First dive since 17 June as I went to Birdsville and due to Covid lockdown in Sydney, stayed 13.5 weeks in Queensland and South Australia. Glad to be back diving again. Tide was not particularly high but the current was perhaps the strongest I have had on this dive. Never needed to kick till near the end. Viz pretty good, 8-10 m. I saw 3 sea dragons and 2 big belly sea horses, but Ron saw 2 and 3 more respectively. He also saw a Bare Island anglerfish. He dropped a bit behind us so we did not see. Some PJs, lots of nudibranchs too. A very nice dive. Visibility fair.

Club boat dive. Forecast of strong NE winds and large NE swell. However, wind from N or NW and not so strong. Seas not too bad here. Anchored a bit shallow in 13 m. Blue water below about 10 m but cold 16.5C. Went S and then back past anchor area and back to anchor. Vishal low on air so dive a little shorter than planned. Saw 4 sea dragons, 3 sea spiders, a very small thin red pipefish. A few large black reef leatherjackets as well as normal fish. A really nice dive. Boat went perfectly. Visibility very good.

First dive at Bare Island since May. Very strong W winds when we went in but dropped a lot. Cool 17.7C, visibility 5 m or so. Went to just past first cave. Saw three PPH, one of which disappeared after I took first photo and we could not refind. Two upsidedown pipefish, one RIF, lots of nudibranchs and a very hidden Bare Island anglerfish. A really nice 95 minute dive. Visibility poor.

Little wind and flat seas when we went out. Blue water and little current too. Anchored a bit to E of normal spot. Went to wall and then S. Around to the back caves. Came back past both main caves. Two blue devilfish, one in each cave. Kelly also found a pipefish and tiny yellow boxfish. Went to S end and then back to anchor as Andrew low on air. We stayed on the smaller deeper wall for another 7 mins. Very nice dive. After we ascended, the wind really picked up and when second group left bottom, the anchor dragged a few times under the W wind. Got it up okay though. Very rough trip back across Botany Bay to Sans Souci. Visibility good.

Swell not as bad as Sunday when we decided not to dive, but still some water coming over the rock platform, not easy to get out. Quite surgy, even at 15 m. Made it hard to look for small stuff. Went down to SHR and then I went alone to start of IR1 to try to find a grey Bare Island anglerfish on a rock off the reef. However, could not find despite spending 10 mins in the area. Back normal way. Saw one PPH, one RIF, the orange BI anglerfish we saw last Friday. No pipefish. Still a nice dive. Visibility poor.

Last minute decision to dive when weather was much better than the forecast. As such, I forgot to take my computers! Anyway, Kim loaned me one. Swell down a lot from yesterday, less surge, sun out and slight SE wind. High tide so lots of water over platform still. Went down to near Cave. Found one PPH, the one that disappears while photographing it. Got some photos, may have been giving birth. One RIF, the orange BI anglerfish, no pipefish. Lots of interesting nudibranchs. Good dive. Visibility fair.

Only suitable day this week for a boat dive. Wind was stronger and swell bigger than forecast, so this was best site to dive. Current from N, was stronger than 12-15 kt S! Not too bad going down, little current on bottom. Blue water, 15 m viz. Anchored first go on S side but ended up on sand so moved to N side. Went around reef. No wobbegongs, some silver seep and seapike, but not the numbers we normally see here. Still amazed everytime how many great gorgonias there are on this site. Nice dive. Wind dropped after dive. Visibility good.

Tomorrow's club dive day and BBQ cancelled due to high winds and seas. Today was calm and little wind. However, strong current from N. Anchored in normal spot, but was on a tiny lip and moved it to a large rock. Went up The Split to end and back outside to Cave and then back to anchor. Bastard trumpeters in normal spot with silver sweep and red morwong. No donut nembrothas. Lots of black reef leatherjackets. Lots of sand has been removed on reef edge. After dive had to rescue two divers from Abyss boat who had not made it to the anchor line or bottom and who drifted off. Found them 550 m south. Took them back to the boat one at a time. Nice dive. Visibility very good.

Large swell so most places out of the question. Took well over an hour to get here. Dirty 2-3 m viz, but warm at 19.2C. Went to net and then followed it to the hole and then outside. At first corner Carole found the tiniest White's sea horse, perhaps 3 mm long. Got two poor photos. Also saw a frogfish. Had ear problems, so had to keep going up and down. Finally cleared at 55 mins so went out to middle of the bay and followed the huge chain in all directions. Not much seen. Back to wharf, a White's sea horse, the only adult I saw. Earlier some different nudibranchs, a reasonable sized flathead, two very small rays. Not the greatest dive. Visibility very poor.

