Steve's Bommie

Steve's Bommie, Ribbon Reefs

By ScubaDownUnder Team · 2026-08-22

In a reef system the size of a small country, Steve's Bommie is a single coral tower, and yet it ranks among the most beloved dives on the entire Great Barrier Reef. The pinnacle rises from thirty metres of sand to within five of the surface, standing alone in open water off the Ribbon Reefs, and over the course of one slow, spiralling ascent it shows a diver almost everything the reef has to offer. Schools of trevally and barracuda wheel around its flanks, anemones and clownfish carpet one face, and the macro life hidden in its coral keeps photographers coming back for dive after dive.

Steve's Bommie sits at Ribbon Reef Number 3, part of the chain of narrow reefs that runs north from Cairns along the edge of the continental shelf, around 160 kilometres from the nearest town. This is liveaboard country, far beyond the range of day boats, and the bommie is a fixture on the multi-day Ribbon Reef itineraries that also take in the famous [Cod Hole](https://www.scubadownunder.com/dive-sites/cod-hole). The site is named for a diver, and a memorial plaque set at around 25 metres marks the spot where most divers begin their ascent, a quiet reminder woven into one of the reef's happiest dives.

The dive is beautifully simple: descend to the base of the pinnacle and spiral slowly up around it, watching the marine life change with the depth and the light. At the bottom, around 30 metres, the bigger schools and sharks patrol the open water and the deeper coral. Higher up, the bommie's faces are a tapestry of hard and soft coral, sea fans and crinoids, including the celebrated wall of anemones where dozens of clownfish dart among the tentacles. By the time a diver reaches the sunlit top at five metres, the pinnacle has delivered pelagic action, reef fish, macro subjects and coral gardens in a single circuit. Visibility regularly reaches 30 metres and the currents are usually mild, which makes the spiral an unhurried pleasure.

For its size, Steve's Bommie is astonishingly busy. Dense schools of bigeye trevally, barracuda, yellow-lined snapper, Moses perch and goatfish swirl around the pinnacle, parting and reforming as divers move through them. Grey, whitetip and blacktip reef sharks patrol the deeper water, turtles cruise past, and wobbegongs rest on the ledges. The wall of anemones and its clownfish are a highlight in their own right, and the bommie is equally a macro site, with nudibranchs, flatworms, pipefish, leafy scorpionfish, lionfish, stonefish, mantis shrimps and soft coral crabs tucked into its structure for the sharp-eyed. Because liveaboards dive the bommie at different times of day, divers can watch the cast change from the morning's schooling fish to the more secretive life of a dusk or night dive.

The Ribbon Reefs sit in clear, warm tropical water, and Steve's Bommie shows it. Visibility commonly reaches 30 metres, and the currents around the pinnacle are usually mild, though they can pick up enough to bring the schools in tight. Water temperature ranges from around 23°C in winter to 29°C in summer, so a 3mm to 5mm wetsuit is plenty. Because the site is reached only by liveaboard, the diving is scheduled across multi-day trips that run in the calmer months and let divers hit the bommie repeatedly, in different light and at different states of the tide. The remoteness is part of the appeal: this is reef diving far from crowds, on a pinnacle that often feels like a private aquarium.

What sets Steve's Bommie apart is how complete a dive it is in such a small footprint. A single pinnacle delivers the full reef experience, which is why it is so often singled out as a favourite even by divers who have seen the best of the Ribbon Reefs. Underwater photographers prize it for the way wide-angle and macro opportunities sit side by side, and repeat dives reveal new residents each time. Paired with the Cod Hole and the other Ribbon Reef sites on a liveaboard itinerary, it forms part of what many consider the finest stretch of diving on the Great Barrier Reef.

Steve's Bommie is proof that the best dives are not always the biggest places. A lone coral tower, far out on the Ribbon Reefs, gives back more in one spiralling ascent than many whole reefs manage in a day. It is a fitting memorial and a genuine reef classic, the kind of dive that divers remember by name long after the trip is over.

## Site Access and Logistics

Steve's Bommie is accessible only by liveaboard, on multi-day Ribbon Reef and Coral Sea expeditions out of Cairns and Port Douglas. The pinnacle lies around 160 kilometres north of Cairns at Ribbon Reef Number 3, well beyond day-boat range, and the established operators are Mike Ball Dive Expeditions and Spirit of Freedom, whose itineraries combine the bommie with the Cod Hole and other Ribbon Reef sites.

The diving is straightforward, but the depth and the remoteness reward experience. The base of the pinnacle sits at around 30 metres, so good buoyancy and gas management matter, and Advanced Open Water certification opens up the full spiral, though the shallow upper bommie is enjoyable for any certified diver. Nitrox is standard on the liveaboards and useful across a week of repetitive diving. A 3mm to 5mm wetsuit suits the warm water, and a surface marker buoy is part of the standard kit.

Trips to Steve's Bommie and the Ribbon Reefs run through liveaboard operators including [Mike Ball Dive Expeditions](https://www.mikeball.com/ribbon-reef-liveaboard/).

## Sources

- Mike Ball Dive Expeditions, Ribbon Reef liveaboard: [https://www.mikeball.com/ribbon-reef-liveaboard/](https://www.mikeball.com/ribbon-reef-liveaboard/) - Divernet, sensational Steve's Bommie: [https://divernet.com/world-dives/sensational-steves-bommie-great-barrier-reef-diving/](https://divernet.com/world-dives/sensational-steves-bommie-great-barrier-reef-diving/) - Scuba Diver Life, dive site Steve's Bommie: [https://scubadiverlife.com/dive-site-steves-bommie-great-barrier-reef/](https://scubadiverlife.com/dive-site-steves-bommie-great-barrier-reef/) - Great Barrier Reef Tours, Steve's Bommie: [https://greatbarrierreeftours.com/great-barrier-reef/coral-sea-reefs/steves-bommie/](https://greatbarrierreeftours.com/great-barrier-reef/coral-sea-reefs/steves-bommie/) - Dive The World, Ribbon Reefs and Cod Hole: [https://www.dive-the-world.com/diving-sites-australia-great-barrier-reef-ribbon-reefs.php](https://www.dive-the-world.com/diving-sites-australia-great-barrier-reef-ribbon-reefs.php)