Base 1 Muck Site

Best months: Jul–Oct

Protected Area

Tulagi Island

Why dive here

With 391+ marine species recorded in the area - including barracuda, blacktip reef sharks, grey reef sharks, humpback whales and orcas - Base 1 Muck Site offers some of Iron Bottom Sound's richest muck diving. Water ranges 29-31°C, warmest January, April, December.

Best timeJul–Oct

WetsuitA 3mm shorty or thin full wetsuit

Marine lifeBarracuda, Blacktip Reef Sharks, Grey Reef Sharks, Humpback Whales and Orcas · 391+ species recorded

Water29-31°C · warmest January, April, December

CharacterMuck dive

StandoutExceptional marine biodiversity

Base 1 isn't about big pelagics or sweeping reefscapes. This is muck diving, pure and simple, and we love it for its quiet, unassuming charm. Dropping in, you’re often greeted by silty water – visibility hovers around 8 metres, sometimes less – but that’s part of the appeal. It forces you to slow down, to really look. The seabed here, once a bustling US Combat Engineers repair yard, is a fascinating graveyard of wartime debris. Landing craft, munitions, twisted aircraft parts – it’s all there, softened by time and serving as habitat. We’ve spent entire dives peering under rusted plates, finding painted spiny lobsters tucked into crevices or a small giant clam settled on a discarded engine block. Look for the delicate Hayashi’s Cardinalfish hovering near the sediment, or a perfectly camouflaged sandfish blending into the mud. It’s a site for photographers, for those who delight in the tiny, the unusual, and the resilient life that thrives where you least expect it. Keep an eye out for juvenile sweetlips, their bold stripes a splash of colour against the muted tones of the wreck. This site is for divers who prefer a slow, methodical hunt for the bizarre over speed and spectacle.