Really different conditions to Saturday. No wind, flat seas and only a very slight current from the south. Viz way down too, only 5-7 m. Anchored north of crack. Went around reef, heaps of yellowtail, seapike, silver sweep, one-spot pullers and old wives. One blue devilfish but no donut nembrothas. Quite a few bastard trumpeters to NE of cave. Nice dive. Visibility poor.

Flat seas, no wind, although it blew up very strong W as we got out. Four other members diving here separate to us. Viz 7-8 m deeper and 5 less than 14 m. Went off W point to Deep Wall, then back via RIF Reef and 15 Metre Reef. No sea horses, only PPH (Ugly as Kim calls him), one RIF, lots and lots of nudibranchs, some rarer ones too. NIce, relaxed dive. Visibility fair.

No wind or current. Slight swell but seemed to pick up in the 90 minutes we were diving. Anchored in normal spot, but boat hung to W. Had leak from neck, ended up totally soaked down to my socks! I think I had undergarment collar up in neck seal. Cold too! Was about 5-6 m here and up The Split, at least 3 dozen PJs. Outside, viz got worse and on way to look for donuts was only 1-2 m. Back along reef edge, got better to 2-3 m. To Cave and back. Some silver sweep at N end, bastard trumpters and red morwong in Cave and normal spot S of anchor. Back up. Not a great dive. Visibility very poor to shithouse.

Much stronger NE winds than forecast but not too bad. Reasonably strong outgoing tide too. Viz a lot better than I thought it would be, 7-10 m. Did the normal dive but not as far as knew we would use a fair bit of air on return to exit. Saw two sea dragons, one big belly sea horse (others saw two more), three PPH, a large bullray. Plenty of nudibranchs. Visibility fair.

No wind, calm seas, very slight current from N. Anchored on wall. Cold clear water, much better than Tuesday's dive. Went N for 5 mins without Kevin, he later caught up with us, he was underweighted and had to get more lead from boat. Heaps of seapike and yellowtail up here. Back to anchor and S a bit. Then back and around anchor. Lots of purple ascidians but no donut nembrothas. No sea dragons either. Enjoyable dive. Started raining as we went to leave. Visibility good.

Supposed to do Bypass Reef as a club dive, but current was at least 1.5 kts from N. Also very sloppy, swell from NE instead of SE. Back to Henry Head. Very cold 15.7C. Went S to the corner, strong incoming tide current. I saw three sea dragons but others saw two more at least. A few red/yellow sea spiders too. Lots of nudibranchs, black reef leatherjackets and more. Very nice dive. Visibility good.

Trouble with starboard engine, problems starting and also later. Turned out to be bad isolator screw on battery. Similar to yesterday. No wind, smaller seas and less surge but similar current. Very cold again, 15.6C. Anchored a little N from yesterday. Went S, saw 7 sea dragons, three with eggs or remains. Lots of sea spiders, red and yellow and yellow and grey. Plenty of ladder-finned pomfrets at N end. A really nice dive. Visibility good.

Could not get a crew for a boat dive, lucky, as wind much stronger S than forecast. Went in at Carol's plaque. Water much warmer at 18.1C. Down to almost SHC. The ugly PPH was home, then a tiny orange painted anglerfish before SHR. Also a PPH here too. Then further on some interesting nudibranchs, including a pink okenia and an opera house out in open. The Bare Island anglerfish was not on rock near Cave. However, I found a tiny yellow painted anglerfish to W of this rock. It had red circles on back and grey spots. So cute. Another much larger BIA was on top of rock near SHC. This turned out to be one I saw on 23 Sept 2020 in front of Cave, but now is more orange than yellow. Another PPH, and one more BIA back on same rock as the first painted anglerfish. A great dive. Visibility fair.   

Very strong W wind, hit 37 knots at Kurnell. Glad we were not out boat diving as forecast was only 12 kts. Six club members. Went in past plaque and also exited there as ramp was too rough. Water much dirtier than Tuesday, only 5 m at most. Lots of divers in the water, including a whole bunch inexpicably with twin 12 litre tanks! Also a very selfish photographer spending over 5 mins taking photos of the tiny yellow painted anglerfish. Anyway, we all got separated at first BIA and I spent the rest of the dive with Paul. Went down to find the yellow Bare Island anglerfish (YPA) and then to SHC. Could not find the other BIA we saw on Tuesday. Back to YPA. Found three PPH, including Ugly which had moved to next bunch of weed. Also a large wobbegong, two sole, lots of nudibranchs including some red-lined flabellina and a wandering pink okena. A nice dive despite the divers. Visibility poor.

Windy again, not as bad as yesterday. Flat seas and easy entry/exit. Went E at first and then W and back to exit. Viz ranged from 4-5 down to 2-3 metres. Very little current, outgoing tide. Two sea dragons, a lot of nudibranchs. No PPH or sea horses. An average dive. Visibility very poor.

