Mar
30
Dive Number: 570 30/03/2014 Popes Eye
Conditions: Perfect
Visibilty: 20m
Water Temp: ??c
Bottom Time: 70minutes
Max Depth: 12m
Details: Lovely visibility at Popes Eye. We dived the southern side and had a very tame cuttlefish allowing me to stroke it on the head…itonly batted an eye lid to show how much it was enjoying the treatment. Loads of fish around as usual.
Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes
Photos:
Mar
23
Dive Number: 569 23/03/2014 Cottage by the Sea
Conditions:
Visibilty: 6m
Water Temp: ??c
Bottom Time: 50minutes
Max Depth: 8m
Details: A dirty dive at cottage with surgey conditions. A Weedy Seadragon gained confidence in my presence enough to start feeding in the seagrass while i hovered above…good to watch.
Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes
Photos:
Mar
6
Dive Number: 568 06/03/2014 Hyams Beach – Jervis Bay
Conditions:
Visibilty: 10m
Water Temp: ??c
Bottom Time: 60minutes
Max Depth: 10m
Details: This was destined to be the last dive of the trip, and i had a number shore dives to select from along the shores of Jervis Bay. Hyams Beach was the choice and it was a pretty good dive. A number of legdes ran parallel to the shore getting progressively deeper. I decided on the macro lens for this dive, but after spotting about 8 wobbegongs, decided that this was probably not the best choice. It was good to get some fish portraits though. A nice easy dive to finish off a great trip along the Southern coast of NSW.
Camera Details: Canon 60mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes
Photos:
Mar
6
Dive Number: 567 06/03/2014 The Nursery, Bowen Island, Jervis Bay
Conditions:
Visibilty: 20m
Water Temp: ??c
Bottom Time: 50minutes
Max Depth: 20m
Details: We were promised Grey-Nurse Sharks on this dive, and weren’t let down spotting about 5-6 all up. The conditions weren’t the best and the sharks kept their distance, but one fairly tattered looking individual gave my dome port a good eye-balling.
Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes
Photos:
Mar
6
Dive Number: 566 06/03/2014 The Wall, Bowen Island, Jervis Bay
Conditions:
Visibilty: 20m
Water Temp: ??c
Bottom Time: 50minutes
Max Depth: 20m
Details: We headed up to Jervis Bay, and Grey Nurse Sharks were the target species. We took a charter out of Huskisson with Dive Jervis Bay a nice little shop within walking distance of the harbour and a great bakery over the road. I think this is the first dive boat i’ve been on with an all female crew, skipper included….not that there’s anything wrong with that. :)
We headed out to Bowen Island over a fairly choppy bay, but the island offered protection from the wind, and conditions were really good. The dive on “The Wall” of the island was pretty good with cuttlefish, Weedy Seadragon, and wobbegong (i think i even saw an Eastern Blue Devil deep under the ledge). This trip was all about the grey nurse though, so not seeing any left me a little underwhelmed, but i was promised the next dive at “The Nursery” would provide the goods.
Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes
Photos:
Mar
5
Dive Number: 565 05/03/2014 Jones Beach, Bannister Heads, Ulladulla
Conditions:
Visibilty: 10m
Water Temp: ??c
Bottom Time: 60minutes
Max Depth: 10m
Details: The ANU website mentioned a couple of shore dives around Ulladulla, one of them being Jones Beach near Mollymook.
The dive is located in a nice little cove with relatively easy entry down a gently sloping staircase from the carpark. There is no beach though, just large round rocks that could get a bit dicey of if your not well balanced with your rig on your back. You decend over lush kelp beds in the shallower water and then i headed north east along a series of ledges that form the drop off from the cliffs along the headlands. The ledges were fairly barren and fishlife was fairly scarce but had the usual accompaniment of Blue Groper. Not a bad little dive with octopus, scropionfish, sargeant baker etc, but nothing world class.
Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes
Photos:
Mar
5
Dive Number: 564 05/03/2014 Bawley Point
Conditions:
Visibilty: 10m
Water Temp: ??c
Bottom Time: 70minutes
Max Depth: 12m
Details: We stayed the night in Ulladulla, and i was considering the Lighthouse Reef for today’s dive. The conditions did look great, but the big stair climb and swim wasn’t all that appealing. Ended up driving back down south to Bawley Point and wasn’t disappointed with the decision. This was a great critter dive! The terrain is fairly uninteresting with a generally sandy bottom along the edge of the sloping rocky point that descends gradually into the water, however there are all sorts of critters to keep you occupied. Cuttlefish, Crested Horn Sharks, scorpion-fish, octopus, schools of trevally, Bat Rays and Smooth Rays, and right at the end of the dive…an Estuary Catfish(Cnidoglanis macrocephalus)! This seemed so out of place in the ocean..it was a surreal encounter. Great dive!
Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes
Photos:
Mar
4
Dive Number: 563 04/03/2014 Guerilla Bay
Conditions:
Visibilty: 7m
Water Temp: ??c
Bottom Time: 40minutes
Max Depth: 14m
Details: Guerilla Bay looked like an awesome spot to dive, however i didn’t really know where the best entry and exit points are. Luckily we ran into some divers who offered some advice on how to enter. The sheltered bay is shallow, and with the swell rolling in between the small gully of the island and mainland, it can create some difficult conditions. We found the small entrance to the gully which was deep enough not to be too affected by the swell, and followed in out the gap between the island – over the sunken rowing boat. We then decided it wasn’t a good idea to circumnavigate the whole island, because it was advised that missing the entry back into the bay, we might encounter some strong-ish currents. So we headed left after leaving the gully and along the cliff walls. The vis was murky and the walls where fairly bleak and barren. I’m not sure if it was previous dive experiences, but the area felt very sharky…it was probably just the lack of local knowledge, but a brief encounter with a seal didn’t help the nerves much. We turned around after 100m or so, and headed back past the gap and around the back of the island. Large barren boulders turned into a maze of gullies, and after turning back, things started to feel very unfamiliar. Eventually we found the gap back into the bay, but it was getting to the point where we were feeling very lost and surfacing against the swell exposed wall wasn’t an option. I think i’d love this site if i did it again, but this was a dive towards the scary end of the spectrum.
Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes
Photos:
Mar
3
Dive Number: 562 03/03/2014 Dalmeny Boat Ramp
Conditions:
Visibilty: 10m
Water Temp: ??c
Bottom Time: 60minutes
Max Depth: 13m
Details: This second dive we went out through the gully and then headed right(east) towards the southern point. As the water got deeper, the colours and vegetation got more prolific and there were some really beautiful little gullies and crevices covered in gorgonians, sponges and ascidians. We spotted a couple Port Jackson sharks, a few different species of rays and a Boarfish was a bit of a surprise. Towards the end of the dive, literally thousands of mados and sweep hovered above a bommie. The water column was thick with fish and it was truly incredible to swim through so many fish. This was a really great dive. On the way in i finally managed a decent pick of the elusive Eagle Rays in the area. My dive buddy ended up diving the northern point later in the day and said that was really good too.
Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes
Photos:
Mar
3
Dive Number: 561 03/03/2014 Dalmeny Boat Ramp
Conditions: Perfect
Visibilty: 10m
Water Temp: ??c
Bottom Time: 60minutes
Max Depth: 10m
Details: After discussing some of the shore diving options with some divers on the Montague Island Charter, we arranged to meet up at Dalmeny the following day. The entry point was at the boat ramp, which is a reasonably protected little cove.
A gully runs in between the reef and large rays come up to the boatramp to get a free feed. As well as large Smooth Rays, the area has a fair few Eagle rays and smaller stingarees. On the journey out through the gully the idea was to head out to the left to a deeper section where grey-nurse sharks can turn up. Plans changed quickly with a loud bang and a thump on the back of my head. My eyes went wide and i anxiously looked around..i thought i’d just been the target of a white shark. After settling down i quickly realised that my high pressure hose had blown out up at the first stage. Wow it packed a punch. We surfaced and my dive buddy turned off my air and i went back to shore, him continuing on. I’m glad this happened on a shore dive and not at 20m! I changed my hose (luckily i had a spare) and headed back out. I stayed closer to the shallower reef, and the surge was pretty annoying. Some nice purple growth on the rocks and lush kelp towards the point out to the left. But dive two at Dalmeny was much better…
Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes
Photos:
Mar
2
Dive Number: 560 02/03/2014 Montague Island
Conditions: Perfect
Visibilty: 25m
Water Temp: ??c
Bottom Time: 60minutes
Max Depth: 20m
Details: The second dive at Montague Island was just as good as the first. We went a bit deeper this time to look for the Grey Nurse sharks but had no luck. We can across a big group of Port Jackson Sharks though all huddled together. On the safety stop it was great to watch the seals dart in from the rocks above through the swell zone…appearing like missiles from the white breaking water.
Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes
Photos:
Mar
2
Dive Number: 559 02/03/2014 Montague Island
Conditions: Perfect
Visibilty: 25m
Water Temp: ??c
Bottom Time: 60minutes
Max Depth: 20m
Details: We struck it lucky with the weather and headed out to Montague Island. The infamous Narooma Bar just wasn’t living up to its name today and it was smooth sailing out to the island. We geared up and into the water and into about 18m. Immediately a number of big smooth rays came to check us out, together with a few Port Jackson Sharks that were equally inquisitive. As we worked up to shallower water the seals began to join in the show coming in for close looks and a bit of a play, (if they could get much out of the tank-laden scuba divers.) The diving was action packed! So much big animal encounters, and some others saw Grey-nurse sharks in a deeper gully. Great dive! (starting to get sick of Blue-groupers now ;)
Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes
Photos:
Mar
1
Snorkel at Blue Pools, Bermagui, NSW 01/03/2014
Bottom Time: 50minutes
Max Depth: 2m
Details: We continued north and up past Tathra. Tathra wharf looked like an amazing dive, but the swell was straight onshore and the entry/exits looked really dangerous. I almost gave it a shot, but decided to put it on the todo list for another trip. So we headed to Bermagui and i snorkelled the tidal pool that was suppose to be good for nudi’s. It had a bit of a hincksia bloom in the shallower end, but still a few nudis about feeding on it. All up i think there were about 8 different species. The highlight though was a Gloomy Octopus that tried hard not to be photographed.
Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes
Photos:
Mar
1
Dive Number: 557 01/03/2014 Merimbula Wharf, NSW
Conditions:
Visibilty: 10m
Water Temp: ??c
Bottom Time: 50minutes
Max Depth: 14m
Details: The second dive at Merimbula Wharf had a different feel to it than the first…much less sharky. It also turned up lots more critters. Big Smooth rays, scorpionfish, Port Jackson Sharks, and Banjo Rays. A really nice site…
Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes
Photos:
Feb
28
Dive Number: 557 28/02/2014 Merimbula Wharf, NSW
Conditions:
Visibilty: 10m
Water Temp: ??c
Bottom Time: 50minutes
Max Depth: 14m
Details: This was the first dive of a trip up the South Coast of NSW. After looking at Cape Green (and concluding that NSW divers are absolutely nuts to be shore diving some of the sites there – despite how awesome they looked), we got to Merimbula and i couldn’t pass up the opportunity to do a early evening dive here. The vis wasn’t great and it was nearly dark but it was a great dive. Very friendly Blue Groupers and schools of Mado and small Trevally. Exiting the site was a little difficult but compared to the entries/exits at Cape Green this was childs-play. The next day i met the owner of Merimbula Divers and he informed me an Great White was hanging around over the last couple of days and that i was a game man diving on dusk. : S
Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes
Photos:
Feb
23
Dive Number: 556 23/02/2014 Bell Reef off Shortlands Bluff
Conditions: Green and horrible
Visibilty: 4m
Water Temp: ??c
Bottom Time: 50minutes
Max Depth: 20m
Details: This was a slack dive off Shortlands Bluff. The visibility was horrible, but the murky green water gave a certain sense of atmosphere that made it a fun dive still.
Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes
Photos:
Feb
22
Dive Number: 555 22/02/2014 St Leonards Pier
Conditions:
Visibilty: 5m
Water Temp: ??c
Bottom Time: 60minutes
Max Depth: 3m
Details: An operation from Melbourne where trying out there standard dress kit, so i took the opportunity to snap some bygone era dive photos. I say that using this gear around a pier is the best idea though. The hose was ripping life from the pylons, and trudging over the bottom was really upsetting the local stargazers.(but so was I!) Another good sighting was a very approachable Bastard Trumpter..the first time i’ve seen this species.
Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes
Photos:
Feb
18
Dive Number: 554 18/02/2014 Orungal
Conditions:
Visibilty: 5m
Water Temp: ??c
Bottom Time: 30minutes
Max Depth: 6m
Details: On the way back in, we had a quick splash at the Orungal. The vis was cloudy and it was dangerously surgey. Some big schools of Luderick were getting around, but difficult to photograph in the conditions.
Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes
Photos:
Feb
18
Dive Number: 553 18/02/2014 Ant Caves
Conditions:
Visibilty: 20m
Water Temp: ??c
Bottom Time: 50minutes
Max Depth: 22m
Details: Another cracker of a dive at Ant Caves. After descending we were surrounded by large numbers of fish…sweep, perch, leatherjackets… Close to the anchor position was a wobbegong shark under a ledge. The resident Blue Grouper put in another show but still no photos to prove it. It likes to keep its distance. Phil got a couple of ID shots though. On ascent the large schools of Barber Perch formed again beneath us.
Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes
Photos:
Feb
15
Dive Number: 552 15/02/2014 Steeles Rocks
Conditions:
Visibilty: Night Dive
Water Temp: ??c
Bottom Time: 90minutes
Max Depth: 4m
Details: A warm summers night and gentle southerlies made for a good night dive at Steeles Rocks. Trav, Karly and Nick formed one group and me and Chris formed another too see what was around at night around Steeles Rocks. Everyone had good sightings and at the end of the dive i even managed to find a Chris’s boogey critter, a Blue-ringed Octopus. Squid are always great fun to photograph too.
Camera Details: Canon 60mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes
Photos:
Feb
15
Dive Number: 551 15/02/2014 Portarlington Pier
Conditions:
Visibilty: 4m
Water Temp: ??c
Bottom Time: 60minutes
Max Depth: 3m
Details: A macro dive at the mucky Portarlington pier. I spotted a seahorse on this dive too, but it was too dirty to get any decent pics.
Camera Details: Canon 60mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes
Photos:
Feb
8
Dive Number: 550 08/02/2014 Ripbank – The Rip
Conditions:
Visibilty: 20m
Water Temp: ??c
Bottom Time: 40minutes
Max Depth: 30m
Details: I keep on jumping on Divevic boats destined for Spec Reef, but shipping always changes the plans. The dive was diverted to Ripbank this time and i buddied up with a French Bloke who was chasing crays. The dive got off to a bad start when we dropped in over the deep water, and with great vis and no sign of the wall at 20+ metres we decided to surface, reboard the boat and drop in again. Good option, straight onto the wall this time. Ripbank is a fairly exposed part of the wall receiving the full brunt of ebb tide. So the sponge growth doesnt seem as prolific as the sites running paralell with the flow. A good sight to keep your eye on the blue though with rumours of shark activity in the area.
Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes
Photos:
Feb
7
Dive Number: 549 07/02/2014 Missed Reef
Conditions: Amazing vis but swell was up a little
Visibilty: 20m
Water Temp: ??c
Bottom Time: 50minutes
Max Depth: 22m
Details: Somehow i managed to miss Magi Reef and landed myself in some unrecogniseable terrain. The reef wasn’t that special but the vis was amazing…i just had to do a selfie!
Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes
Photos:
Feb
2
Dive Number: 548 02/02/2014 Blairgowrie Marina
Conditions:
Visibilty: 6m
Water Temp: ??c
Bottom Time: 70minutes
Max Depth: 7m
Details: A less than impressive dive at Blairgowrie, always something to photograph though!
Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes
Photos:
Jan
27
Dive Number: 547 27/01/2014 Whites Beach
Conditions: Surgey
Visibilty: 4m
Water Temp: ??c
Bottom Time: 60minutes
Max Depth: 8m
Details: Very surgey and dirty at whites beach today with the swell just that little bit too high. We spotted a few Wobbies still including this one tucked away in a cave.
Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X YS-D1 Strobes
Photos:
