Dive 2000 Dive Club - Sydney :: Dave & Janie’s Christmas diving travels 2008/9

This year for Christmas it happened that our family festivities took place in some good places in NSW & QLD so we thought that we could take advantage and also do some diving.

On Boxing Day we found ourselves in Nelson Bay for the 'Lucas Christmas' so we got out on the early high tide (before the cricket started) to do a dive at the Pipeline with another the following day at Fly Point. Port Stephens delivered great critters as usual…seahorses, pipefish, nudis, cowries, octopus etc…we really love it here!

It was then in the car and up to Brisbane to the 'Young' family gathering. While in the sunshine state we checked out the diving in Mooloolabah, in particular the wreck of former HMAS Brisbane. While the water was a bit green the afternoon we ventured out with Scubaworld, the wreck has a good covering of growth and fishlife including kingfish, lionfish, crays, & anemonefish among those spotted. It is really quite something going all the way down the stack into the bowels of the ship and emerging through the engineroom. The Brisbane is quite safe for divers of all levels from beginner to experienced, sitting on the sand at 28m with easy navigation and loads of hatches cut for accessibility.

It was good to see the HMAS Brisbane and the Scubaworld dive operation before we head back with the Dive 2000 group on the October long weekend….details available soon.

Finally, we stopped in at South West Rocks for a dive with Peter & Kevin Hitchens at SWR Dive Centre. After a false start in 2007 due to a cyclone off the QLD coast, this time the water was calm, blue and clear – about 30m visibility.

Fish Rock really turned on a couple of excellent dives with loads of sharks, wobbes, eagle rays, giant grouper, kingfish and crayfish. Fish Rock cave was a highlight in the warm clear water, with the sharks swimming among the divers at the shallow entrance making for some excellent photo opportunities.