At the northern end of the Great Barrier Reef, in a section called the Ribbon Reefs, you'll find Cod Hole. Here, giant potato cod, and I mean 200-plus pounders, roam the reef waiting for divers. Once the cod were hand-fed, and though that practice ended several years ago the cod had grown accustomed to divers. So now, as soon as you descend upon the reef, they get literally right in your face. They snuggle (yes, snuggle) up against you. I actually had to swim away from them to make images because they were too close. And I can guarantee you that you will not hear photographers complain about that problem too often.

I did three dives here on a recent Mike Ball Spoilsport trip, and even at night the cod wanted face time. When you've got as much girth on you as they have, you generally get what you want.

Sure, there are plenty of other things to see here, such as whitetip reef sharks, clownfish, cuttlefish and sweetlips, but as soon as you pause, these cod will be upon you.

Me, I don't mind at all.