China Wall

Moreton Island's China Wall

By ScubaDownUnder Team · 2026-01-03

China Wall is the odd one out among Brisbane's offshore dives. On the exposed eastern side of Moreton Island, or Mulgumpin, the reef is dominated by kelp rather than coral: Brisbane Scuba describes waving beds of brown kelp, more typical of southern Australia, with tropical fish swimming through them. UniDive, the University of Queensland's dive club, says the site's outstanding feature is a tall vertical granite outcrop with a 2 m wide swim-through at the top. With depths to about 30 m it is a dive for experienced divers, and it is at its best in winter, when grey nurse sharks patrol the gutters and humpback whales are passing.

## The site

Brisbane Scuba gives depths of 16 to 32 m, with numerous caves, gutters and walls and a very pretty rock arch, and says the rocky terrain carries soft corals, gorgonians and black coral trees as well as kelp. UniDive describes a thick layer of broad-leafed kelp that shelters crayfish and slipper lobsters but makes navigation quite challenging, along with sea whips and fans. Nigel Marsh, writing about Moreton Island for Scuba Diver magazine, groups China Wall with Henderson Rock and Cherub's Cave as similar sites, with rocky terrain, numerous caves, bommies, pretty corals and, surprisingly, kelp, in depths from 12 to 30 m. UniDive calls the outcrop granite, while a Moreton Bay Foundation review of reef monitoring describes the rocky reefs off Moreton and North Stradbroke islands in general as mostly basalt.

We could not find a published position for China Wall. Brisbane Scuba and Adreno pair it with Cherubs Cave on a two-dive day, and Manta Lodge lists it among the sites in the general area of Cherubs Cave.

## Marine life

In and around the kelp beds Brisbane Scuba lists abundant reef fish, bullseyes, yellowtail, trevally, kingfish, blue gropers, wobbegongs and turtles. UniDive adds schooling fish, pelagics such as tuna, mackerel and barracuda, and the occasional shark cruising by.

Grey nurse sharks are the winter draw. Brisbane Scuba says they are often seen patrolling the gutters in winter, and that they typically show up in Brisbane waters from May to September. Marsh says anywhere from two to a dozen can be seen on the eastern Moreton sites, but they move from reef to reef, so encounters are never guaranteed.

Winter also brings the whales. UniDive says whales are normally sighted at China Wall from May to October, and Brisbane Scuba says that in winter divers are likely to be serenaded by humpback song for their whole time underwater, with a chance of glimpsing one if they are lucky.

## Conditions and who it suits

Brisbane Scuba says winter is the best time to dive China Wall because conditions are generally calm. Marsh says the eastern Moreton sites are generally only dived over winter for the same reason, gives water temperatures of 26°C in summer and 18°C in winter for the Moreton Island sites, and puts visibility on the sites outside the bay at 15 to 30 m. Manta Lodge, which sometimes makes China Wall the second dive of its Cherubs Cave trip, warns that the area is prone to strong currents and rough conditions.

UniDive says the site's depth makes it more suitable for experienced divers. Adreno's China Wall and Cherubs Cave trip asks for Advanced Open Water certification, at least 20 logged dives, nitrox certification (its dives are done on nitrox), a dive within the last 12 months and comfort diving from a boat, and each diver must bring a dive computer, surface marker buoy, whistle, torch and proof of certification. Because the kelp can hide gutters and landmarks, plan the dive with your guide, use the wall as your reference and be ready to send up a surface marker buoy if you surface away from the boat.

## Protecting the sharks

The east coast grey nurse shark population is listed as Critically Endangered internationally and nationally and as Endangered in Queensland. The Marine Parks (Moreton Bay) Zoning Plan 2019 designates three grey nurse shark areas in the marine park: Cherubs Cave, Henderson Rock and Flat Rock. China Wall is not one of them, but with no published position we cannot tell you whether it falls within the 1.2 km radius of the Cherubs Cave or Henderson Rock areas, or inside the MNP10 Cherubs Cave to Henderson Rock green zone, which runs along the island's eastern side from 27°06.480'S to 27°10.130'S and out to 153°29.440'E. Ask your operator.

Inside a grey nurse shark area, the zoning plan says no one may dive between 6pm and 6am without a reasonable excuse; touch, feed or trap a grey nurse shark or interfere with its natural behaviour, for example by chasing it; block a cave entrance or gutter; or use scooters, horns, shark repelling devices or other electro-acoustic or mechanical apparatus (ordinary scuba gear is excepted). A group of divers may not have more than 10 in the water at once unless they are diving under the instructions of a commercial tourism operator, whose groups are capped at 12, with anyone beyond 10 an instructor or certified assistant.

