Michael McFadyen's Scuba Diving Web Site

What a brilliant dive! Calm seas, little current from N, fine weather, W winds and viz of 35 to 40 m. Anchored in the middle of the reef. Went to S and then E and around reef. Could see whole reef from anchor. Some seapike over E reef, not as many bastard trumpeters as normal. A six-spined leatherjacket and lots of other leatherjackets. Found two donut nembrothras on rock S of main reef. Could see boat easily from the anchor! Visibility very excellent.

Viz was great considering it was low tide, probably 10 m, but very cold at 14.4C. Simon found a pipefish, there were a few octopus and a friendly moray eel. Three pineapplefish in normal spot. There is a new buoy and chain about half way around. Did not notice it when we went past on Tuesday in the boat. Either they have moved the old aquatic reserve buoy or put a new one in. Could not find the anglerfish we saw last dive here. Hundreds of large sand whiting on the slope near exit. Cut dive short as Simon was cold. Visibility fair.

Club boat dive, changed to go out of Port Hacking instead of Botany Bay as needed to check boat mooring again. Not much wind when we got out but later picked up to 15 kts W. Not as clean as last few ocean dives, but still good. Saw two seals on surface, one a baby, but no-one saw underwater. Found three donut nembrothas, one blue devilfish, a small sea dragon and more. Lots of silver sweep but not as many bastard trumpeters as normal. Visibility good.

Needed to dive on mooring as someone rang me and said our yacht and another boat were hitting each other. No evidence of this on either boat, but we know they were very close. I tried to shorten the mooring chain with a d-shackle but the silt on the bottom was so bad that I could not connect the second bit of chain up. Gave up after many attempts. Need to do it on a very calm day I think with someone helping me. Ended up shortening rope at the top. Visibility poor.

Too rough yesterday but today better. Still big sea but no wind or current and viz of at least 25 m. Went in from E mooring down main gutter then over to the N blind gutter and then to main wall. Back via Fish and Chips, then blind gutter and the S blind gutter. At least 25 grey nurse sharks, lots of big males and females. Heaps of nannygai at F&C, plenty of small yellowtail, bream and other fish. A few butterflyfish and a couple of wobbegongs. A great dive. Visibility very good.

Drysuit leaked a lot from neck, I think it was not sealed properly. Went across main gutter to S blind gutter and then over to the southern side of reef near Black Forest. Then back along wall to main gutter and down this to boat. Many sharks in main gutter, at least 20, a couple in blind gutter. A large turtle W end of main gutter. Lots of anemones and clownfish on N end of W wall. Another great dive. Visibility very good.

Went out yesterday but seas and winds meant we turned around and came back into the river. Today totally the opposite. Calm seas and little wind. A strong current though meant we could not do the eastern side. Did a similar dive to Tuesday morning, out to F&C. Saw three Queensland gropers out here, one huge. Lots of fish. Heaps of grey nurse sharks, mostly in main gutter. Came back via Deep Entrance and then to Main Gutter. A lot of yellowtail here and a few kingfish. Saw lots of sharks with hooks, one with a huge hook, trace and thick line. Some with damage, including a ripped gill. Also a medium bullray. A great dive. Visibility very good.

Decided to do this dive out to F&C again so that the others could see the Queensland gropers. Saw them. Went back to Main Gutter and I went right back to the W. I started counting the sharks in the gutter, at least 72 different ones! Brilliant. Saw similar things to first dive, but a huge school of large kingfish came in while I was doing safety stop. A brilliant dive. Visibility very good.

Went out with Peter Fields. Anchored dragged off just before I was to descend, so we reanchored and I dropped over straight away and secured anchor. A bit of a current from N but despite 12 m seas on weekend, blue water. I could easily see wreck from 20 m but did not really look for it before this. Probably the best viz I have ever seen on the wreck, maybe 40 to 50 m. I could see the boat from the anchor, 45 m down. Only went to the stern and back to boiler area and out off the sand to look back. Wished I had taken my camera! A few wobbegongs around. Viz dropped back to maybe 30 m after 10 m (I could no longer see the boat from the bottom). Did 21 mins on single tank. A brilliant dive!!! Visibility very excellent.

