Where would you recommend going? So far I'm considering Adelaide, Port Lincoln, maybe Hobart or Busselton Jetty. Any other places you'd recommend?
HI g2,
I live in South Australia (SA) and have the following comments about diving in SA.
Firstly, I have looked at the 'About' tab on your 'members' profile to find out who you are and what you are interested in.
When do you propose to visit Australia? This is important because diving is in SA waters (particularly Spencer Gulf, Gulf St Vincent, and Investigator Strait) that is greatly affected by the seasonal wind direction. For example, Maxbottomtime mentioned both the jetties at Rapid Bay and Edithburgh. Rapid Bay can be blown out in the winter months by regular onshore north westery winds. Similarly, Edithburgh can be blown out during the summer months by eastery winds.
Whyalla - a number of sites near this regional city host an annual aggregation of cuttlefish This runs from from mid-May to early August with cuttlefish numbers peaking from late May to early July. There is information online re this event.
Kangaroo Island - there are some great places to dive but it is very weather-affected and there are no services for divers apart from the cylinder filling station at the hardware store in the principal town of Kingscote. Also, it is an expensive and complicated exercise to dive there (i.e. ferry fares, accommodation & lots of driving etc as well as bringing a boat and a compressor from the mainland) - I once calculated that it was cheaper to fly to Bali and go diving there for a week.
Port Lincoln - I would not recommend diving there because there is no infrastructure for recreational diving. There are dive stores, but they mainly service divers working in the aquaculture industry. Also, I have heard that the local population is not interested in diving due to the increased presence of white sharks attracted to fish farms located both in the harbour and the nearby waters in the southern end of Spencer Gulf. The only exception is that it is the departure point for charter vessels carrying out white shark cage diving at the Neptune Islands about 70 km south of Port Lincoln. There is information online re the cage diving experience.
The South East of South Australia has an area of karst topography which includes a number of water-filled caves and sinkholes. if you don't have a recognised cave certificate, you can dive in Ewen Ponds and in the non-cavern/cave parts of Kilbys Hole. There is information online re these sites.
