One day to dive in/around Sydney

[pamelad]

Hi everyone,
I'm going to Sydney for work next week, and have just one little day to squeeze in a dive. I'm looking for recs about both dive sites and operators. My flight lands at 9a on a Sunday, so sadly early morning dives are out - but anywhere I can get to by the early afternoon would be great. I know this is a broad request, but to narrow things down:
1. Not so into in the sharks, but I'd love to see mantas, turtles, etc - and seahorses/seadragons. I know there are no guarantees, but recommendations for spots w lots of any of these would be great.
2. I will have to use public transport, so a place that I could get to by bus/train/taxi would be good.
3. I like a relaxed dive with a dive master that likes to take time to stare at things (and preferably someone willing and able to answer annoying numbers of fish ID and naturalist questions).
Another question: My wetsuit is a 2.5 mil shortie - which is fine for home, where water temps are around 27/28. How's the water temp in a Sydney summer?
Thanks for the help, everyone!
Pamela

 

[almitywife]

hi and its currently hot hot hot here in sydney - Jan is our hottest month

but, the water has been anything from 21C to 17C this past few weeks..... very weird

you wont see mantas here in sydney and turtles are just as rare (although i saw one about 2 weeks ago but that would be 3 turtles in over 10yrs of diving here)

i always suggest diving either Kurnell or Bare Island for weedy seadragons - we're the only country that has them.

i suggest you contact either Sydney Dive Academy or Abyss (Bare Island nearest dive site) or Shiprock dive about guided dives

Bare Island is my fav dive, you always see stuff (last dive there was seahorses, weedy, blue devil fish, moray ect)

goodluck!

 

[pwl]

no mantas in sydney, sorry. eagle rays, maybe.

bare island is a good spot for shore dives; you may be able to find weedy seadragons there, and it is possible to take a bus to the site (although with gear that might be tough). there's no dive store there so the logistics of tanks & where to stow dry clothes, etc may be tricky.

alternate shore dive sites include:
- shelly beach / fairy bower (near manly)
- camp cove (eastern suburbs)
- fairlight (inside harbour near manly)

mike mcfadyen maintains a great list


water temperature for shore dives right now is 21-23C, you will want a 5mm full-body wetsuit to be truly comfortable: sydney is *not* a tropical environment

if your flight lands at 9am it will be 11am before you're in a city hotel, most likely; i don't think a sunday dive is going to be a goer unless you're bringing all your equipment including tanks with you .

what *might* be a better bet is a night dive: i think frogdive willoughby are organising night dives on tuesdays. you can contact them, arrange gear & possibly transport & get someone to show you around.


hth

 

[almitywife]

abyss and sydney dive academy offer guided dives (for a price of course) and i believe they will say "meet us at the shop" and then transfer to the dive site with equipment

dont forget it doesnt get dark in sydney until after 8.30pm these days so and mid to late arvo dive is doable

cheers

 

[thanksforallthefish]

Seeing as you have such a short time frame I would suggest Bare Island, the only reason I say this is Kurnell is it is a bit dependant on weather conditions and tides whereas you can generally get in somewhere at Bare Island no matter what the conditions.

Weedys have been a bit scarce at Bare lately ... only have seen 1 in the last month or so

As pwl said iI think you will require a 5mil wettie if you are used to 27/28 deg in a 3ml shortie.

You can pretty much guarantee ther would be someone from SDA diving there on most days, and if you are extremely lucky you may even get to dive with Nick.

I have dived BI for years and a few months ago got to do a dive with Nick ... he showed me things I had never seen there

Sydney Dive Academy - Home


Scuba Lessons & Dive Gear - Abyss Scuba Diving PADI IDC Sydney

 

[pamelad]

Thanks for the advice, everyone! I'll definitely rent a 5 mil to avoid freezing my spoiled tropical butt off - I'd somehow imagined warmer waters in Sydney. And I've just found out that I will get an extra weekend in Sydney, so it looks like a full day of dives is now a possibility.
Appreciate the tips on sites and dive centers, too - I'll call around this wkend.
Looking forward to a great dive in Sydney ... if anyone ever pops over to Dili, happy to show you around our local dive spots!
Thx again,
Pamela

 

[thanksforallthefish]

Thanks for the advice, everyone! I'll definitely rent a 5 mil to avoid freezing my spoiled tropical butt off - I'd somehow imagined warmer waters in Sydney. And I've just found out that I will get an extra weekend in Sydney, so it looks like a full day of dives is now a possibility.
Appreciate the tips on sites and dive centers, too - I'll call around this wkend.
Looking forward to a great dive in Sydney ... if anyone ever pops over to Dili, happy to show you around our local dive spots!
Thx again,
Pamela

The temps have been doing some strange things ... got up to around 21 then dropped back to 17 and two days later was back at 20.

 

[Air One]

Weedys have been a bit scarce at Bare lately ... only have seen 1 in the last month or so

Hi all.
I'll be in Sydney in few weeks
Is Manly as good as Bare Island for weedys ? Or would it be better for me to cross Sydney for that dive ?

Be very carefull before to answer : if I come back from Australia witout having seeing any weedy SD, I'd be able to suicide...

 

[almitywife]

im told manly has weedys but ive never seen one in my 10yrs of diving it (will be diving Shelley this sunday btw)

for me, Kurnell (on an incoming tide) is the best place for weedys and then bare island but if they have been scarce at BI then i would prefer Kurnell

cheers

 

[Air One]

So, it will be kurnell and maybe Bare Island.
Thanks !