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Hotels, dive operators, gear, and how to get here are on the Milne Bay location page.
Overview
Black-sand muck dive on a gentle slope in Milne Bay, regarded as the birthplace of muck diving along with Lembeh. Mandarinfish display at dusk in the staghorn rubble, and rare nudibranchs are guaranteed. Easy bottom time and zero current.
What you'll see
4 species curated- year-roundMandarinfish
- rareLacy scorpionfish
- seasonalGhost pipefish
- seasonalHairy frogfish
Sightings evidence
1 record on file- high confidenceMandarinfish
- Last confirmed
- May 2026
- Recent records
- 130 within 10 km
Sources & methodology
How we summarise this
We aggregate confirmed occurrence records from GBIF and OBIS within a fixed radius of each dive site. Occurrence records confirm presence and reveal seasonality clustering, but they DO NOT measure per-dive probability — there is no eligible-effort denominator. We deliberately do not publish a numeric '% chance of sighting' from this data.
Sources
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility — GBIF Secretariat
- Ocean Biodiversity Information System — IOC-UNESCO
- OBIS-SEAMAP — Duke University Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab / OBIS
- iNaturalist — California Academy of Sciences & National Geographic Society
- IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — International Union for Conservation of Nature
- WoRMS — World Register of Marine Species — Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ)
- FishBase — FishBase Consortium
- Atlas of Living Australia — CSIRO / GBIF Australia
- REEF Volunteer Fish Survey — Reef Environmental Education Foundation
Conditions
| Month | Water | Visibility | Current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 28–30 °C | 10–20 m | none |
| Feb | 28–30 °C | 10–20 m | none |
| Mar | 28–30 °C | 10–20 m | none |
| Apr | 28–30 °C | 15–25 m | none |
| May | 27–29 °C | 15–25 m | none |
| Jun | 27–29 °C | 15–25 m | none |
| Jul | 27–29 °C | 15–25 m | none |
| Aug | 27–29 °C | 15–25 m | none |
| Sep | 27–29 °C | 15–25 m | none |
| Oct | 27–29 °C | 15–25 m | none |
| Nov | 28–30 °C | 10–20 m | none |
| Dec | 28–30 °C | 10–20 m | none |
Season calendar
Peak season highlighted · current month outlined
Gear for this site
Beyond the basic kit- Macro light — Dusk dives for mandarinfish demand a precise focus light.
Next step
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