South Australia Dive Plan – Please Advise

[Manuel Sam]

What started out as a curiosity about the annual Giant Cuttlefish mating aggregation in Whyalla has now evolved into a full-fledged plan to visit South Australia in the hopes of seeing and shooting a few species on my “to see” wishlist. These include the Leafy and the Weedy seadragons, the pyjama squid, the tasseled frogfish, the South Australia Blue Ring, Port Jackson shark and other cat sharks, and the Giant cuttlefish mating. I am sure that there are other worthy things to see that will be new to me.

I am targeting June 2018. A prelim itinerary is listed below. Are there any other divesites that I should consider?

Up to three days based in Adelaide to dive Rapid Bay Jetty and The Bluff in Victor Harbor.
A max of two days in Whyalla for the Giant Cuttlefish.
A day at Port Hughes.
Up to three days to dive the Edithburgh Jetty. Then back to Adelaide to fly back home.

From a logistics standpoint, I will probably use one of the local dive operators when based in Adelaide.

For Whyalla, Port Hughes and Edithburgh, it is my understanding that there are no dive operators in those areas – only dive service stations in Whyalla and Edithburgh, where tanks can be refilled. Therefore, I would probably rent tanks in Adelaide and take them with me…..unless you know that I can rent tanks in Whyalla and Edithburgh.

Now the questions:

Is there a better way of doing this?

What can I expect for water temperatures at that time of the year?

June is reputed to be the wettest month – is there a better month to do this trip and hopefully still see what I am setting out to see?

Do I need to allow for stormy days that could cause me to cancel diving on those days?

Are these divesites best dived at high tide?

In a place like Lembeh, a good dive guide is indispensable. I am assuming that dives that I book thru an Adelaide dive operation are guided dives. For all other divesites, I am guessing that we will be on our own. Am I at a huge deficit not having diveguides?

Thank you.

 

[Wingy]

I cant answer any of your questions.....but i can give you some more to be curious about for your trip to Australia. June will be cold anywhere from 14c to 18c generally . Because Boston is a long way from Adelaide its a shame you cant get the cuttlefish to mate a couple of months earlier. Just across the gulf in Western Australia we have the Bremer Bay Canyon Aggregation you may find equally early. Personally If i were you id arrive in Australia around February and stay til June best of luck in your plans i hope someone serious gives you some proper answers.

 

[diver257a]

Hi Manuel Sam,

I live in South Australia and have the following comments (in red text).

‘South Australia Blue Ring’ - I assume that you are referring to the Blue Ringed Octopus.

I am targeting June 2018. A prelim itinerary is listed below. Are there any other divesites that I should consider?
Adelaide - Port Noarlunga and Second Valley, subject to the weather.
Edithburgh - other nearby jetty sites at Port Giles, Wool Bay, Kleins Point and Stansbury.
Whyalla - Tumby Bay (south of Whyalla) should be considered as an alternative site for Leafy Sea Dragons. There are other sites of interest around Whyalla.

Up to three days based in Adelaide to dive Rapid Bay Jetty and The Bluff in Victor Harbor.
A max of two days in Whyalla for the Giant Cuttlefish.
A day at Port Hughes.
Up to three days to dive the Edithburgh Jetty. Then back to Adelaide to fly back home.

Victor Harbor sites usually have very poor viz, although there is lot of interesting stuff if you know where to look. The Bluff is an exposed site that is best dived in summer particularly when there is a northerly wind.

From a logistics standpoint, I will probably use one of the local dive operators when based in Adelaide.

For Whyalla, Port Hughes and Edithburgh, it is my understanding that there are no dive operators in those areas – only dive service stations in Whyalla and Edithburgh, where tanks can be refilled. Therefore, I would probably rent tanks in Adelaide and take them with me…..unless you know that I can rent tanks in Whyalla and Edithburgh.

There is a dive shop in Whyalla which hires equipment and can do guided dives both from the shore and a boat - search online for Whyalla Diving Services.

Now the questions:

Is there a better way of doing this?

You may need to look at using several service providers rather than one as no one will be able to service all of your needs. What you have proposed is best done as three separate events. I would suggest dives at Rapid Bay/The Bluff during the week, the Edithburgh trip (including Port Hughes) on the weekend (i.e. the service provider can take the cylinders back to Adelaide) and then drive to Whyalla and dive there during the following week.Then drive back to Adelaide and fly home.

What can I expect for water temperatures at that time of the year?
You will encounter temperature as low as 9 degrees C at Victor Harbor and as low as 13 deg C at Whyalla. From May to September/October, I usually use a drysuit.

