Well, the dive Club of which I am a member St George Scuba Club, has over the period since 2000 had a weekend dive trip to Shellharbour each year. These have been very well attended. During these trips, we have explored the area a bit and found some great dive sites. Some of these are, of course, known to the local dive shops (as of early 2006 there are three, way too many for such a location, at least one will fail, there is no way there is enough divers to support all three).

Anyway, when we first started going there (not quite true, we spent a week at Shellharbour diving in January 1994), we were shown a number of dive sites by one of our members. He had originally told me that this site was a pinnacle of sorts. We called it Hump 3. However, I have since sounded around the GPS co-ordinate and this could not be called a pinnacle or hump. What this site has turned out to be is a very large section of reef that is an extension of the end of the Bass Point peninsula.

From Shellharbour Boat Ramp, head out almost due east for about 3.5 kilometres to GPS Reading 34° 35.1395' S 150° 54.6653' E (using WGS84 datum - see my GPS Page for details). Check your depth sounder and you will see that the bottom is 34 metres or so on the east and the top of the reef is about 23 or 24 metres (it gets shallower to the west before dropping to 27 metres and then sloping to 30 metres or more).

The location of the dive site. Bass Point Reserve is at bottom left, Bushrangers Bay at very bottom. These are sea floor maps from NSW Government Seed website.

Anyway, anchor as close as you can to the edge of the reef. In the area where the GPS reading will put you, you will find that you are on a corner where the reef runs south and north-west from where you are located. At this spot the reef slopes to the north-east at about 30° and south of the reading it drops in a shear wall.

Simon Graf and a section of the wall	Thousands of mado over the reef

Once you are on the bottom, head to the east if you are not on the edge and you will quickly see the wall or slope. Go down to the depth you want to reach, the bottom is about 34 metres or so. Then head south and follow the wall. The wall has lots of sponges, sea squirts and other fixed marine life. There are a few tiny gorgonias along this section of wall.

A small crack in the reef	Simon over another section of the reef. Note all photos dark due to a very heavy overcast

After 7 minutes or so, turn around and come back to the anchor spot. If you are using air, continue past the anchor and the reef will turn to the north-west a little. The reef slopes down to your right, with the bottom composed of small boulders. Due to the depth, you will only get about 15 minutes before entering decompression if you stay close to the sand or about 20 minutes if you vary your depth.

On 32% nitrox, you should be able to get about 30 minutes on the bottom before reaching your no deco limit. Therefore you can go a little further to the south before turning and further to the north. You will also see s shear wall here past the boulders. Turn around and head back after a total of 22 minutes or so.

A very large cuttlefish on the top of the wall	Two moray eels down deeper

This site has lots of colourful fixed marine life but there are not that many fish around at times. I have seen a few Port Jackson sharks, some black reef leatherjackets, seapike, mado (one dive thousands of them), moray eels, large cuttlefish, yellowtail and one-spot pullers. There are also lots of nudibranches. There are also thousands (maybe millions) of tiny white featherstars (that is what I think they are) all over the reef. They are all about 15 mm or so in size, so I assume they only grow that big.

Once back near the anchor, spend the rest of your time in this area exploring. The top of the wall is essentially flat, but there are some small holes and gutters to look into. The top has kelp in some sections.

Two mating nudibranchs	I think this is a tiny white featherstar, there are thousands at this site

Despite the lack of fishlife, it is a really interesting dive. Of course, due to the depth, this is only a dive for the very experienced. I have had very good visibility here on most dives, up to 20 metres or so.