Went in from W point. A few larger waves meant we had to be careful getting in, but not too hard. Very clear shallow, at least 20 m, but only 7 to 10 on bottom. Found one PPH and one sea horse (out of the three). Very cruisy dive, even though tide was running out. Water only 15.5C deep, almost 17C shallow. No RIF and not many nudibranchs. Heaps of sand has been moved about by the huge seas on the weekend. Nice dive. Visibility fair deep, very good shallow.

Another amazing dive, with viz of close to 40 m. Calm, warm (17.1C), blue water. Went to E from anchor and saw a very large bullray and then a seal. Got a couple of photos of it. Another good sized ray. Back shallower to anchor, lots of ladder-finned pomfrets here. One more medium sized bullray and more pomfret W of anchor. When doing my safety stop I saw a grey nurse shark come from the W over the sand. I dropped back to the bottom and got some video and photos of it. Back to safety stop. A brilliant dive. Then a couple of humpback whales 30 m off boat flapping tails. We are so lucky in Sydney. Visibility very excellent.

Club night dive. Too high a tide and large swell to go in off W point, so went thru pool. Surface swim around a bit before starting. Viz good out deep (more than 10 m) but dropped back at about 14 m and then over 25 m shallow. Found 3 PPH, 4 RIF, 3 sea horses (normal spot), 5 firefish, a tiny fish that looked like a baby RIF (no idea really), lots of PJs, some octopus and small cuttlefish. A huge bullray near the end. It was just after high and the outgoing tide was reasonably strong. An excellent dive. Visibility good overall.

Club boat dive. Was to be to MV Malabar wreck, but we decided to do a reef dive as the viz was so good (over 25 m). It was raining and very dark, so not as good on bottom as it should have been and a reasonable current from the N. Lots of yellowtail, luderick and other fish around. Nothing special seen until right at end when we saw a school of well over 50 cowrays. Nice dive. Visibility excellent.

Club boat dive, two boats and 10 divers. Flat seas and no wind, bluish and about 20 m viz. Went along sand to N and then over to The Balcony. Lots of old wives here with some luderick shallow and a few seapike in with them. Back to anchor and then S and shallow again. Lots more fish along the way, especially mado and one-spot pullers. No ladder-finned pomfrets though. I found an upsidedown pipefish along the sand edge at start, a few PJs, some with eggs. Very nice dive. Visibility very good.

Very strong NW winds and hot for Winter. Flat seas and blue water, 17C. Right on high tide in middle of dive. One sea dragon, lots of opera house nudis (made up phyllodesmium) as well as black-margined glossodoris. A huge school of small silver trevally hung around for almost 10 mins. A few small cuttlefish, one large, one tiny moray eel and a squid. A really nice dive. Visibility very good.

Club shore dive. I cancelled both boat dives this weekend as forecast very strong S winds. However, winds were W. Could have dived Saturday, but today very big swell. The waves at The Leap were sometimes coming over the rock, but was okay. Very surgy for most of the dive. Found 3 big belly sea horses, 3 sea dragons, some fine-lined and Vercos tamjas and more. Current was stronger than normal, so dive was only 55 mins. Enjoyable dive despite the poorer viz and surge. Visibility fair.

Re-anchored on reef, anchor was still dragging through kelp. Stuck it on a little ledge. Could hear humpback whales through the whole dive. Dirty on way down, but okay on bottom. Went along Split to N and then back along sand edge. Found a donut nembrotha S of Split, then to Cave. Lots of bastard trumpeters here, quite a few blue gropers and some seapike. Back near anchor there was a huge bullray, the biggest I have seen for years. Visibility good.

