Huge seas since last Thursday evening, so no diving anywhere till yesterday. Went in 9 mins before high but the incoming current stopped about 10 mins early and outgoing started about 15 mins early. Actually got quite strong after about 15 mins of changing. Viz 3-4 metres and warm 21.0C. Went in at pool and over wall, only went to last bommie and plaque bommie, then normal. No nudibranchs at all, a few octopus, large numbrays, one medium wobbegong shark, one moray eel. Lots of luderick and seapike, one pineapplefish. Could not look for anglerfish as my right ear would not clear near the end. A very average dive really. Visibility poor.

Flat seas but a 15 second period meant a bit of surge even deeper. Viz varied from 2-3 m shallow and 3-4 or more on IR1. Huge seas have destroyed my rockpile at exit, rebuilt it at end. Also huge amount of sand missing from Shark Fin and Outboard Motor, fully visible, as is a large pole. Found the BBSH in normal spot but no PPH at all, Found a RIF past SHR, first one seen since December 2024. for 12 months. Lots of yellowtail on IR1 and cleaner on S side. Back looking for Whites sea horse, not found, but seen by buddy on Tuesday. Back via Cave, more yellowtail here. Saw the USDP and three sawtooth pipefish in same spot as recent dives. Back via normal way. Found another smaller RIF near LR and then found a large spotted RIF back near 44 gallon drum. Back to exit, collecting rocks for pile as I went. A fair dive. Visibility poor. 

Decided to go left towards The Monuments and then back. Turned around at 55 mins or so. Viz varied between 3-4 m and 7-8 m, mostly the latter and still some surge. Cooler at 18.9C too. Found two sea dragons, although Andrew reckons he showed me a third one. A few nudibranchs, some rays and a large numbray. A shrimp in a trunicate and Mandy said she saw three red shrimps in the red weed but they disappeared when she went to show us. Only a fair dive. Visibility fair.

Club dive day and BBQ, three boats and about 20 divers, two runs each. Very strong S wind and largish rough SE swell. First group dropped in at The Leap Deep but stronger wind now. Bluish water and viz 10-12 metres for most of the dive, a bit worse near end. Started just NE of The Leap shore entry. Not a huge amount to see, a few nudibranchs, a large school of yellowtail for a 10 mins or so mid-dive, a small yellow boxfish but that is about it. Only an average dive, but a great BBQ after. Rain basically held off all day. Visibility good.

Club boat dive, two boats and nine divers. Anchored on sand and had to move S to the reef. Then went E and then S as normal. A fair bit of surge despite flat seas. Viz 8-10 metres, a bit of sand floating around. Not as much fishlife as early March. Came back to anchor and then W for a bit, could not find the boarfish but second group did. A few nudibranchs, lots of old wives, a few other fish. Only an average dive. Visibility fair.

Cancelled tomorrow's boat dive due to very strong W winds, 2 m 13 second swell. Was much better than the forecast although (similar to tomorrow), flat seas, viz 5-7 m and warm. Wind was strong SW though. RIF have moved all around, I saw three but some saw four. Mine were near SHR, AR, and one in between these. The two PPH were back near SHR, two sawtooth pipefish and one USDP near Cave. Some moray eels, an octopus, sole, some yellowtail out near SHC. The White's sea horse is still missing. Went looking for the pylons that were washed from the bridge on island side, could not find them. Put some more large rocks on the pile. A reasonable dive. Visibility fair.

Fantastic conditions today off Royal NP when we had two club boats and eight members diving Pizza Reef. Flat sea with a small southerly swell and blue water. Around 18 or more metres visibility, could see MakCat from the bottom at 26 metres. Did the usual route around anti-clockwise, anchored NE of Cave. Not a huge amount of fish around, but a dozen bastard trumpeters, a large cuttlefish and a few black leatherjackets were seen. However, not a single donut nembrotha nudibranch was seen, despite hundreds of purple ascidians which is their food source. Visibility very good.

Two of Mandy's friends from Switzerland wanted to see sea dragons. Flat seas, bluish but milky water, viz 4-5 m, outgoing tide, 20.5C. Found two sea dragons pretty early in the dive. Very slow and just after Split Rock we lost them. Backtracked to exit and past, no sign. Went back E and still no sign. Back to exit, finally saw their bubbles coming from E. Absolutely no idea how they got past us as we were going very slow and they appeared to be behind us the whole time. Anyway, found a purple-lined nembrotha as well as some other nice nudis. A tiny dead numbray near exit. The couple saw a third sea dragon and ended up surfacing not far from the exit. Visibility poor. 

