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A summary of the current weather conditions at my house at Kirrawee, Sydney, is below. Click here for more Detailed Diving Weather and Conditions.
Weather from Michael McFadyen's Tempe Weather Station
Conditions at 15:29 on
4/7/09
| Temperature |
15.2°C |
| Humidity |
50% |
| Barometer |
1007.15hPa
Rate 0.152hPa/hr |
| Wind
Speed: |
0
km/hr |
| Wind
Direction |
SW |
| Rainfall
for Today |
0.00mm |
| Rainfall
last hour |
0.00
mm |
| Rainfall
last 24 hours |
0.00
mm |
| Rainfall at Start of Month |
504.10
mm |
| Rainfall this Year |
504.10 mm |
| Today's
Extremes |
| High
Temperature |
16.3°C
at 13:03 |
| Low
Temperature |
5.5°C
at 5:27 |
| Peak
Wind Gust |
18km/hr
at 8:51 |
Weather from Michael McFadyen's Kirrawee Weather Station
| Yesterday's
Extremes |
| High
Temperature |
16.3°C
at 12:53 |
| Low
Temperature |
7.2°C
at 6:06 |
| Rainfall at Start of Yesterday |
504.10
mm |
| Rainfall at End of Yesterday |
504.10
mm |
Weather from Michael McFadyen's Tempe Weather Station
| Astronomical
Data |
| Sunrise |
7:02 |
| Sunset |
16:59 |
| Moonrise |
14:09 |
| Moonset |
4:17 |
| | | | |
|
| Welcome | |
|
I established this Web Site about scuba diving in Sydney, NSW, Australia and the South Pacific, as well as a few other places, in June 1996.
Since then it has gone through a few different versions. This latest version is the fourth and was completed in July 2006.
The site has grown from a few pages to more than 750 separate pages. Well over 600 dives are covered, mostly in detail and most with photographs and some with maps.
I am fairly confident that this is not only the largest diving related web site in the World, it also has more hits than any diving related web site in Australia.
This site is a non-commercial site and is unrelated to any dive organisation. It is purely here to provide divers with an information source to increase their enjoyment of scuba diving, shipwrecks and marine life in general. I hope that my experiences can help you when you are planning a dive trip, whether it is locally in Sydney, New South Wales, somewhere else in Australia or the Pacific Ocean region.
Any and all comments are welcome, as is any information to enhance the pages, especially more information about ships or shipwrecks or corrections to pages.
NOTE:
This site is best viewed using a screen sized at 1024 x 768 pixels. If you use a smaller screen, some photographs may force a page that extends off the screen and cause printing problems. I cannot avoid this problem. It may also cause some photos to run over top of text. If you find any of these, please let me know as I should be able to fix.
In addition, some wide screen monitors (newer laptops especially) may have a screen that is too wide for the page and this may cause photos to appear in strange places. If you find this, let me know and I will see if I can fix.
I have now added a Search facility to the site. You can access this by clicking on Search on the menu at the top of the page.
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"Marley Point has an excellent three way swim-through"
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| News | |
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| My Recent Dives - June & July |
Saturday 6 June 2009 - The Pinnacle - Central Coast
Supposed to dive Foggy Cave but Bob did not have GPS co-ords. This is off Forresters headland. Not really a Pinnacle. A series of boulders and some small cracks. Followed the wall to SE and three huge kingfish went past. Went this way till we saw the sandy bottom. Then back to anchor and shallower. Not bad in this area. A few fish and a couple of large cuttlefish. At end saw about 15 to 20 huge kingfish as we ascended. Visibility fair.
Saturday 6 June 2009 - Two Poles - Central Coast
Located off north end of Terrigal Beach? Surgy. A sand gutter that runs NW-SE. Only about 10m wide at the most. Towards NW becomes rock and then past here it reforms, but still rock. North side steeper. Away from sand lots of cracks that have ladder-finned pomfrets and one-spot pullers. One huge wobbegong and some agreesive cuttlefish. Others saw more wobbegongs. Heaps of gorgonias, very beautiful. Visibility fair.
Sunday 7 June 2009 - Foggy Cave - Central Coast
Mooring missing, so had to anchor. It was about 15 m off wall to E and about 50 m to SE of cave. Swam over but no sharks. Lots of yellowtail in front of cave. By the time we did this we had to turn back. Then spent a little time near anchor. Visibility fair.
Sunday 7 June 2009 - Bateau Bay Reef - Central Coast
This is straight off Bateau Bay. Site is a bit of a hole in reef that runs NW to SE. We went to SE from anchor. A few fish. Saw a blue devilfish and some cuttlefish, one of which was agressive. Some small gorgonias, sponges and sea squirts. Visibility fair.
