured to be called Wonder Reef and cost from $25 to at least $8000 to use.

The council will put the official name of the city’s new tourist attraction out for a “media competition” with residents able to rate options discussed by stakeholders and put forward their own ideas.

But a report to council, to be considered by the transport committee next Tuesday when councillors are updated on the $5 million project, shows Wonder Reef is frontrunner followed by Sea Spectra.

Officers confirmed the final design was completed in December and a fabricator starting work last month as a draft buoy mooring agreement was ticked off.

The buoyant or floating reef is the first of its kind and mapping shows it will be located 2.5km east of Philip Park at The Spit on a sandy seabed.

Key components will be nine sculptures towering about 20m above the ocean floor, four moorings for commercial tour operators and divers, and navigational markers to indicate the 500m by 500m precinct.

ISM Manufacturing in Maryborough started work on steel components of the reef in February before those parts were moved to Hemmant in Brisbane.

“Fabrication is anticipated to take approximately four months,” the council report says. “The complete reef structures will be loaded on to a barge in the Brisbane River for deployment to the site. Installation is scheduled for completion in June 2021, subject to weather conditions and approvals.”

Meanwhile, officers are working on diver fees and a name for the attraction.

The council is waiting on the state government to sign off on a 50-year lease for the precinct because it currently fails to fall under local government jurisdiction.

Council would have full responsibility for the dive precinct, organising access and permitting arrangements and maintaining exclusive rights to manage bookings and collect fees.

The report says the proposed per diver permit fees, subject to final commercial considerations, were $25 for each private and club diver for a two-hour timeslot.

For commercial operators, it would be $10 for each diver, per dive excursion with a minimum fee of $8000, for up to 800 divers, to be paid annually.

“The permitting-booking system will be available on the dedicated dive attraction website, as part of the City’s We Are GC platform,” the report says.

Council’s project team had engaged a local branding and design specialist to work on a suitable name.

“A powerful name, brand and visual identity is critical to the overall success of the dive attraction, including attaining international and national appeal,” the report says.

“Based on the workshop outcomes, two name options were developed – Wonder Reef and Sea Spectra. Further consultation with key stakeholders, including the artist Dive Industry Reference Group and Destination Gold Coast, determined Wonder Reef as the stronger and preferred name.”

The brand gave a “sense of wonder and awe that will be inspired by the unique floating dive attraction design”, appealed to divers and non-divers, could be easily pronounced and translated well for a range of languages including Japanese, Korean and Chinese, the report adds.

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