A second dive here. Conditions similar but water much cleaner at 10 m or so, even though it was low tide and came back on the tide. Went a bit quicker to find PPH and BIA. No PPH but Mandy found the grey anglerfish near Diversity Rock. Saw two more purple nembrothas, one tiny as well as a tiny jorunna species. A few very small Gunthers butterflyfish (one seen first dive too), a couple of sawtooth pipefish, Vic to BBSH and more nudibranchs. Did not lose our overseas buddies this time. Didn't see any sea dragons. Visibility fair.

Huge seas for third weekend in a row. Not that many here considering. Went in 10 mins before high at Fort Denison. Viz only 3-4 m and strong current that turned as planned but no slack period at all. Forgot my mask so had to use a spare one from Reka, so could not see anything close. No nudibranchs as far as I could see, a few octopus and moray eels, heaps of leatherjackets, seapike and in shallows whiting. Some big trevally and bream. Two small Gunthers butterflyfish. Two wobbegong sharks, one small. Not the best dive but better than nothing. Visibility poor

Next three dives in Victoria at Mornington Peninsula

Walked out to the diver entry point, not too hard. Dropped in and then down under pier. Only 1.2 m deep here. Viz was about 7-8 most of the dive, a strongish current from W to E. Pier runs to NNE. Went slowly to the end, 30 mins, depth just over 4 m, got to 4.9 W. Current was much strong there. Went E to the end, short distance, then to W about 40 m. Viz was worse here. Back to main pier and back to start. Very colourful pylons and the swell protection boards on the outside. Heaps of the blue/green algae but only saw one tamja, blue and green. A few other nudis, a few crabs, some spider/decorator crabs, small fish. John saw a pipefish but lost it while trying to attract my attention. Really only an average dive. Visibility poor. 

Boat dive on private boat, a bit of an exploration. Came from Westernport Marina, 2.5 hours. A bit of swell, up from yesterday, and over 10 kts N. Dropped in off Pulpit Rock and headed N. Strong current from W for 15 mins then we were protected. Nothing but kelp and flat bottom, only a few fish seen, boomerang leatherjackets and a few wrasse. Pretty terrible dive as very surgy as well. Visibility poor.

Second dive back to E of Cape Schanck, about 2.8 km. Anchored this time, went NW to a bit shallower, very surgy but not as bad as first dive. More kelp but a few bare areas and some small wall sections and overhangs. More fish, including heaps of leatherjackets, best were horseshoe. At the end I removed kelp from around the starboard prop. Another very poor dive. Visibility poor.

Went out on Phil's boat. beautiful day, flat seas, a very slight current from N. Viz was 12-15 metres. Anchored up on ledge NE of engine. Did the whole wreck, first out to the winches and anchor, then back to boiler remains, the prop, engine and largest winch. Then did some more exploring to N and E. Others saw two Moorish idols, I saw a large number of silver sweep. A very nice dive. Visibility good.

Flat seas and bluish water. Viz was 15 m shallow, 10-12 m for most of the dive, warm 20.6C. Went down normal way, two RIF, one before and one after STR. The BBSH is still there but only one PPH near SHR. Lots of kelp all over the sand for all the dive till we turned. A tiny 2 mm fine-lined tambja on the BLA on OHR. I spent a lot of time out off the main reef, looking for anything interesting, but nothing seen, not even the small artificial reef. Went around IR1, reasonable current as outgoing tide, but then we had it with us. A fiddler-ray on the way back on N side of IR1. The Whites sea horse is certainly gone. A lot of yellowtail on IR1 and also near the Main Cave. Four sawtooth pipefish and one USDP in same spot as reccent dives. A tiny yellowbox fish under a low ledge just past here. A large octopus on the way back. Put a lot more rocks on the exit pile. Also found a Peters milk bottle. Very good dive. Visibility good.   

Flat seas but overcast. Viz good in shallows but much less than yesterday deeper, only 3-4 m at most. Could not find either RIF from yesterday, finally found the BBSH on way back. Apparently a smaller RIF near STR. Three PPH before SHR and another on top of first Angler Rock. Saw eight tiny fine-lined tamja mostly on OHR One was yellow not green. Five sawtooth pipefish but no USDP. Went down to near SHC. Huge amounts of yellowtail. Went on top of Main Cave, five wobbegong sharks but no spindle cowries. On the way back I found a tiny 3 mm long orange painted anglerfish on main reef close to OHR. So cute! Also two horn sharks, two large squid, a huge sole, a punk nudi and much more. A very good dive. Visibility poor.  