Monday 8 June 2009 - Skillion Cave - Central Coast
Went in next to higher platform and exited back right near this. Swam out on surface and then descended right onto cave entrance. Went in but very surgy. Came back out and then to N. Went around a few corners and then came back to cave. This time went in further. Came out a bit higher up, Then to S following wall, doing L turns. Finally ended up in crack that led right to exit. Easy to get out. Visibility fair.
Wednesday 10 June 2009 - The Balcony
Robyn´s first dive for over 2 yrs. Lots of ladder-finned pomfrets and seapike, esp under boat. Saw 2 sea dragons, one large wobbegong and one large bullray. Some yellowtail higher up. Very strong W winds. Visibility very good.
Saturday 13 June 2009 - The Split
Tried to do SS Tuggerah but raging current. Had to rescue Phil G who drifted off from the Shiprock boat. Lucky he is a member of our Club! Went back to Split. Still a strong current here. Very hard to get to bottom. Slight current on bottom so only did Split. Small sea dragon and a butterflyfish. Lifted anchor and drifted till we were only on sand. Kelly saw a shark (small mako?) doing safety stop. Visibility fair.
Sunday 14 June 2009 - Wattamolla Point
Club dive. Saw a lot of whales on way down. Still a strong current as Yves diving Marley with deep gear but millpond. A bit of a current here. Lots to see, including a pygmy sea horse that Kelly found, a wobbegong and lots of silver sweep. Visibility fair.
Saturday 20 June 2009 - Middle Ground
Very large and rough seas. Two boats for Club dive (changed from Tuggerah after figuring winds too strong). Strong NE winds that got even stronger. Saw lots of whales, including one leaping out of water. Not too bad a dive, lots of sweep. Others saw a sea dragon and wobbegong, we saw one cuttlefish. A bit of sand floating in water. Dave lost his anchor as it was stuck in a crack. Pissed down while having morning tea. Will have to go back and salvage. Visibility fair.
Sunday 21 June 2009 - Bare Island Deep Wall
Totally different to yesterday, seas way down and no wind. Cancelled today's Wedding Cake Island dive (5 boats) yesterday. Probably still would not have got there. Lots of sweep and small bream. One PPH and sea dragon. Some large flathead and a couple of medium kingfish. Visibility fair deep but very poor shallow.
Thursday 25 June 2009 - Bare Island Right
Club night dive, 9 of us. Too rough to get in on W point so went in before pool. Probably the worst night dive I have ever done. Visibility was one metre. Went to 8.5 m before calling it off. Only 12 mins!! So bad did not even see "sharks fin" even though we were following reef edge. Visibility very shithouse.
Saturday 27 June 2009 - Middle Ground
Went back to get Dave's anchor. We were right next to it but Dave was a bit E. I pulled it out backwards and claimed salvage rights! Attached it to the cross-over weight and pulled it up when we got back on boat. Went over most of reef, saw a blue devilfish. Lots of sweep and yellowtail. Nice dive. Saw a few whales when anchored. Visibility good.
Sunday 28 June 2009 - North Head Drift
Club dive, 3 boats and 16 divers. Kelly had ear problems so she stayed on boat while we did a drift from Green Wheely Bin Reef in. Peter saw a seal (so did those on the other boats) and we all saw a huge bullray. Also saw a large cuttlefish and another ray. Not a huge amount of fish but very colourful. Visibility good deep but fair shallow.
Thursday 2 July 2009 - Shark Point Night Dive
Club dive, 7 of us. Went SW till 22 m then followed reef edge N and E to 26m. Saw some sea dragons, lots of shrimp and prawns. A few PJs and horned sharks. Heard at least four humpback whales thru the whole dive, very loud. Headed back from deep W to exit point. Easy exit. Visibility good deep but fair in a couple of spots.
For more details about these dives and other dives this year, click here. |
 Michael on 08 June 2009 21:32 ·
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| My Recent Dives - April & May |
Thursday 16 April 2009 - Bare Island Deep Wall
First dive for 18 days due to bad weather and going camping at Easter. Longest period without a dive for 2 years. Went in off west point. Viz pretty good shallow and then deep, but dirtier south. Did normal dive at first. Found the two pygmy pipehorses near anchor, still there since Nov 2008. Saw a small cuttlefish eating a prawn. Lots of prawns, including a huge 175mm long. Two sea dragons and a few squid at end. Viz fair overall, but good shallow.
Thursday 23 April 2009 - Shiprock
Despite the bad seas and rain since last week, the conditions tonight were good. Lots of "parramatta" nudis and whiting around. Also saw 6 wobbegongs. Refound the large timber pile that was off the wall to S. It appears to have moved out a bit and covered mostly with sand. Lots of small cuttlefish, a few large anemone covered hermit crabs. No sea horse or pineapplefish. Visibility fair.
