St. Crispin's Reef is an elongate outer-shelf[1]coral reef in theGreat Barrier Reef,Queensland, Australia.
Named afterSt. Crispin, theFrenchpatron saint of cobblers and tanners,[2] St. Crispin's Reef is located 35 miles off the Queensland coast in theCoral Sea,[3] inlatitude 16° 07' 54.14" Slongitude 145° 48' 22.46" E, at a depth of 9 metres.[4] It lies east of Undine Reef and south of Agincourt Reefs, close to Opal Reef.[5][6] Protected by neighbor reefs, St. Crispin's structure consists of many shallow sandy channels that reticulate around coral mounds, rather than a typical reef slope. It has an abundance of soft corals and colourful marine life.[7]
St. Crispin's Reef is a populardiving andsnorkeling spot for expeditions fromPort Douglas andCairns.[8] Nicknamed"Flower garden", the reef is host toSergeant majors,Sweet lips,reef sharks,feather stars andbumphead parrot fish.[3][9]
Classified by the Marine Park Authority for "Intensive use",[10] the reef has fourmoorings.[3] In 1998, diversTom and Eileen Lonergan were accidentally left here by their dive expedition, and went missing. Their bodies were never found. The tragedy inspired the filmOpen Water.[11]
16°07′54.14″S145°48′22.46″E / 16.1317056°S 145.8062389°E /-16.1317056; 145.8062389