First dive of our trip to Bali. Took the boat from The Dropoff beach around to SE. Quite strong SE wind blowing but calm seas. Kelly had ear problems at start but then okay. Headed back towards The Dropoff. Saw a tiny juvenile ribbbon eel and on a huge gorgonia, two tiny pink pygmy sea horses. Later saw a soft coral crab, spindle cowrie, a few different species of nudi, an anemone shrimp, two juvenile hump-headed wrasse and more Also a totally white rock cod. Very nice easy first dive. Visibility excellent.First dive of our trip to Bali. Took the boat from The Dropoff beach around to SE. Quite strong SE wind blowing but calm seas. Kelly had ear problems at start but then okay. Headed back towards The Dropoff. Saw a tiny juvenile ribbbon eel and on a huge gorgonia, two tiny pink pygmy sea horses. Later saw a soft coral crab, spindle cowrie, a few different species of nudi, an anemone shrimp, two juvenile hump-headed wrasse and more Also a totally white rock cod. Very nice easy first dive. Visibility excellent.

We entered the water at The Dropoff and head to the N. Black sand bottom with a few bits of coral. Saw a few ribbon eels, two adults and one juvenile. More shrimp, including cleaners (would not get on my hand), nudis and more. Avbout halfway there are a whole bunch of Hindu idols, put there about 6 months ago. Lots of stuff growing on them and living in them. Exited to N of Matahari near reserve after passing the plane made from iron reinforcing. Visibility very good.

12 August 2014 - USAT Liberty
Another dawn dive, quite strong current from S. Took some video and photos and then camera flooded. Bugger! Salvaged SD card okay but camera is rooted. Drifted along wreck to bow and then back shallower. Due to current could not look for much, saw a few nudis, a small eel, a large titan triggerfish and a very large barrcuda. A shorter dive than normal due to the current.

12 August 2014 - Petiisan Point (Melasti)
A new spot for us, located N of Seraya Secrets. Very shallow for a way then gradual slope to 30+ m. Went E and then zig-zagged to N and shallower as we went. Saw snake eel, 4 harlequin shrimp, soft coral crabs, yellow sea whip shrimp, yellow anemone shrimp, a large nudi with and orange cleaner shrimp on its head, leaf pipefish, ornate ghost pipefish (juv and white), orangatan crab, razorfish, flounder, glass shrimp and dancing shrimp. A brilliant dive site. Visibility very good.

12 August 2014 - Petiisan Point (Melasti)
This time went straight out E and then worked our way back shallow. Very similar to last dive, saw more shrimp and crabs, including sea pen crabs. Saw two tiny black anglerfish, unlike any I have seen before. Also about 4 nudis with brightly coloured fronds, another with rings and more. Another snake eel, this one out in open, a larger founder, a couple of what might have been tiny whitish purple dragons. Also a few large trevally and similar fish. A very good dive. Visibility very good.

13 August 2014 - Liberty Muck
Followed the gully towards wreck and found two harlequin shrimp. Then down the N side of the sand ridge to 28 m. Went to S and and then zig-zagged back up to start. Saw yellow ghost pipefish, seawhip shrimp, featherstar shrimps, snake eel, spindle cowrie, a few species of nudi, one a curly white species. Saw the hump-headed wrasse at start and end of dive. Also surgeonfish and titan triggerfish. Visibility very good.

13 August 2014 - Coral Gardens
Headed to the plane (made of reinforcing steel) , wings have fallen off since 2012. A huge eel in the round reo structure. Headed E down ridge to 24 m. Saw more nudis, cleaner shrimp with eel, shrimp went in Neuman's mouth but would not go in mine. Anemone shrimp, spindle cowrie, small eels. Heaps of anemones shallower than 10 m, some with "Nemos". Another very nice dive. Visibility very good.

13 August 2014 - USAT Liberty
Night dive on wreck. A large cod followed us for most of the dive. Saw a huge parrotfish asleep inside the wreck. A huge eel out in the open, many smaller ones as well. Plenty of shrimp, crabs, spiders and more on soft corals, gorgonias, sea whips and sponges. Lots of divers as well, saw probably 50 at least over the whole dive. In shallows heaps of tiny fish came around lights, when I put near an anemone, the anemone caught hundreds of them and the clownfish also got a feed. A brilliant dive. Visibility very good.

