Aussie diving - April 2012

[Nitro91]

few mates. i think im doing it on saturday as well lol with scubadivesydney, hes on here and facebook.

I've only done leap once, done steps few times. with leap is it ok to do it 3-4 hours before high tide? or 2 hours after low tide?

 

[bowlofpetunias]

When we dive that side we normally go in near inscription point.. by the beginning of the rockwall. If it is incoming tide we swim against the tide going out and let it us help us coming back or we sometimes get in and turn West .. exiting on the beach past the flagpoles. I don't like going west that much it tends to be pretty murky. We haven't really had any problems there with the tides altho I know some have....

I like that site.. I did my first dive off course there... good memories! I did my first two Open Water dives on course at Bare Island, my third dive on course was Bass Point the gutter and the last one was at Bushranger's bay. The conditions blew up so bad during the surface interval that we couldn't do the Gutter again. We stood on the shore and saw a boat floundering a ways off shore. The instructor called the Rescue services and directed them to the boat in distress and they wound up towing them in to safety.

I Did my AOW out of Kiama and dived the Bombo... sorry feeling a little nostalgic lol

 

[alcina]

Yippeee!! I got out for two great dives yesterday. So much going on during dive one that I didn't even start thinking about taking any photos until about 35 minutes into it LOL Great viz - dive 1 = 15-20 but with lots of floaties & sand, dive 2 = 20-25 and clear. Water temps around 27C.

this olive sea snake wouldn't keep far enough away for photos - I spent ages with him making us both dizzy circling and moving around but he was drawn like a magnet to me & my port so I only fired off a few frames. Also had a moon wrasse attach himself to me - at one point I was actually holding him in my hand and he seemed quite content. Out of all the things that I've experienced underwater, not much has felt odder than a moonwrasse pressed up against my face, snuggling. It was bizarro.

Good cleaning action with the sweetlips

More photos here

Heading out with friends this morning so hope the conditions are super again!

 

[ferris213]

My wife and I just got back from Heron Island a couple of days ago. It was overall a great trip, but it did have some surprises...

The diving was good, but I was shocked at the state of the coral. A lot of it seemed bleached or dead and covered in silt. I only did three dives there so certainly didn't get a broad sample, but the condition of the reef was disappointing. We did get to see a lot of big life. Black and white tip reef sharks, a lemon shark while we were snorkelling, and a big manta on the last dive. Of course plenty of turtles.

It is the only place I have ever dived where they had no interest in the buddy system whatsoever. You want a buddy? sort it out amongst yourselves. The dive op is incredibly conservative in terms of dive plans though. On the first dive my buddy was told to ascend after 34 mins because he only had 80 bar left:shocked2:. I was encouraged to continue the dive with the group but chose to stay with him. What was especially confusing was when the DM finally joined us back on board and told me if I wanted to last longer on my air consumption I should switch to the 15L steel tanks... I pointed out that I surfaced with a 100 bar remaining! "oh well, you didn't miss much anyway..." hmmmm. Max dive times were only 50mins anyway.

It's a beautiful island, with quite a bit to do if you want. We were very fortunate to have been there right at the end of turtle hatcheling season. Got to see some of the little guys fighting there way down the beach then across the rocks. It really was cool. Seeing the packs of reef sharks in the shallows kind of took the shine off it though!

It's a great place to spend a few days, but I wouldn't go back for the diving...

Just found out my cousin bought a new BP/W so we'll be heading down to the Tweed river to play around with that next week. We also bit the bullet and bought a Canon G12, don't have a housing yet but can't wait to get one and start taking some photos!

 

[Maples]

Max 50 mins? Oh that sucks given they're wanting nearly $600 a night to go and dive over there. We will do it at some stage due to the complete lack of diving opportunities around the area but damn it's sad to hear that's how the op is run.

 

[bryce1993]

Dove The Steps today. Not bad.. sooo many Nudis, and I always have a blast finding them, especially those that I haven't seen before.
It seems the Weedy Sea Dragons are only at the National Park side of the Bay and not Bare Island now. And I'm not good at finding them amongst the Kelp
My buddy was fresh out of O/W with 5 dives.. He was floundering around everywhere, his weight belt was coming off, had to redo his camband cuz his tank fell off, left a path of destruction behind him lol I was trying to protect the precious little family (2 mating and one tiny lil one. looked like a family hehe) from his careless fin strokes. We had to surface when I still had 100 Bar and he had 30. But that's OK. Just needs some more experience. Sounded like he had fun

I was at Bare Island 2 weeks ago and the Viz was terrible, ranging from 1-3 metres. BUT my buddy still managed to find the Red Indian Fish that apparently is quite rare.. weird looking thing.
Bowl have you noticed the wobbegong sitting on the ledge at the outer West, Bare Island? It has been there for like 2 months now!

Happy diving everyone,
Bryce

P.S.
Alicina I LOVE your photos!! Keep it up

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Hey bryce... do you mean this guy?

took that shot yesterday.
One Wed someone saw the Red Indian on the eastern side of BI.

The Orangatang spider crab is still there. I took 3 shots of it and they showed more detail than I have managed in the past

this shot was interesting

I noticed a little scene stealer in the shadow at the bottom... see

Looks like it could be a bumblebee shrimp! I love these little surprises. Next time I dive there I will have to look carefully to see if I can find it and get some shots of just it!

Seahorse was there but his friends haven't been around for quite a while

The treat for the dive was this fellow.. think you can figure out what it is?

and of course the Vercos Tambja alias Parramatta nudi

 

[bryce1993]

Unless he moved; the one I saw was on top of a large rock formation, with no ledges above, only below.. but he could have moved (finally)
Hmmm I can't figure out who that eye belongs to.. What is it?
Love that shot of the seahorse!! How big would that spider crab be?
Also, its funny how you can take a picture then post-dive inspection reveals something even more interesting! Can I ask what dive shop club you go out with?

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Ask away lol We normally dive with a group of friends and not associated with a dive club. I dived with McFaydens and the St George Underwater Scuba Club on Wed but that was the first time as my regular group were all busy or unable to dive. St George are not associated with a shop which I like and they are a pretty active group. We are toying with the idea...

Here is a video of the shy critter


Spider Crab is quite small. body the size of a small pea.

Yes I love to find those little surprises after the dive!

 

[bryce1993]

Ohhh very cool, I dive with Sydney Dive Academy, and St George.. went out today with St George people. Interestingly, I thought that the dive shop at Blakehurst (also called St George Underwater) were the associated shop??
Is it a shovelnose Guitarfish? I remember catching one on a line and reel once, bit of an experience haha.. but it was a nice fella, very calm - considering he had a hook stuck through his mouth!
I might have to get someone to point out a crab that small haha idk if my eyesight is that good!