Gold Coast Seaway, The Spit - 2/12/12

Matt had to sit out this dive (much to his dismay) as the conditions were too rough for a beginner but Katrina took the plunge with trusty camera in hand. Matt will have to wait to try out his new gear. Dive updates and some fantastic photos of a little Nudibranch coming soon.

Jack Evans Boat Harbour, Tweed Heads 25/11/12

Dive Site Details
Location: Jack Evans Boat Harbour, Tweed Heads
Dive Company:
Time: 7:00am
Max Depth: Katrina 8.3m / Matt 7m
Dive Time: Katrina 64min / Matt 33min
Temp: Surface 24deg / Bottom 23deg
Vis: 6m

Jack Evans Boat Harbour

Description:
The Jack Evans Boat Harbour is situated just inside the mouth of the Tweed River on the north bank. There are two popular entry / exit locations along Coral Street. There is a set of well worn steps at the entrance to the harbour area or a beach entry further towards the Marine Rescue building. There is suitable parking at both locations with "The Steps" entry being the shortest haul.

Stinging Hydroid

Things to watch out for: Entry at the steps can be slippery, a high tide makes things easier. The tide can change quickly and can swirl around the harbour, dropping visibility. The bottom has many white feather like stinging plants called Stinging Hydroids, a bare skin touch will be itchy for a week. Its a popular fishing spot so careful of tackle and knives

Under the Pier

Our Dive:

Entry was via "The Steps" and direction was back into the harbour under the short pier. The concrete columns provided some great photo shots and were teaming with underwater life. We were quite surprised to come across an old toilet so some comical photos were a must. There is nothing quite like being surrounded by a massive school of bait fish, quite spectacular how they all move as one. Katrina used the opportunity to play with some settings on her Olympus T8010 dive camera within its housing and got some really clear shots. We had a surface interval after 25 minutes for a chat about what we saw and a short brief on the next part of the dive. Matt had some trouble pressurizing his sinuses on the second decent so under direction of our instructor and dive buddy Big Al he remained at a comfortable depth for the rest of his dive. After 33 minutes we headed back to "The Steps" as being a beginner diver and with slight sinus discomfort Matt hopped out.

Common Octopus

Katrina continued on with instructor Big Al along the north rock wall towards the beach entrance and spotted three common octopuses. They came across an old set of scales which provided some great close up photos of a small group of Strippies. Katrina was getting used to her camera now and produced some wonderful wide seascape shots.

Julian Rocks, Byron Bay, 17/11/12

Dive Site Details
Location: The Nursery, Julian Rocks, Byron Bay
Dive Company: Sundive Byron Bay
Time: 10:30am
Max Depth: 12.3m
Dive Time: 33mins
Temp: 20deg
Vis: 5-6m

Julian Rocks [click 4 more]

Description:
Julian Rocks is a small rocky island about three kilometers north of Cape Byron. Popular for its vast array of marine life due to its warm and cold currents and its sheltered, shallow dives such as The Nursery. Two dive companies operate out of Byron Bay, Sundive making early morning, late morning and afternoon trips with two dive boats.




Our Dive:

Yellowtail Snapper [click 4 more]

Since Matt was on his Discover Scuba Dive course the dive was at The Nursery but it certainty didn't disappoint. Visibility was reasonably good at 5-6m and lead by Sundive instructor Koen we quickly found out why this is one of the top dive sites in Australia. 1.8-2m Grey Nurse shark followed by hundreds of yellowtail snapper, wobbygong sharks, turtles and stingrays topped the species list. Katrina took some great first shots with her new dive camera.

There's a first for everything...

and this will be our first post, on our first blog, after Matt's first "official" dive.
After diving on Julian Rocks, Byron Bay on the 17th and Katrina taking a heap of photos with her new Olympus T8010 dive camera we decided it would be nice to capture and share our experiences, future adventures and course progression. Enter blog world.
What we aim to achieve with this blog is to give people an insight into the world of scuba diving and follow our progression through PADI accredited dive courses. We will try provide as much detail as possible on the places we visit, the equipment we use and the sights we see to make this an entertaining and educational review.