14 August 2014 - Seraya Secrets
Went to the right following a rope to a mooring and then S to a ridge. Down this to 26 m where large yellow gorgonia has 4 yellow pygmy sea horses on it. Brilliant. Worked our way back up the ridge, saw lots of cleaner shrimp, 2 striped pipefish with colourful tails, a tiny yellow pipefish, soft coral crabs, a few stingrays, a large barracuda and many nudis. An excellent dive. Visibility very good.

14 August 2014 - Seraya Secrets
This time went straight out and then N to ridge. At 20 m there is a black anglerfish and a larger brown one. On the way back past here, Kelly found about 5 m away another one, a tiny 7 mm long white clown anglerfish. Others also saw a yellow one here as well. Many shrimp cleaning stations, all at work. Got some shrimp to clean by teeth! Also saw a pompom crab and a harlequin shrimp pulling a starfish leg. Many nudis and moorish idols. Visibility dropped a little, good.

14 August 2014 - Coral Gardens
Went to plane and then down to 22 m. A couple of cleaning stations here, had my teeth cleaned by shrimp and then they gave me a manicure! Went to S from here and gradually shallower. Saw a hairy purple crab on barrel sponge, a few eels and a cuttlefish. At 18 m came across a reef of tyres and then the Hindu scene we saw on dive 3627. There are women, elephants and dogs as well as other idols. Top is in 9 m, back from here to near exit and the round steel structure. There was a leaf fish here. A nice dive. Visibility very good.

15 August 2014 - Petiisan Point (Melasti)
Another dive at this spot, walked 50 m S before entering water. Went to 26 m and then worked way back shallow and to N. Saw 8 harlequin shrimp, dozens of razorfish and firefish, a few nudis, including the white purple dragon type and the one with curly bits. A few mantis shrimps out in the open. A tiny anemone with a clownfish and 2 tiny dancing shrimp. Viz much better, excellent.

15 August 2014 - Petiisan Point (Melasti)
This time went out and then N a bit as we went deeper. Got to 25 m before starting back shallower. At about 22 m there was a tiny white clown anglerfish, a yellow painted anglerfish, a sea horse, octopus and two ghost pipefish. All in about a 10 x 10 m area. Two "double-humped camel nudis" (Kelly's description). A really good dive. Visibility excellent.

15 August 2014 - Harlequin Slope
Went out and to left a bit. There has been landslides of sand from the ridges and the gully looks like it is sliding down. Went to 24 m and on way back saw 2 harlequin ghots pipefish, 1 ornate ghostpipefish, 2 pipefish (one small yellow), nudis, firefish, trevally, anemones and clownfish, cuttlefish and cleaner stations. Not as good a dive as last time. Visibility very good.

16 August 2014 - USAT Liberty
Kelly had ear problems and could not even descend. She went back to shore. Went to bow along sand, lots of divers this morning, no hump-headed wrasse at all. Plenty of nudis, including the large bluish ones we saw a few days back. Many gobies and shrimp on sea whips and gorgonias. Also quite a few pipefish, mantis shrimp and more. A very nice dive except for Kelly aborting. Visibility excellent.

16 August 2014 - The Drop Off
Kelly was okay on this dive. Went to wall and at about 28 m Kelly found an orange pygmy sea horse on a large orange gorgonia. Went to the point and around a bit before coming back shallower. Two gobies with eggs in mouth, 2 leaf fish from the other day, 2 yellow and black spot boxfish, one with a striped pipefish. Many nudis, shrimp and crabs, a couple of large eels. Some large trevally off wall and a big school of fish shallower. Very good dive. Visibility excellent.

16 August 2014 - The Drop Off
Similar dive to last one but stayed a bit shallower the whole dive. Another yellow boxfish, a medium cuttlefish, soft coral crab, sea whip with eggs on it and protective parent fish, striped pipefish, lots of Moorish idols, trevally and the same large school of fish shallower. Also a large stonefish in about 3 m. Visibility excellent.

