South Australia Recommendations?

[Seepferdchencam]

Yup. <looks at map> "Oh, I'll just drive from Melbourne to Sydney today, no worries." Yeah, right.

That's one trip you can do in a day as it's all freeway and easy albeit boring driving.

If you're considering Melbourne the boats you want to investigate are Scubabo, Bay City Charters, and Chimney Rock Charters. There is a dive site guide here.

There is a lot of shore and pier diving. The most popular pier dives are Blairgowrie, Rye, and Flinders. You will need a car.

In terms of buddies your best bet will be the "Scuba dive Melbourne" and "Dive Buddies Social Group" Facebook groups.

This will give you some idea of water temperature. Visibility often better in winter.

Standard rental tank is a steel 12.2l with a din/k valve.

 

[diver257a]

@diver257a, thanks for the thoughtful post!

Seems like there's pros and cons to the various seasons. If you were me, trying to pick a time of year to go, what months do you think would offer the best combination of visibility, good conditions, and wildlife?


Gah. Okay, unless I hear people raving about it, I'll give that a pass.

Have you dove Tasmania? I've been there before but didn't dive; as I recall, infrastructure and transportation outside of Hobart was rather thin, so I don't know if a dive trip there would be easy to schedule.

The other factor in all of this is that I'll be alone and don't like diving solo, so I'll be looking for guided dives, boat dives, or day trips with local shops.

HI g2

The months of April to June probably offer the best opportunity to dive most popular sites as well as Cuttlefish dives near Whyalla and shark cage diving south of Port Lincoln. Generally, the wind should be mild in strength, sunny, and with minimum chance of rain. Please note that cuttlefish and shark cage seasons extend beyond the window of 'April to June'.

March could be included but it can be windy. If you are interested, there is a webpage called 'Wind Roses for Selected Locations in Australia' on the (Australian) Bureau of Meterology website, where you looked at various wind directions and strengths by month for various places in Australia.

Please note the following:

1. The period April to June in 2025 will include both Easter and School holidays. These events result in increased use of domestic air travel and tourist accommodation as well as increased motor vehicle activity on roads outside of the Adelaide metropolitan area.
2. The water temperature will get colder. It will fall beyond 15 degrees C in late May and remains there until late October. You should allow to hire a wetsuit of a suitable thickness.

You asked about industry services in South Australia. The local industry (which consists of three main dive stores, i.e. Adelaide Diving, Adelaide Scuba and Underwater Sports, and a number of other smaller service providers) offers the following services:

1. Guided dives to Rapid Bay and other Leafy Seadragon sites
2. Weekends at Edithburgh
3. Boat dives on Adelaide metropolitan coastline and other places
4. Weekend trips to Whyalla during Cuttlefish season

It is possible to engage a dive guide from either from one of the Big Three dive stores or from one of the smaller work-from-home dive businesses. I can offer some suggestions re the latter.

Tasmania - I have never been there. I would suggest that you start a post on Scubaboard with the subject title being "diving in Tasmania during 2025" or similar. This is because there are Tasmanian divers who regularly post content, and they are likely to be attracted to posts that include the words "Tasmania".

I trust the above is of use to you.

 

[TheDolphin]

The local industry (which consists of three main dive stores, i.e. Adelaide Diving Adelaide, Adelaide Scuba and Underwater Sports, and a number of other smaller service providers)...

Great reply to the OP.

If I may put in a small correction: Diving Adelaide.

 

[Pressurehead]

If I may put in a small correction: Diving Adelaide.

Diving Adelaide | PADI 5* Dive Centre | Learn To Dive

South Australia's Premier 5 Star PADI IDC Centre, Scubapro Dealer of the Year and PADI Green Star Award Holder! Learn to Dive with Diving Adelaide!

divingadelaide.com.au

The 2nd photo on the front page is used by a dive shop on Bali .

Sanur Dive & Snorkeling Pricing

www.scubago.id

 

[Seepferdchencam]

Diving Adelaide | PADI 5* Dive Centre | Learn To Dive

South Australia's Premier 5 Star PADI IDC Centre, Scubapro Dealer of the Year and PADI Green Star Award Holder! Learn to Dive with Diving Adelaide!

divingadelaide.com.au

The 2nd photo on the front page is used by a dive shop on Bali .

Sanur Dive & Snorkeling Pricing

www.scubago.id

PADI collateral by the looks of it. For example, see Advanced Open Water & Enriched Air eLearning Bundle | PADI

 

[Pressurehead]

OK, so PADI has the copyright , or poached from the web.
Back on topic, sorry.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

We are finishing up three weeks here in South Australia. I'll write a dive report when we get home, but I need to go through hundreds of photos first. We spent a week in Edithburgh followed by another week in Whyalla. Here is a preview;

 

[rosasintheocean]

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.

Hi, have you dived Tumby Bay jetty this year ? or heard of whether leafy seadagons still live there? I'll be there in July for the cuttlefish...

 

[rosasintheocean]

We are finishing up three weeks here in South Australia. I'll write a dive report when we get home, but I need to go through hundreds of photos first. We spent a week in Edithburgh followed by another week in Whyalla. Here is a preview;
View attachment 847062

Ooooooh what a beautiful pic! Magnificent!!!!!