Returning to the Reef: Graham Ehm's 70th Birthday Return to Christmas Island

Extra Divers Staff
2 days ago
4 min read

At Extra Divers Christmas Island, we welcome divers from around the world to experience one of Australia's most unique marine environments. Every so often, however, we have the privilege of hosting guests whose connection to the island stretches back decades.

Recently, we welcomed former Christmas Island resident and Dive Club member Graham Ehm back to Christmas Island with his family as he celebrated his 70th birthday. For Graham, this was more than a holiday—it was a journey back to the island that shaped some of life's greatest adventures and helped write a chapter of Christmas Island's diving history.

The early 1980s were a different era on Christmas Island. The Phosphate Mining Company of Christmas Island (PMCI) was at the heart of island life, and in 1985 the island celebrated 25 years as an Australian Territory. The final remnants of the British Phosphate Commission years were still evident across the island, giving Christmas Island a character unlike anywhere else in Australia.

During this time, the Christmas Island Dive Club brought together enthusiastic divers, snorkellers and families with a shared love of the ocean. It was an amateur club built on experience, mentorship and safety. Divers relied on dive watches, depth gauges and dive tables—long before dive computers became standard. Many wore overalls instead of wetsuits, and club rules were clear: no decompression diving, a maximum depth of 30 metres, no second dives and no spearfishing while on scuba.

The club's boat was a timber-hulled vessel affectionately known as the African Queen, named after the classic film because of its resemblance to the famous movie boat. Maintained by long-time island resident Geoff Rochefort, the boat became central to countless diving adventures before eventually ending its days in the kindergarten sandpit.

The Dive Club clubhouse overlooked Flying Fish Cove, just behind the CI Club. Outside stood an admiralty anchor recovered from the cove by club members—an anchor that today can still be seen outside the Golden Bosun Tavern.

Perhaps the club's greatest legacy lies beneath the surface and along the coastline, where many of the island's iconic dive sites and landmarks were first explored and named.

One enduring example is Merrial Beach. While searching the Dales area for a suitable shore-entry dive site, Graham Ehm and John Clark discovered a break in the rugged cliffs leading to a small sandy beach that provided access to the sea during the right conditions. Following the island tradition of naming beaches after women residents, they named the beach after Graham's then-wife, Merrial Ehm. The name endured and was later added to National Parks maps, becoming one of Christmas Island's most loved locations.

Other familiar names also trace their origins to these pioneering years.

Ryan's Ravine was identified by Graeme Ryan, John Clark and Ian Mackie.

Debate over its name included alternatives such as "Clark's Canyon" and the memorable "Mackie's Crack," but history ultimately favoured Ryan's Ravine.

Divers even pioneered access through an underwater tunnel from The Grotto into the open sea—a route requiring skill, confidence and careful air management.

Then there was Million Dollar Bommie, named because the divers believed you would have to pay a million dollars to find a better dive site anywhere on the mainland.

As modern divers descend these same walls and drift above these reefs, few realise that many of the names they hear in dive briefings were created by local residents exploring these waters more than forty years ago.

As Graham reflected on his years on Christmas Island, it was not only the dive sites and landscapes that came to mind, but the people who shared in those adventures.

Among those he fondly remembered were Peter Harvey and Jan Holland; Stan and Raylene Padgett; Graeme and Judy Ryan; Ian Mackie; hospital pathologist John Clark; Tony and Mary Stokes from National Parks; Hugh and Jane Yorkston; Todd and Michelle Frew; and Alexis and Len Laurence.

Graham himself worked as a process engineer, while Merrial Ehm was well known to many island residents as an assistant broadcast officer at Radio VLU2 and a familiar breakfast DJ voice across the island.

These names represent more than memories. Together, they were part of a generation of residents who helped shape Christmas Island's community, explored its coastline and reefs, and left a legacy that continues to be enjoyed by locals and visitors alike.

For Graham and his family, this 70th birthday visit was not simply a return to a destination—it was a return to memories, friendships and a place that remains part of their story.

And for us at Extra Divers, it was a privilege to welcome one of the island's diving pioneers back to the waters he helped explore.

Some dive sites are discovered.

The best ones become part of history.