The sharks are protected outside those areas too. The Queensland Government says it is illegal to have a grey nurse shark in your possession without a permit, that a shark caught by accident must be released immediately, and that suspicious activity, deaths or injuries should be reported on 1300 130 372. Wherever you meet them, keep your distance and leave the gutters clear.

## Nearby

Brisbane Scuba pairs China Wall with [Cherubs Cave](https://scubadownunder.com/blog/cherubs-cave-moreton-island-dive-guide). North of Cape Moreton, [Flinders Reef](https://scubadownunder.com/blog/flinders-reef-moreton-bay) is what Marsh calls the most popular all-weather dive site on the outer side of Moreton Island, with coral gardens in 3 to 20 m, and [Smith Rock](https://scubadownunder.com/blog/smith-rock) has caves and canyons in 8 to 30 m and has claimed three ships. Inside the bay, Marsh says the sheltered sites such as the [Tangalooma Wrecks](https://scubadownunder.com/blog/tangalooma-wrecks-moreton-island) are mainly dived when it is too rough to head offshore. For the rest of the state, see our guide to the [best places to dive in Queensland](https://scubadownunder.com/blog/best-places-to-dive-in-queensland).

## Site Access and Logistics

China Wall is a boat dive only, and there are no facilities at the site. Brisbane Scuba runs an eight-hour, two-dive day trip to China Wall and Cherubs Cave from Manly, departing from the public boat ramp at Manly South (meet at 6am for a 6:30am departure), and Adreno's Brisbane store sells a similar China Wall and Cherubs Cave day. Manta Lodge, at Point Lookout on North Stradbroke Island, may make China Wall the second dive of its Cherubs Cave area double dive, depending on conditions. Marsh also lists Go Dive at Manly and Scuba World and Sunreef at Mooloolaba among the day boats that visit the Moreton Island sites. Trips depend on the weather on the exposed side of the island, so expect a backup site if the swell is up.

## Sources

- [Brisbane Scuba: China Wall](https://brisbanescuba.au/about-brisbane-scuba/brisbane-dive-locations/dive-site-china-wall/) - Brisbane Scuba: 2 Dive Trip, China Wall and Cherubs Cave, brisbanescuba.rezdy.com/191641/2-dive-trip-china-wall-and-cherubs-cave - [Brisbane Scuba: 2023 Grey Nurse Shark Census](https://brisbanescuba.au/2023-grey-nurse-shark-census/) - [Brisbane Scuba: Boat Departure Info](https://brisbanescuba.au/contact/venue-info/) - [UniDive (University of Queensland Underwater Club): Dive sites](https://www.unidive.org/diving/dive-sites) - [Visit Brisbane: China Wall Dive Site](https://visit.brisbane.qld.au/things-to-do/moreton-bay-region/natural-attractions/china-wall-dive-site-1cdd) - Adreno Training and Travel: China Wall and Cherubs Cave Dive Trip, adreno-training-travel.rezdy.com/562812/china-wall-cherubs-cave-dive-trip - Manta Lodge and Scuba Centre: Cherubs Cave area double dive, mantalodge.rezdy.com/259566/cherubs-cave-double-dive-unguided - [Nigel Marsh Photography: Moreton Island, Scuba Diver magazine](https://www.nigelmarshphotography.com/blog-posts/moreton-island-scuba-diver-mag) - [Queensland Government: Grey nurse shark-diver interaction research project](https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/coasts-waterways/marine-parks/projects/grey-nurse-shark) - [Queensland Legislation: Marine Parks (Moreton Bay) Zoning Plan 2019, current as at 1 August 2024](https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/pdf/inforce/current/sl-2019-0175) - [The Moreton Bay Foundation: Building an understanding of Moreton Bay Marine Park reefs through citizen science](https://moretonbayfoundation.org/articles/building-an-understanding-of-moreton-bay-marine-parks-reefs-through-citizen-science/)

Header photo: Rock pools and open ocean at the rocky northern tip of Moreton Island near Cape Moreton, by Klaas Ole Kürtz, [CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:On_Moreton_Island_-_panoramio_-_Klaas_Ole_K%C3%BCrtz.jpg).