A bit of ENE swell, built up and when we got out at almost 9 am it was at my maximum safe height on the Capt Cook Wave Buoy on Sydney Ports website. Got worse and had to help longer diving buddies out. Viz was over 15 metres, blue, very little incoming tide. Went a bit quicker than normal. Saw three sea dragons on the way and near where we turned around up higher, a juvenile sea dragon. Also three PPH, a pineapplefish as we turned around, the grey BIA, a fiddler-ray and much more. A very good dive except for th exit. Visibility very good.

Club boat dive, two boats, nine divers. A largish E swell but fairly protected here. Wind was non-existent when we entered but picked up to 10 kts. Went S and viz was 15 m or so, 19.2C. Incoming tide but no current underwater. So colourful, but little fishlife except for some leatherjackets and a few crimson banded wrasse. No RIF or sea dragons as per last 10 years, no PPH either. Went back past the anchor to N and then back to anchor. Towards the end Kelly found a sea spider but I was too far ahead. On safety stop, huge school of yellowtail but did not come very close. A good dive. Visibility good.

Club boat dive. Swell 2.3 to 3.7 m, way bigger than the forecast. Period 8-10 seconds. Viz 20 m up high, could see boat from 25 metres. On the bottom, surge was stirring up sand a little, so nowhere as good, but still okay. Anchored NE corner, went around. A total of nine wobbegong sharks, four smaller, the rest very large. There were huge schools of yellowtail and some smaller ones of seapike. They covered the whole reef. A few smaller kingfish swam in them once. Some comb wrasse, a six-spined leatherjacket and lots of black reef and other leatherjackets. A very good dive. Visibility good.

Forecast of very strong SW wind about 9 am but did not hit till about 10, so easy to get out. Swell way down from yesterday, but some larger ones every few minutes. Not too much surge, viz about 4-5 metres, 19.3C. Went looking for the tiny orange painted anglerfish. Found the BBSH on STR, one PPH before SHR, could not find the angler on the way down. Only three sawtooth pipefish but found the USDP. Went down reef edge then to SHC. Continued along reef then cut across to 15 MR. Heaps of sand covering a lot of the reef. Came back to SHC then up to top of Cave, four wobbegong sharks. Huge amount of yellowtail from the First Cave deeper. Back to pipefish then found the anglerfish. Could not find the other one Mandy found on Monday. Across to OHR, lots of fine-lined tambja, some now double the size to 4 mm. Back looking for RIF, found on on outer STR. Back to exit. A very nice dive. Visibility poor.

Seas dropped a lot from yesterday (cancelled club boat dive), easy to get in and out. Viz improved as the tide came in, we started a bit after low tide, 7-8 metres at best. Two sea dragons near entry point but not seen until on the way back. Two grey BIA, one right near Vic the BBSH. Some nice opera house nudies, a fiddler-ray, a huge cuttlefish swimming fast and a small one. Some trevally early in the dive and at safety stop, heaps of yellowtail. A nice relaxing dive. Visibility fair.

 

Strong E wind and larger E swell, a lot of surge but not too bad, just made photography hard. Viz good shallow but by 13 m was only 3-4 m at the most. Went down normal way, saw a RIF before STR, the BBSH on STR. Then only one PPH before SHC. Quite a few fine-lined tambjas on OHR, now larger than last Thursday. Then across and refound the tiny orange painted anglerfish (PA). Looks like this is the same one Garry saw on weekend, not Mandy's one. Could not find it. Then to AR but still no PPH. Only two sawtooth pipefish and the USDP near Cave. Down further found some flabellinas, lots of yellowtail around here. Back and the PA had moved a tiny bit and was easier to photograph. Back before STR I found a large Parramatta nudibranch. Then back. Near the outboard motor I found a juvenile surgeonfish, not sure of species. A good dive despite rotten visibility. Visibility very poor.

Similar conditions to Tuesday but a strong outgoing tide once near the first cave. Looks like the painted anglerfish is gone, could not be found yesterday by buddy nor today. The fine-lined tambjas are now about 8-10 mm. Three sawtooth pipefish but no USDP. Two PPH, the usual one before SHR and another on the rock next to AR that Mandy found two weeks ago but which I have not been able to find since. No RIF, the BBSH, still cannot find the two White's sea horses seen by others recently. Lots of yellowtail near Cave, a dwarf lionfish, all the usual fish. A nice dive despite poor viz and current. Visibility poor.