Michael McFadyen's Scuba Diving Web Site
Home · Contact Me · Sydney Reef Dive Sites · Sydney Shipwrecks · NSW Dive Sites · Australian Dive Sites · Overseas Dive Sites · Dive Accidents and Incidents · My Yachting Adventures · 4WD Trips · Weather · Search 14 October 2024 00:32
Navigation
Home

General
About Me
My Diving
FAQ
Downloads
Web Links - Dive Clubs
St George Scuba Club
Some of my Best Photos
Contact Me

Dive Sites
Sydney Reef Dive Sites
Sydney Shipwrecks
Sydney Dive Visibility, Swell and Temps
Kelly Talking on ABC Sydney about Shipwrecks
NSW Dive Sites
Sydney Shipwreck Summary
NSW Shipwreck GPS/Marks
Australian Dive Sites
Overseas Dive Sites
Aircraft I have Dived
Old Bottles
Free Shipwreck Books

Dive Related Equipment
Shearwater Predator and Heinrichs Weikamp OSTC 2N
Uwatec Aladin Dive Computers
Apollo AV1 Underwater Scooter
Bauer Compressor
DIY Oxygen Stick - Nitrox
GoPro HD Hero Video Camera
My Camera Setup
Purchase of New Dive Boat
My Dive Boat - Mak Cat
My Old Dive Boat - Le Scat
My Dive Gear
GPS and Diving
Make Your Own Car Tank Rack

Marine Life
Rarer Sydney Marine Life
Bare Island Pygmy Pipe Horses
Bare Island Sea Horses
Bare Island Nudibranchs
Bare Island Marine Life
Encounter with Southern Right Whale and Calf

Other Dive Info
How Weather Affects Diving in Sydney
Visibility and Wave Averages in Sydney
Waves and Diving
Diving Weather and Sea Conditions
Tide Tables
Dive Accidents and Incidents
Dive Book Reviews
Site Map
Noel Hitchins 1951-2005
Lloyd Bridges - Mike Nelson in Sea Hunt
My Yachting Adventures
Below is a list of links to the main pages about my yacht, Catlypso and My Yachting Adventures:
  • Purchase of Catlypso
  • Details about Catlypso
  • Cleaning/Repairing Catlypso
  • My Yachting Adventures.
  • Login
    Username

    Password



    Forgotten your password?
    Request a new one here.
    Michael's 4WD Trips
    Click here for a list of my Four Wheel Drive and Camping Trips.
    Home Brewing
    Click here for an article about Home Brewing.
    Sydney Dive Site Hints
    "Port Jackson sharks are found in large numbers in late Winter at The Split"
    Honeybone

    Port Vila in Vanuatu has many different scuba diving sites. Most are located on the southern side of Mele Bay, the outer harbour of Port Vila. The main dive site on this side of the bay is Twin Bommies. Nearby is another of the many dive sites, Honeybone.

    Honeybone is a short distance to the west of Twin Bommies (you can actually do a drift dive to Twin Bommies) at a GPS Reading of S17° 45' 31.3" E168° 16' 44.8" (using WGS84 as a map datum). There is a mooring at this location.

    HoneyboneHoneybone
    Strange coral at HoneyboneAnother shot of the reef

    From the mooring, you drop to the bottom at seven metres. The coral here is pretty much dead, but this is to be expected in such a shallow location. From the mooring, you head west over a gradual slope to 12 metres. This takes about nine minutes.

    Soon you hit a much steeper slope. This drops to 20 metres in only a few dozen metres. This is the top of a wall. This drops to at least 25 metres. We went to about 24 metres a nd followed the wall in a south-south-west direction. There are quite a few small gutters and a couple of overhangs. The coral here is much better, with very colourful corals.

    Along this section of reef we saw some pipefish and nudibranchs. There is not a great deal of large fishlife, but lots of small tropicals. After about 24 minutes we headed east up to the top of the reef here. This is about 18 metres. From here we headed roughly north, following the "ridge" back towards the mooring.

    Black-rayed phyllidiaBlack-rayed phyllidia
    Black-rayed phyllidia - Phyllidia pictaBelieve it or not, this is also a
    black-rayed phyllidia - Phyllidia picta

    We saw more pipefish, including a pregnant male. There were also bannerfish, batfish and more nudibranchs. We also saw a few anemones, all with clownfish. Some of the anemones also had clear pinky coloured shrimp in them. Very interesting, look carefully in all the anemones and you should find one with some shrimp.

    The ridge gradually rises back towards the mooring. There are a lot of small coral bommies and some gutters that can be interesting. After a bit over 50 minutes we arrived back at the mooring.

    PipefishShrimp
    One of a number of pipefish we saw here
    Note that he (yes he) is pregnant
    This anemone had many shrimp in it
    ClownfishFlutemouth
    A clownfish at HoneyboneA yellow flutemouth

    This is a reasonable dive site, with only average visibility on the dive we did here (about 15 metres) as it was a couple of days after a huge downpour of over 200 mm. Water was a very warm 28°.

    Note: We also did this dive as a drift from here to Twin Bommies. This was a good dive.

    Copyright © Michael McFadyen 1990 to 2024
    Non-commercial use of an article or photograph is permitted with appropriate URL reference to this site.
    Dive shops, dive operators, publications and government departments cannot use anything without first seeking and receiving approval from Michael McFadyen.
    This web site has been wholly thought up, designed, constructed and funded for almost 30 years by Michael McFadyen without any help from the Australian Dive Industry.
    Website created 1996!