17 August 2014 - USAT Liberty
Did normal dive route. Saw 2 hump-headed wrasse on sand towards bow and another in the wreck. Also a white-tipped reef shark on sand and a large cod inside. Only a couple of nudis (bluish one and green one) and some eggs on a gorgonia. Back via shallows aand inside part of wreck.Got bowled over as exiting water and cut my left knee a bit, not too bad. Visibility was excellent, best so far.

17 August 2014 - Liberty Muck
Went down gully towards wreck and took the ridge to S to 26 m. Worked our way S to next ridge and then back over both to shallows and just off the stern of the wreck. Saw lots of different nudibranchs, brittlestar shrimp, small yellowish pipefish, schooling fish, a small flounder, some eel like fish which hide in the sand when disturbed. Also lots of blind shrimp and gobies and three garden eels. Relaxing dive. Visibility excellent.

17 August 2014 - The Drop Off
Went to the orange gorgonia at 28 m where Kelly found the orange pygmy pipehorse. There were two here! Went around the point and I finally saw a goby with eggs in its mouth! Back via the two leaf fish, a couple of tiny yellow boxfish, some nudibranchs and all the normal reef fish. Also some large triggerfish, but not titans. A very good dive. Visibility excellent.

18 August 2014 - Amed - The Pyramids
Went to Amed for a couple of dives. Boat out for about 13 mins to a spot about 100 m off shore. Descended onto sandy slope which led to four pyramids. These are made of concrete blocks (sort of like Bessa blocks) roped together in the shape of a pyramid about 2 m high. Lots of growth on them and fish swimming in and around. Drifted back to E on slight current to 2 more and then 5 more. Some large gorgonias and corals on some of them. Another 5 at 27 mins together with 4 tyre pyramids. Started ascend slope here, saw 2 more lots of at least 5 pyramids deeper. Spent next 25 mins on the reef. Saw 2 leaf fish, a small turtle, unicorn triggerfish, lots of blue spotted rays at start and more. Very nice dive. Visibility excellent.

18 August 2014 - Amed - Jemeluk Wall
This site is on E side of Jemeluk Bay, about 2 mins in boat from cafe. Some moorings here and dropped onto reef top. A very steep sandy slope at first but then a shear wall to about 30 m and then a sandy slope deeper. Lots of huge gorgonias, barrel and fan sponges on wall. Very colourful. Plenty of reef fish all over. Many smaller gorgonias and sea whips ass well. Lots of firefish, Moorish idols and bannerfish, some with eggs. At about 22 mins the wall became a slope again, so just past here we turned around. Came back at about 13 to 16 m. Back near moorings lots of large fish in shallows. A nice dive. Visibility excellent.

19 August 2014 - Kubu Reef
Went straight out and down S side of the gully. Soon this becomes a coral wall. Has lots of gorgonias, sponges, barrel sponges and more. Went to just over 30 m where the wall stops for a little bit. From here stayed at same depth and came up onto the ridge slope and then worked our way back towards the shore. A bit of a current from the N at times. A huge amount of colourful fish life, especially in shallows. Two soft coral crabs, only one nudibranch. Best viz of trip, almost 40 m. Visibility very excellent.

19 August 2014 - Kubu Reef
Went to N side of gully this dive. Not so much a wall as a series of large coral bommies. Got to 26 m before cutting across the ridge to the N side. This has more of a wall, but it was well below us. Zig-zagged back up the ridge staying out of deco. Beautiful corals, gorgonias, sea whips, huge barrel sponges and sponges. Lots of fish, especially triggerfish. One was blowing on the sand clearing it looking for things to eat, also picking up coral and turning it over. Also saw a clown triggerfish. A few eels, including one huge one that Kelly played with. Some nudis and quite a few sea whip shrimps. Great dive site. Visibility very excellent.

20 August 2014 - Seraya Secrets
Went straight out and then a bit to the left, slight current from N for part of the dive. Down to cleaning station where a large eel, cleaner shrimps and two striped pipefish, one carrying eggs. There were two robust ghost pipefish here. Later saw three more and two ornate ghost pipefish. Also a tiny yellow pipefish. In shallows, freshwater is flowing out of the sand all over the place. Visibility worst of trip, only 12-15 m. Visibility good.

