Sunday, 30 December 2012

Seas are flat flat flat!

6 lucky divers headed out yesterday onboard the Avanti to check out the Pinnacle and Latitude Rock. We headed out at around midday after conducting some very exciting dolphin swims.

The Pinnacle was very green and murky on top to around 10 metres, but cleared up nicely to around 15 metre vis on the bottom. Heaps of kingfish and one huge snapper circled around above us as we explored the rocky outcrop. No Grey Nurses (that we saw), however there were heaps of Wobbegongs and a couple of rays.

Latitude Rock was super flat, so we were able to get right in close to the island to explore the inner gutter. No sharks in "The Pit" on the northern side of the island yet, but they were swimming in the Kelp Gutter just off the rock. We spied at least 5 sharks here, one of them close to 4 metres and the biggest shark I've ever seen! 

One of the sharks however had around 2 feet of wire trace and a sinker at the end hanging from his mouth. Will take a pair of bolt cutters down and try to cut it off nice and short tomorrow. 

The boat is down at Seal Rocks with 15 divers on board while I'm stuck in the shop (lucky things). Will let you guys know what it was like down there.

Just keep swimming!

Gabs
Dive Forster at Fisherman's Wharf

Thursday, 27 December 2012

Sharks at Latitude and Eeeeeeeeels at Spot A!

Well we were at it again today, heading out with some lucky divers to Latitude Rock and Spot A.

Spot A went off today, with around 28 eels (both green, mozaic and white spotted)  Plus the massive ball of Bullseyes snoozing in the gutter on the sandy side of the rock was cool to swim through! Vis was 15 metres, dropped to 10 metres at the end of the dive.

Latitude Rock was better than yesterday, with at least 8 Grey Nurse Sharks chilling out in the gutters, as well as the usual suspects: bait balls, Wobbegongs, Port Jackson Sharks and of course the resident Blue Grouper(s). Visibility was 15 metres, water temp was 22 degrees. Diver's smiles: huge!

We're diving out of Forster on Saturday, and we've got Seal Rocks scheduled for Sunday (this dive is almost full though, so you'll need to book - everyone is super keen to get in the water down there!)

Keep blowing those bubbles guys!

Gabs
Dive Forster at Fisherman's Wharf




Wednesday, 26 December 2012

Christmas and New Years Diving


Hello everyone in the SCUBA Diving Community,


Well, after eating far too much yesterday for Christmas Lunch, all the divemasters here are going to have a tough time fitting into our wetsuits for this weeks SCUBA Diving!!

The forecast is looking spectacular for the next week, with light southerly winds flattening our seas and cleaning up the water. We're diving every day on demand during the next month (weather permitting of course) and my oh my is it shaping up to be an absolute ripper of a season.

We headed out to the Pinnacle for some maintenance last week, with some much needed repairs being conducted on the mooring line. Of course, the Kingfish, Jewfish, Snapper, Rays and Sharks kept us entertained while we were hard at work, so it wasn't too bad a way to spend a few hours. The visibility on top was a bit murky, but at about 15 metres things cleared up to about 20m vis, water temp was around 22 degrees.

We were out diving on Christmas Eve, doing another dive at The Pinnacle, and then a dive each at Latitude and then Spot A. Two Grey Nurses were spotted at Latitude in the outer gutter, as well as a massive eagle ray and a couple of giant bait balls. Was a bit surgy in at Latitude close to the rock, so most of the dive was spent further out in the deeper water. Visibility was around 10m, water temp 23 degrees. Should see an increase in Shark Numbers with the flat seas and south-east/west winds.

Spot A gets more and more colourful each dive, with Moray Eels and Wobbegongs mixed in with every colour sponge you could think of. Too early for the Grey Nurses at Spot A, but we should see them head out there around March/April (Just in time for Easter!). Was a bit cooler at Spot A compared to Latitude, water temp dropped to around 20 degrees, vis was similar - around 10m.

Looking off the headland this morning we noticed the water looking a lot clearer - fingers crossed it continues to clear up over the next few days.

Its a overcast and raining at the moment, with a light breeze. Still a bit of residual swell around from yesterday, but its forecast to die down during the night.

Diving is on tomorrow (27th) 8.30 for 9am. Looking forward to getting in the water, thats for sure!!

Any of you travelling up to Forster, or travelling anywhere for your holidays, please drive safely and watch out for these wet roads - after a big dry spell like we've had they can be super slippery after rain and dangerous so knock a few kms off your speed!

Hope to see you diving soon,

Gabs,