Other places to dive?

[Blackrock]

I'm going to be in Oz sometime between December and March '10. I am under the impression that diving the GBR from day boats is not worth it. (cattle boats & substandard, degraded reefs) However, I don't think I can afford a liveaboard even if I get the standby/last-minute price.

Any recommendations for diving the east coast of Oz other than the GBR or the Yongala (already planning on diving that)?

Thanks




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[thanksforallthefish]

I cant comment about doing the GBR from day boats as I haven't done it.

To be honest there are many many palces to dive in Oz and it is a big country (lots of coastline) very little inland diving lakes quarries etc, but a bit of cave diving tho.

It would make it a bit easier if you told us where you were going to be and how long you are staying.

Just to give you an idea ... ayr is about 15 hours drive north of Brisbane and Sydney is around 12 hours drive south of Brisbane

Some places I would suggest would be Byron Bay (see pics from AussieByron on SB) and Fishrock Cave

 

[Blackrock]

I have loose, flexible plans. This is only one stop on a multi-destination trip. The only "plans" I have are to hang out in Sydney for a bit and then head north to dive the Yongala. I'm open to suggestions for the rest.

I'm not cave or cavern certified so I guess you could leave out those suggestions.

Thanks in advance for the replies.





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[Kern]

Some of my favourites from north to south:-

South East Queensland.
Wolf Rock
http://www.wolfrockdive.com.au/resources.html

Sunshine Coast- Ex HMAS Brisbane
http://www.scubaworld.com.au/index.htm
Sunreef Scuba Diving - Padi Dive School | Wreck Diving | HMAS Brisbane | Scuba Dive Trips

Stradbroke Is.
Manta Lodge and Scuba Centre : Stradbroke Island

North & mid north coast NSW.
Byron Bay, Julian Rocks
Dive Byron Bay Scuba Diving Australia with Sun Dive
Dive Byron Bay with the Byron Bay Dive Centre - your professional PADI and SSI dive shop to dive Julian Rocks

Solitary Islands'
North
http://www.divequest.com.au/
Wooli Dive Centre Wooli New South Wales Australia
South
Banana Coast Divers Coffs Harbour PADI dive resort - Banana Coast Divers

South West Rocks
South West Rocks Dive Centre - Fish Rock, Grey Nurse Shark, Scuba Diving, Australia
Home - Fish Rock Dive Centre at South West Rocks

Laurieton
SCUBA Haven web site

Forster
Forster Dive Centre - Scuba Diving & Snorkelling
PADI SCUBA Dive Centre - Swim with Whales & Dolphins - Dive Forster at Fisherman's Wharf

 

[thanksforallthefish]

Kern has given you a very good list of places to dive. If you were driving from Sydney to Brisbane the places he suggest would give a quite comprehensive coverage of the diving that can be done.

My choices of those if you wanted to Narrow it down would be South West Rocks (Fishrock), Solitary Islands ( personally I would avoid Dive Quest at Mulloway), Byron Bay, ex HMAS Brisbane and Wolf Rock.

I have not dived Byron Bay, HMAS Brisbane or Wolf Rock but have heard good reports on them

Forster is good if you want to see sharks, I am not that impressed with the other diving there, although recently I have seen as many sharks at Fishrock as Forster.


You do not need cave or cavern cert for Fishrock Cave, OW is fine. A DM will take you through the cave.

 

[Kern]

K Solitary Islands ( personally I would avoid Dive Quest at Mulloway)

Fish, could you say why, either here, or by PM. This is a serious request for your thoughts. I'm not trying to have a go at you in any way.

 

[HappyDiving]

Hi Blackrock, one free way to get on the liveaboard is to go up to Cairns and volunteer as a hostie on the liveaboard boats. You will have to clean rooms and dishes but you get to eat, sleep, and dive for free and you can count on 3 to 4 dives per day which is not bad at all! one company that takes hosties is deep sea diver's den. You should sign up as soon as you reach Cairns as there is usually a waiting list. There are 2 liveaboard boats, one called OceanQuest which goes out to Norman and Saxon. The other is called Taka and goes north to Osprey and Cod Hole where hte diving is best including a shark feed. You can volunteer on both. I just did the Yongala out of Ayr, 6 hour drive from Cairns, you get 2 dives if you go out from Ayr and 1 dive if you go out from Townsville.
have fun!!!

 

[almitywife]

and dont forget, school holidays from mid/late december to Feb 1st so expect anything north of sydney will be busy with holiday makers and expensive

oh, for a 3 day liveaboard - look at Big Cat Reality, it dives Morton Bay (queensland) most weekends and hubby likes the boat. over chrissy they do special week long trips up to the Bunker Group and this will not be a cattle boat and you will be diving a rarely dived area, Moreton Bay (Brisbane) Scuba Diving aboard Big Cat Reality - The Brisbane Liveaboard

 

[Benski83]

Hi Blackrock,
Some great sites listed here. Just thought i'd add my 2 cents worth from personal experience.
You can save money on diving by doing shore dives, so no need to pay extra fees for the boat ride. check out dive shops in Sydney (I liked Botany Bay) and Nelson Bay. Abyss scuba can hire you gear and will let you tag along on a guided dive for free! It's a good idea to have a torch at this site for poking your head under rocks. Maybe not as stunning as the GBR but plenty to see if you take time to look (at least that was my personal experience).
Flat Rock (from stradbroke island) was awesome in June but not sure what the vis would be doing in summer.
Ex-HMAS brisbane can be a stunning dive but it is exposed and you are really taking your chances. I've heard stories of it also being a nightmare. You're taking a real gamble with it. It truly depends on the day.
Hope you have fun, where ever you end up.

 

[syranoob]

I will be in the syndey area in oct for a wedding and wont have enough time to go up to cairns/gbr as well. Thanks for the list!