Had to cancel boat dive due to illness of one crew and unable to get a replacement. Lucky as wind was up to 18 kts S rather than the 7-8 kts forecast. Blue water but a lot of whale snot. Saw three big belly sea horses and two sea dragons. No PPH or BIA. Lots of nudibranchs. Nice relaxing dive. Visibility fair.

Two boats and 8 divers. Little wind and no current but a bit of slop from many directions. Anchored first go about half way to bow on E side. Lots of bailer shells, especially near anchor. Went to stern after securing anchor. Large wobbegong shark under prop and two moray eels in steering gear. Then to anchor. Maxine went up and I went to bow where Peter T showed me a large crayfish. Back to anchor which had just come free. Had to drag it back to near where I had it and reset. Did almost 22 mins on bottom, 2 more than I planned. Easy deco. Great to dive the Tuggerah again, first time this year. Visibility fair.

Club shore dive. Original forecast bad so did not take my boat out. Went in a few minutes late and slight incoming tide. However, at 25 mins it turned dramatically, no slack, and ran out very strongly. Hard to swim against. Don't think I ever had it do this. Water warm 18.3C and viz about 7 m. Went normal route, the middle buoy has been moved too close to a large bommie and the chain has destroyed 75% of the growth on it. Fisheries really are idiots, a marine reserve and they are killing so much of it. Only got to just past the last buoy before the tide changed. Very quick trip back. A few moray eels, octopus. a large bullray, many numbrays, only one nudibranch, no pineapplefish. A disappointing dive once again, I really do not know why I dive here now. Visibility fair.

First dive for 10 days as weather has been rubbish. John up from Melbourne, so decided to organise a dive here. Not much swell but a little surge. Nine members all up. Went in at Carol's Plaque. Water dirty after the rain and big seas, but got better at SHC. I did not see any anglerfish, but second group did. Three RIF, an upsidedown pipefish, a bright red PPH, many different nudibranchs. Ron saw some fine-lined tamjas. A large flathead, many friendly blue gropers, lots more. Nice dive. Visibility very poor.

Sloppy seas but better after, no wind, reasonable current from N, blue water, 18.1C. John didn't make it to deco line first go. I set anchor and then went looking for him and up. He was back on boat, Ron added extra line to mermaid. Second go all okay. Went up Split to look for donut nembrothas, found one. Back to anchor on outside. Lots of one-spot pullers and a few bastard trumpeters near anchor. Nice dive. Visibility good.

Went in off W point, others went in at Carol's Plaque. Very dirty top 4 m here and above 7 metres near exit. Much warmer there too. We went to sand edge, then to 15 Metre Reef and back. Slight outgoing current. Saw the others near first cave. Lots of nudibranchs, one PPH, two firefish, no RIF, could not find the anglerfish others saw on Tuesday. Lots of other things too. Very nice dive. Visibility good.

  

Impromptu dive organised to dive with GNS and have lunch afterwards. Millpond seas and no wind but wind picked up to over 30 kts while we were underwater, no effect here. Went slowly out of bay, saw first grey nurse shark as soon as underwater. Saw most at about 12 m or so. I think there were about 6. All small apart from one medium. Some came quite close and got good photos. Went out to sand but none there, only a large bullray. Back slowly, saw more GNS (same ones) and then back to shore. Really nice dive. Visibility good.

Only really nice day for weeks, sunny in afternoon but rained a bit as we geared up. Going bad again from tonight. A bit of wave action and also very high tide meant waves right over all the rock platform. Back using wetsuit as sick of getting a bit wet through inflator, 19.2C, so all good. Went in just before high tide, over 1.9m, but little current. Went down to Little Big Rock, then Kev and I came back. Saw two PPH, no sea dragons, one Bare Island anglerfish, lots of interesting nudibranchs. Two big belly sea horses, others saw one more and some extra PPH. Great dive. Visibility very good.

100th dive for the year, not bad considering I did not dive for 4 months as away in outback. Conditions better than expected, although storm hit after we left site. Slight seas, viz 4-5 m and perhaps a bit more near First Cave, 20.0C and some surge. OSTC rebooted on bottom so this is from Perdix. Lots of nudibranchs, one PPH, one RIF, one painted anglerfish (the small red one from 4 weeks ago). Very nice dive. Visibility poor.

Club dive. Best seas for ages after third weekend in a row with strong winds and big seas. Flat but a little rolling swell, tiny bit of surge on bottom at times. Viz 10-12 m, 19.5C and slight current from N. Anchored on NE corner. Went around as normal. Lots of yellowtail and a few very large seapike. Two wobbegongs, one huge. Very nice dive, first time here for almost two months. Visibility good.

SE wind and small swell, but flat as entry and exit. Viz apparently better than yesterday and much better than Kurnell, 20.5C. Went down to before First Cave. The orange painted anglerfish has moved to rock before the large one it has been on. Lots and lots of nudibranchs, heaps of less common species too. A few very small flatworms and two red PPH near each other, including the bright red one that Donna found on 30 November. One RIF, quite a few ladder-finned pomfret at turn-around. A really good dive. Visibility poor.

