Favourite local diving spots

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I'm fortunate to live near some of the best diving in Southern California, the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Although visibility is often lacking, we have more invertebrate life than the Channel Islands and the California Wreckfish (Giant Sea Bass) allow us to be within inches.
Absolutely amazing images! I especially liked the macro shots and the last image had superb lighting!
 
I am very fortunate to live in the Sydney area and I believe we have the best non-tropical shore diving in the world. We have a vast array of awesome fish and invertebrates right on our doorstep and some of those species are endemic (i.e. not found anywhere else). Not only can these be seen on almost every dive but I get to see the same individuals dive after dive and I get to feel I know them personally.

My favourite local dive site is called The Leap. It gets its name from the entry which is a ledge that can be as much as 2m above the water and you literally leap. There is a low platform which gets you close to the water if, like me, you carry a large camera rig.

The Leap is usually done as a drift dive on an incoming tide. You drift/swim around 800m underwater to the next dive site called The Steps (because it has a lot of steps). You jump in, descend and swim to the sand line at a depth of 20-22m. You then follow the sand line (or just up from the sand line), as it gradually gets shallower, all the way to The Steps.

On a dive at The Leap I can see the majority of species of fish and invertebrates that can be seen in the Sydney region although it isn’t a night dive site and so I don’t get to see many of the nocturnal cephalopods that can be seen in Sydney.

Here are just some of the species I see at The Leap on a regular basis.

Endemic Species

Red-fingered Anglerfish, Porophryne erythrodactylus.
P_erythrodactylus_TheLeap190523.jpg


Sydney Pygmy Pipehorses, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri.
I_lumnitzeri_TheLeap150117.jpg



Other Temperate Species

Weedy Seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus.
P_taeniolatus_TheLeap1205.jpg


Pot-bellied Seahorses, Hippocampus abdominalis.
H_abdominalis_TheLeap151018-4.jpg


Reaper Cuttlefish, Sepia mestus
S_mestus_TheLeap1212-9.jpg


Giant Cuttlefish, Sepia apama
S_apama_TheLeap120128.jpg


Common Sydney Octopus, Octopus tetricus
O_tetricus_TheLeap1212-2.jpg


Basket star, Astrosierra amblyconus
A_amblyconus_TheLeap1308-2.jpg


Some not so regulars

White’s Seahorses, Hippocampus whitei.
H_whitei_TheLeap191020-2.jpg


Sea spider
Pycnognid_TheLeap180302-2.jpg


Tropical and Sub-tropical Species seen regularly

Painted Anglerfish, Antennarius pictus.
A_pictus_TheLeap140401.jpg


Ornate Ghostpipefish, Solenostomus paradoxus
S_paradoxus_TheLeap170615.jpg


Robust Ghostpipefish, Solenostomus cyanopterus
S_cyanopterus_TheLeap180423.jpg


Miamira magnifica nudibranch
M_magnifica_TheLeap131116.jpg


Here are some other species I have seen at The Leap:

Great Seahorse, Hippocampus kelloggi
H_kelloggi_TheLeap180127.jpg


Delicate Ghostpipefish, Solenostomus leptosoma
S_leptosoma_TheLeap170201-2.jpg


Red Indianfish, Pataecus fronto (these can be common at other sites around Sydney)
P_fronto_TheLeap1212.jpg


Goblinfish, Glyptauchen panduratus
G_panduratus_TheLeap1306.jpg


Emperor Shrimp, Zenopontonia rex
Z_rex_TheLeap160213-2.jpg



Here's an example of a single dive:
Dive at The Leap, Kurnell, NSW on Tuesday 17 December 2019 - ATJ's Diving Site
 
Pictures of those sea dragons give me a bit of the willies.
 
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