20 August 2014 - Seraya Secrets
Went out to left past three structures made from concrete "sleepers". Then down to 27 m. Then back shallower to where we saw the anglerfish last time. We found a yellowish angler that looked like a Bare Island anglerfish and the same clown anglerfish Kelly found last week. Lots of shrimp and crabs on sea whips, basket stars etc and some interesting nudibranchs, including a white "opera house" one. A harlequin shrimp pulling half a starfish, two pompom crabs and more. An excellent dive. Visibility good.

20 August 2014 - USAT Liberty
Did the normal dive route from stern to bow area along the sand and back shallower. Lots of divers on the wreck even this late in the afternoon. Nothing special seen, but we saw a huge anchor we had not seen before. It is below the main deck, so presumably was in a hold as cargo/spare. Saw some nice nudibranchs, lots of tropical fish as you would expect. Relaxing dive. Visibility good.

21 August 2014 - Kubu Reef
Swam parallel to shore till we reached the top of gully to N of entry point, then down the S side of the gully. The black sand slope becomes a small wall of coral for a while. At 30 m started back across the slope as the bottom dropped to over 50 m. Lots of gorgonias, sponges, barrel sponges and sea whips on wall. Over the ridge saw a large white-tipped reef shark and a huge trevally. Worked our way back up the ridge to the top of the gully. A few different nudibranchs, a clown triggerfish, plenty of anemones and clownfish and a few eels, one huge as well as a leaf fish. Visibility much better today, excellent.

21 August 2014 - Kubu Reef
Went down the first gully and then along the small wall to 28 m same as the other day. At the end of the first section of wall, stayed the same depth (28 m) but worked our way SE across the slope. Then came back up the ridge crossing from one side to the other. A large eel, a small leaf fish, Kelly found a soft coral crab, an anemone with clownfish eggs and 2 porcelein crabs, all the usual fish etc. A nice dive. Visibility excellent.

21 August 2014 - USAT Liberty
Night dive. Went to stern and then to bow. Lots of divers, at least 50 I reckon. Heaps of fish, including 3 large hump-headed wrasse, many good size cod. A swimming flat worm and a few nudibranchs. Lots of decorator crabs, including the ones with ferns on head. Some hermit crabs, other shrimp and crabs. Heaps of colour! In shallows, plenty of tiny fish and worms attacking lights. Visibility very good.

22 August 2014 - Melasti (Petiisan Point)
Walked 75 m to S and entered. Went to about 30 m and worked our way N and shallower. Bottom is composed of gravel, not sand. A cleaning station with eel and shrimps. I found a white ghost pipefish next to a white fan, Kelly found a black one. A mantis shrimp, a few spindle cowies and one nudibranch. Not one of the better dives of this trip. Visibility excellent.

22 August 2014 - Melasti (Petiisan Point)
Went out and to left past the steel structure. At 27 m a section of rope had a tiny orange anglerfish next to it. Then we saw a small black angler, a larger orange angler, a tiny yellow angler, a black angler (with white spots) about 3 mm long and finally a yellow anglerfish! Six in total. Also a reddish sea horse we saw last week and a yellow one. A few interesting nudibranchs/flatworms, a small eel out swimming and a couple of other things. An excellent dive, Visibility excellent.

22 August 2014 - The Drop Off
Did the normal dive and went to the gorgonia with pygmy sea horses. Then back around point and back shallower. One leaf fish and a tinby yellow box fish. Visibility excellent. Unfortunately, after this dive Kelly had an itchy stomach and upper thigh. She then had a pain in breast. The stomach and thigh soon became a very bad rash, a skin bend. She went on oxygen for 6.5 hours and the rashes basically disappeared and the breast pain diminished. The next morning the breast pain became worse and she had pins and needles in arms and legs. We went to Denpasar where she did 5 hours in the chamber. Now okay. A shit end to a great trip.