Swell up a bit from yesterday and higher tide meant more water over rock platform. Overcast again, little wind, viz less than yesterday, maybe 3-4 m. Warmer at 21.4C. Did similar dive to yesterday, 101 mins. Over 20 species of nudibranch, so at least 25 species seen yesterday and today. The orange painted anglerfish moved further NE along the rock it was on yesterday. Carole found a Bare Island anglerfish, small, to W of SHR. The two red PPH in same spot. A small wobbegong, an upsidedown pipefish under SHR, a small cuttlefish and some octopus. Another really nice dive. Visibility poor.

Wind from NE was up earlier than forecast and outside was very lumpy. Came back to here. Still a little bumpy, some swell and surge on bottom at 20+ m. Viz about 10 m, although some spots worse. No current, even after tide turned only very, very slight at surface. Colder than nearby Bare Island, only 19.2C. Went to S end and back past anchor and back to anchor. Only two sea dragons, both with eggs, and no sea spiders. Quite a few yellowtail and some seapike and small trevally. A large bunch of old wives too. A really nice dive. Visibility fair. 

Went in at Carol's Plaque and then went via the Bypass Cutting to West Wall. 18.4C on bottom but 21.3C shallow. Here Kim found a very small Bare Island anglerfish in the fork of a white sponge. Then zig-zagged to 15 Metre Reef. Mandy found a PPH just before and I found another one on same rock. Then along reef to end. At SHC, I found a pregnant male white PPH. Should be two here apparently. Then back via First Cave, then Outer Rocks (one red PPH only) and the small BI anglerfish from last Friday. Here I had to head to shore as low on air by now. The small orange anglerfish is still on same rock and Kim showed me the ugly PPH, same spot as normal but I could not find last 4 or 5 dives. Also a large flathead, some octopus, lots of nudibranchs. A great dive. Visibility fair.

Supposed to be strong SE winds but last night changed to nothing. Dived here anyway. Went in next to Humpback Whale and headed NE. Warm above 10 m (21.7C) but colder 18.0C on bottom. Saw 2 sea dragons when we hit sand. One had eggs. Then went E into reasonable current. for 12 mins. Back and once past sea dragons current dropped off a lot. Some nudibranchs, one big belly sea horse, a tiny yellow boxfish and a larger one. Two horned sharks, one smaller. A large cuttlefish, all the normal fish here. Once past the first turn, visibility dropped from 15+ m to 7 m. At the end of the Long Wall, I went too far SW as computer compass was a bit out I think. Long swim back to the beach. Surfaced near the large marker on the way. Visibility good.

Similar dive to Wednesday. Much warmer though, 20.3C min. Similar viz. Could not find the sponge with small BI anglerfish. Also could not find the yellow BI anglerfish. Seems to be the day to move, three PPH also moved from their spots. Went back same way, no PPH near SHC, but two Ugly PPH, no idea there were two there and have not even been able to find one for weeks. A large cuttlefish on West Wall, one RIF, lots of nudibranchs, including two fine-lined tambjas. A nice dive. Visibility fair.

Big seas last few days, dropped heaps. Viz only 3-4 m, little surge. Went in at Carols Plaque and then slowly down to before First Cave. The orange painted anglerfish on top of rock now. I found a small PPH next to SHR, then refound the small BI anglerfish we could not find last dive. Lots of nudibranchs as normal, out to the outer rocks and refound the bright red PPH that has been missing the past few dives. Also found the other red one here. No ugly PPHs. Some large flathead, lots of seapike near Sea Tulip Rocks (STR). Despite being very gloomy and poor viz, an excellent dive. Vicki also found a grey BIA on her dive before us. Visibility very poor.

Got too many divers for tomorrow's dive so decided to go out today. W winds so great run up to Clovelly. No current, little wind, viz 20 m. Could see the boat from 23 m. Went E a bit deeper and then N and back to anchor and S a little. Two wobbegongs, some cuttlefish, a few other fish. A nice dive, though no sea dragons. Other group saw a PPH! First place they were ever seen by Akos! A great dive. Visibility very good,

A new site. Slight current and little N wind when we started. Decided to look around where Wayne was anchored yesterday, but a but further out and NE. Reef 18 m deep till it drops to 23 m. Further out 25 m. Not as good viz as yesterday,. Anchored near a large tunnel. Went deeper and north then back to anchor. Great colourful walls and lots of tyres, mostly from trucks. Probably came from the council dump at Pistol Crack. A moray eel in a tyre, a fiddler-ray, some cuttlefish, a few nudibranchs. A really nice dive, fixed marine life the best thing. Lots of sponges, sea squirts etc. A great dive. Visibility very good.