Saturday 25 April 2009 - Shiprock
Big seas so cancelled Club boat dive. Were a bit late getting in so had to swim into current towards W buoy. Only 2 wobbgongs, one small bannerfish. Lots of fish along the wall. Huge numbers of yellowtail, sweep and small bream. Very nice dive. Visibility poor.
Sunday 26 April 2009 - Shiprock
Went in early and current was strong all the way past the buoy. Stayed on wall all the way. Went to boat pen and then back. Refound the bannerfish. Also, one small and one larger pineapplefish in usual location. Where were they last 2 dives? Also a medium kingfish. No wobbies. Lots of fish like yesterday. Many luderick as well. Very good dive. Visibility poor.
Saturday 2 May 2009 - Six Fathom Reef
Originally planned to dive SS Tuggerah but S winds over 17kts. Saw Rudy and Wayne at Barrens Hut and they were facing to N. Current? Went to Middle Ground but once anchored, ladder was on suface. Very strong current from N. Decided to go to Six Fathom. Went right around main reef. Huge numbers yellowtail and seapike, at least 5 6 spined-leatherjackets, 1 blue devilfish, 1 sea dragon, 1 flutemouth. 2 huge cuttlefish, 1 of which tried to attack me. They started a mating ritual. Great dive. Visibility good.
Wednesday 6 May 2009 - Barrens Hut/The Split
No current when we arrived but while the first group were in it picked up. Not as bad as Saturday. Went to N end of Split but when we came back to the S end where anchor was, it was gone. Tried to find but it was dirty on bottom 2 metres. Continued dive. Went to Tunnel and back to anchor spot. Ended up doing blue water ascent and found boat was about 400 m away. We ended up drifting almost to them before they could collect us. Visibility good except bottom 2 metres.
Thursday 7 May 2009 - Shiprock
Weekly night dive. Very mild current. Did normal dive. A few cuttlefish, octopus. At least 2 small and 1 large pineapplefish (maybe 3 small) at normal spot. Not many hermit crabs or decorator crabs. Gary found a small blue-ringed octopus near bubble cave. One parra nudibranch. Nice easy dive. Visibility very good.
Saturday 9 May 2009 - Pizza Reef
Went to cave, some bastard trumpeters here. One large boarfish inside. Went around whole reef. Huge numbers of seapike, yellowtail and silver sweep. On school of about 100 small kingfish came around at the SE side. A few male eastern king wrasse. Excellent dive. Visibility good.
Sunday 10 May 2009 - Shiprock
Club See Food and Seafood dive. 18 members present. Found one small and one large pineapplefish, 4 bannerfish. Some small cuttlefish. Lots of normal fish. In shallows saw a huge school of whiting. Visibility fair.
Thursday 14 May 2009 - Bare Island Isolated Reefs
Club night dive. Too rough to go off S or W as planned. Went in E of pool. Went to Isolated Reef 1 and then on N side. Found a red Indianfish (RIF) here. Then to IR2. No sea horses. Back on S side into a very slight current. Found another RIF here after Shaun swam right over it. Back to cave where 3 PJs. Then back to ramp. Found 3 sea dragons and back at 10 m, one pygmy pipehose. Excellent dive. Visibility fair deeper, good shallow. Saturday 16 May 2009 - The Balcony
Strong W but flat.Warm water and huge numbers of yellowtaill, seapike, ladder-finned pomfrets, sweep, bullseyes, mackeral, mado and more. Ian and Tricia saw a dolphin but I only saw a black/grey blur. One of our best Sydney dives! Visibility excellent.
Sunday 17 May 2009 - Barrens Hut/The Split
Winds more SW than yesterday and a long rolling swell. Anchored N end Split. A seadragon here. Then to Tunnel and Cave. Lots of bastard trumpeters outside cave. Some seapike and one-spot pullers. Two cuttlefish. Nice dive, but nowhere as good as yesterday (Dave C saw a seal and 2 dolphins here). Visibility very good.
Thursday 21 May 2009 - Lilli Pilli Baths
Windy and huge seas so moved night dive to here from Oak Park. Counted 19 Whites sea horses, with at least 10 on the wharf pylons. Normally none there. Most were small and all were very active. Lots swimming in open. Also a frogfish, a bright lined bubble (Bulinia lineata), some small cuttlefish, a large octopus and many large prawns. Current was slight near wharf (unusual). Then over to moorings. Second one is almost worn through its chain links. Visibility fair but poor deeper than 15 m and shallower than 2 m (due to rain).
Wednesday 27 May 2009 - Middle Ground
After a week of big seas pretty clean considering. Was blue but milky. Slight S wind. Lots of yellowtail, some sweep and seapike. The others saw 2 large wobbegongs but we did not. I took Peter´s D200 with wide angle, not great conditions for that. Nice dive despite Visibility poor.
For more details about these dives and other dives this year, click here.
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Michael on 17 April 2009 20:22 ·
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