W wind, no current, 20C and great viz. Took a while to anchor, but ended up okay. Went to E and saw a kingfish and then a huge bullray. Came back to anchor via cave. Two small Moorish idols, another kingfish and bullray (or perhaps the same ones moved). Large numbers of yellowtail and ladder-finned pomfret. An excellent dive. Visibility very good.

A dive to test Kelly's new drysuit. She had problems with ears at start so took a while to get down. Went to 14 m and then headed N at this depth, getting a bit deeper to 18 m. Came back a bit shallower. Saw a few large flatheads, a few whiting as well. Back to swimming net and along it. There is still no growth on it, no sea horses at all. Back to shore. A successful test. Visibility fair.

8 May 2013 - Middle Ground
Club boat dive. As we anchored we had two seals swimming around the boat, lots of dolphins about 100 m away and then two humpback whales heading north about 150 m away. A medium swell running but very smooth water. No wind and only very slight current from N. Water still almost 20C on bottom, but there was a lot of sand floating in the bottom 7 m. A huge wobbegong and cuttlefish, a PPH, a couple of small cowries on a gorgonia (Kelly found these last two species) and the normal fish. Not as many as last dive here, but still good. Did a circuit of the reef. A very nice dive. Visibility fair.

Club night dive. Went in off W point and W to wall. Then to 15 m Reef and to S side of IR1. Saw a RIF on the way. Then another on IR1 and others saw one more at the end of IR2. Another on the way back on N side. Also 2 PPH, some very large squid, a lot of prawns, two wobbegongs and some flathead. Viz varied a lot, from fair to poor. Overall, visibility poor.

Club BBQ and dive day - 5 boats and about 40 divers. Slight NW wind and very slight outgoing tide. Dirty on top but quite nice on bottom, at least 15 m. Went S to sand edge and then W before N. Sponge gardens are so beautiful. Then headed back to wall and around to anchor area. Saw a long-snouted boarfish and then a Bare Island anglerfish, about 40 mm long. Back near anchor huge numbers of yellowtail. A very good dive. Visibility very good.

Very foggy day, with fog coming in from the S and viz of only 100 or so metres. Made it very dark on the bottom. Went in off the SE point and around the island back to the ramp. Viz pretty good and very slight incoming current. Saw a fiddler-ray, Kelly got zapped by a numbray (not bad). Two PPHs, a tiny moray eel, a pink okena, a squid and lots of yellowtail near cave and back shallower. A nice dive even though we did not see a great deal of things. Visibility good.

15 May 2013 - Middle Ground
Club boat dive. Flat seas and no wind. A seal on the surface and the others saw it on the bottom. Huge numbers of seapike, sweep and yellowtail on SE corner. Three wobbegongs, two PPH, a couple of spindle cowries, a honey-coloured okenia and more. Very nice dive. Visibility good.

Club night dive, 11 dived. Very clean at the start but a bit dirtier the further out you went (low tide). Saw a small yellow boxfish, a pineapplefish, lots of squid, including a tiny one. Not a great deal more seen, although some of the others did see bannerfish, wobbegong and large cuttlefish. An average dive as normal. Visibility fair.

Club night dive, 9 members. First dive for 2 weeks as sick weekend before last and then away camping last weekend. What a dive! Whites sea horse, PPHs, a RIF with tube worms on it, Bare Island anglerfish near SHC, squid, octopus, cuttlefish, opera house nudis, pink okenias and m uch more. Viz very poor at start, then 15+m at Deep Wall, back to 10 m for rest of dive. Water mostly 19.5C. Visibility good. 

Dived with USA guest Rick. Went of W point to W and then along reef edge to 15 m Reef. Saw a dwarf firefish. Did not see RIF we saw Thursday night. Then to near SHC where we saw anglerfish but we could not find. Bugger! Then back to exit. No PPH but saw squid and heaps of nudis. Rick loved the dive. Visibility fair.

Went off SE corner and to SE. Then N along reef. Saw lots of nudis but no PPH. No sea dragons as well. Went to the Admiralty anchor and than back. A blue devilfish in cave near the main cave. A really nice dive. Visibility good

Had a break from looking after Kelly after her emergency operation. A bit of swell but not too bad getting in and out. Tide outgoing. Saw two smallish turtles in first 10 minutes. Then a huge school of thousands of Australian salmon swamp around us for at least 10 minutes. Found one PPH, noticed it by accident when I found 3 opera house nudis. Water cooler on top. Quite a nice dive. Visibility fair.

Club night dive, 11 divers. Did normal dive, lots of large orange nudis as well as opera house. A huge flathead, 4 pineapplefish (3 to N), frogfish and whiting. Gary D found a frogfish to W with 50 babies. Good dive. Visibility fair.

Too windy so cancelled baot dive. Six of us dived, did same dive as Thursday night. I did not see any nudibranchs, but others did. Seven pineapplefish, one of which was S of normal spot. Lots of large octopus, heaps of luderick, two horned sharks, plenty of seapike and other normal fish. Felt really cold despite being over 18C as we moved very slowly. Visibility good.

Delayed dive from yesterday. Still a bit of swell running, but very little wind. Very slight current from N. Went up Split to N and then back along reef edge to Tunnel. Thru Tunnel and as we exited, saw a large dolphin. This is the first I have ever seen underwater in 3460 dives! It took off very quickly. Back to anchor. Lots of one-spot pullers, silver sweep and bastard trumpeters. A great dive. Visibility very good.

Club boat dive. A bit of W wind at first but it dropped right off. Anchored to NE of point in 20 m. Went SE and then back to anchor and NW. Lots of small boulders and small overhangs. There are a few small walls that go from 22 m up to 16 m eventually. Lots of fish, including a Moorish idol and a couple of butterflyfish. Shelly saw a seal. Visibility very good.

Club boat dive. Dived using remaining air from first dive. Pro Dive boat driver whinged that we came in and anchored behind him. At least we do not dump 20 divers who cannot dive on the site! Two small females grey nurse sharks at second cave and seven at main cave, a couple were large. Also saw three Moorish idols behind the viewing spot. Visibility very good.

Club night dive, 6 attending. First dive of the year with the drysuit, went okay. Jumped in off SE corner and went S and W to wall. Very clean here, 15 m viz. Drifted back in, quite quick for here. Then came to a halt and hit dirtier water (7 m viz). Cleared up again further on. Ron saw 2 PPH. A few firefish, some very small. A RIF on Deep Wall. Back normal way, very dirty in shallows and a degree colder water. Visibility good.

Huge seas and very strong S winds meant no boat diving. Nine members diving. Went in a little early as only a low high tide. Went right to W end and found two pineapplefish and the frogfish with babies. The frogfish is opposite the chain and up on top of the first wall. Babies are tiny, perhaps 10 mm. Had trouble descending again due to my right ear. Eventuaally got down. Another pineapplefish along and then one more. Three at N end. Saw a total of seven frogfish. Also one Moorish idol. Reasonable dive. Visibility fair.

Huge seas and very strong winds, so no boat dives. Went along net and then out deeper. Not  a great deal to see, some small cuttlefish, a tiny numbray, a gurnard, lots of luderick in shallows. No sea horses again. Visibility variable but overall fair.

For more details about these dives and other dives this year,  click here.