Coming to Sydney

[Toadie]

Hey all,

I booked a trip to Sydney today and I would love to dive while I'm there. Is it a good idea to dive in Sydney or should I be flying up to the Great Barrier Reef? Any suggestions you have would be great. I'm literally know nothing about diving down under

Thanks in advance

 

[almitywife]

whew..... loaded question - when will you be arriving

personally, if flying all the way over here and then going home - everyone is going to be asking you if dived GBR and it will be a pity not to have just for bragging rights

but sydney diving has alot to offer and most of it is shore diving also. it really depends on what you want to see. eg, if weedy sea dragons you dive kurnell, if grey nurse sharks you dive magic point (boat dive) if sea horses you dive manly or balmoral nets, if angler fish you dive clifton gardens or shiprock, if wrecks you boat dive it and none are recreational depths and then you have 2hrs north is Nelson Bay and 2hrs south is Shellharbour - both beautiful!

so have a think and ask away!

 

[mig_diver]

Come up to Queensland, its a lot warmer

 

[almitywife]

thats all that hot air thats blowing around because its state of origin time!

 

[Sas]

What about Melbourne! We have good dive sites too. But yea, I'll admit, it is pretty cold!!!

Anyway, I have heard great things about the GBR and it is warmer up there and there are a lot of options for dives so if you aren't here for long I'd recommend going there. No offense to Sydney... they have great dive sites too but most people I have spoken to have preferred GBR over Sydney for recreational diving. Though Sydney has great wrecks if you have deeper qualifications or are into that sort of thing. Depends what you like really. Maybe if you posted a bit about what you like in a dive it might be easier to advise you.

Ideally, try to do both

 

[Toadie]

Hey guys, thanks for the quick replies. I fly out of Denver on the 22nd of August and land on the 24th in Sydney. As an FYI I'm coming to Sydney because my girlfriend is working there. So I have one week with her there and then we were thinking of doing something different. I would actually like to dive the GBR and was thinking maybe a day of diving in Sydney and then two days over at GBR. I'm guessing 3 dives per day?

I suppose my immediate questions would be:

1. What do you recommend? In Sydney I won't have a dive partner so I'm guessing a boat dive with a group.
2. What's the best way to get from Sydney up to the GBR?
3. Recommended dives at the GBR?
4. Recommended dive shops or companies?

 

[almitywife]

ive not dived gbr (yet)... will be at lady elliot from 2nd Aug to 11th

Webjet, Cheap Flights, Qantas, Virgin Blue, Jetstar - Cheap Flights & Airfares - Compare Flights at Webjet - Webjet.com.au will give you a good overview of all prices for all airlines - just a warning about jetstar (or crapstar or deathstar as the locals call it)... they are VERY strict on their luggage so if you get a good deal with them and you have your own gear, expect your good deal to be not so good after you pay the luggage excess as they charge like a wounded bull

sydney diving depends on conditions and what you want to see. i really suggest Kurnell for the weddy sea dragons - no one else in the world has them but us aussies. Kurnell is done on a incoming tide. i suggest either Abyss or Shiprock dive shops

weddy

6am here and thats the best i can do so early in the morning right now

 

[mig_diver]

thats all that hot air thats blowing around because its state of origin time!

haha i'm still a blue at heart. i lived in sydney my entire life and actually just moved to brisbane at the beginning of the year

 

[mig_diver]

Hey guys, thanks for the quick replies. I fly out of Denver on the 22nd of August and land on the 24th in Sydney. As an FYI I'm coming to Sydney because my girlfriend is working there. So I have one week with her there and then we were thinking of doing something different. I would actually like to dive the GBR and was thinking maybe a day of diving in Sydney and then two days over at GBR. I'm guessing 3 dives per day?

I suppose my immediate questions would be:

1. What do you recommend? In Sydney I won't have a dive partner so I'm guessing a boat dive with a group.
2. What's the best way to get from Sydney up to the GBR?
3. Recommended dives at the GBR?
4. Recommended dive shops or companies?

To answer:
1. Go see the weedy's
2. Fly
3. Personally, I think your get the best experience from a liveaboard. Saying that though, I don't know if there are any 2-day trips. I know we have weekend trips here in Brisbane, I'm not sure about further up North. Do we have and GBR SBers?
4. Pro Dive is always a safe bet IMO. Liveaboards up North, Spirit of Freedom, Mike Ball, Taka, etc..

 

[almitywife]

not GBR but hubby really enjoyed his 3 night weekend on the Big Cat Reality diving Morton Bay, near Nth Stradbroke Island