June is reputed to be the wettest month – is there a better month to do this trip and hopefully still see what I am setting out to see?
June can be a wet month but the months from August to October are usually wetter. May and June may be cold but can be sunny and still. When it rains, runoff can affect visibility at some sites, i.e. Edithburgh where the stormwater flows down the street to the jetty! Presumably, the ‘Giant cuttlefish mating’ which runs from May to August, is the driver of your plan.

Do I need to allow for stormy days that could cause me to cancel diving on those days?

Yes, you should, but you can dive at alternative sites along sheltered shorelines. In June, the prevailing weather is from the west which means sites at Edithburgh and Whyalla should be OK for diving while sites such as Rapid Bay and Port Hughes will be fully exposed to any onshore wind.

Are these divesites best dived at high tide?
No- tides do not usually affect the behaviour of many of the animals that you have listed.

In a place like Lembeh, a good dive guide is indispensable. I am assuming that dives that I book thru an Adelaide dive operation are guided dives. For all other divesites, I am guessing that we will be on our own. Am I at a huge deficit not having diveguides?

Operations in Adelaide can do guided dives to Edithburgh and to the sites where LSDs are found. The former is usually offered as a weekend trip (i.e. Friday to Saturday) with minimum numbers in order to fund suitable accommodation while the latter is offered for individuals and couples. No, you are not at huge deficit if you do not have a guide - you just need to acquire some knowledge about diving at these sites. However, guides who know how to find the animals you are looking for would be useful at both Rapid Bay and Edithburgh.

I will post the names of operators based in Adelaide on the weekend as I am busy on Thursday and Friday.

 

[Manuel Sam]

Wingy: Thanks. I'll have to try Bremer on future trip that includes what I still consider one of my top 10 divesites - the Navy Pier in Exmouth. I know I'd have to fly from Perth to Exmouth but at least they're sort of along the same coast. As for spending 4 months over there, I know that the US to Aussie dollar exchange rate is really good right now, but not thaaaat good!!

diver257: Thanks. You have provided a lot of good knowledge here as well as in prior posts. I need to read thru this several times to digest it all. It is good to know that guided dives at Whyalla and Edithburgh (possibly done on weekends with an Adelaide-based dive operator) can be arranged. I view local knowledge of the divesites as very important when you are looking for very specific species.

As for the driver of my plan, the giant cuttlefish mating orgy was certainly the trigger; but once I found out that Whyalla is in in the Adelaide area, then it made sense to try for the other high-value targets: the leafys, the tasseled frogfish, and the Blue Ring Octopus.

As far as the Blue-Ring Octopus, being able to see the South Australian version will complement previous sightings in Indonesia and the Philippines of what appear to be two other distinct species, in addition to the Ocellated or Mototi, which has a single blue ring and also deemed venomous.

If not in South Australia, I hope to see the Weedy in the Sydney area immediately prior to going to Adelaide. I also plan to spend a week diving a few hours north of Sydney to look for Wobbegongs, Leopard sharks and aggregations of Gray Nurse sharks.

You already posted the names of half a dozen or so Adelaide-based dive operators on a previous thread. No need to repost here again. Thanks!!

 

[Jeannie Tan]

Hi Manual Sam,

I am too am attempting to plan a very similar trip to see the mating cuttlefish, kingfish nets and the sea dragons in the Adelaide/Whyalla area for the week of June 24- July1 ,2018. I was wondering if you have made contacts/bookings as yet for your trip?

 

[Manuel Sam]

Hi Jeannie Tan,

No, I never got that far because couldn't get any of my dive friends to agree to travel that far to then dive in sub-15 waters. It would have been a bit of an undertaking to do it solo. It is something that still appeals to me but for now it is in the backburner. All that I have is a WORD file that has bits and pieces of information that I gathered here and there. I'd be more than glad to send it to you, for whatever it's worth.

 

[ocdiver1]

I can recommend a great local guide who i dove with December 2015 when i was last in the area, Carl Charter (Carl.Charter@gmail.com). Dove Edithburgh Jetty (fantastic) and several other sites on the Yorke Peninsula, as well as Rapid Bay Jetty and Victor Harbor. I know he also does Whyalla as well. He is supremely knowledgeable and a fantastic spotter, used to guiding photographers and a fine photographer himself. Definitely worth contacting him.

 

[Russjstewart]

From memory and google maps you will need to allow at least 4.5 hours and probably more for a road trip between Whyalla and Adelaide.

Hope the cuttlefish do the right thing for, and do not handle the blue ring octopi they are generous, and only go blue when angry, the rest of the time they are a sort of browny colour

Cheers

 

[Manuel Sam]

Thank you, ocdiver1 and Russjstewart.