The second flank of Dip Reef is partly exposed to the prevailing wind and sea conditions found offshore in the Coral Sea. Manta tow surveys were conducted on the reef slope. The reef slope is generally broken dropping off into approximately 10m of water to a moderate sloping reef base composed mainly of sand, reef framework, hard coral and rubble. The reef structure has few features including bommies and gullies.

The benthic community was dominated by coralline/turf algae, but sand, hard coral and rubble were also common. Hard coral cover on the reef second flank was moderate composed mainly of Acropora species. The dominant coral lifeform was branching, but other forms such as encrusting, massive and sub-massive corals were also present in decreasing order of abundance. Coral bleaching was not present.

The fish abundance on the second flank of Dip Reef was very high. Conspicuous groups of reef fishes included surgeonfish, fusiliers, parrotfish and coral trout. No crown-of-thorns starfish were observed on the second flank of Dip Reef . White syndromes (such as white band disease or shutdown reaction) were present on hard corals.