Latest Dive Reviews

"“The club dive for Sat 30-August was planed for Twin Peaks but a 2 metre easterly swell was seen as an opportunity to divert the dive down to Port Arthur and explore the area around Crescent Bay and further south to the often rough Black Rock. Bob, Dave, Ashley, John and new member Olivia headed off, found conditions pretty good round the corner from Mt Brown, and after a bit of recon work with the depth sounder around Black Rock we were all excited to go see ‘the wall’ which drops from ~10m to 50+ within a short distance and connects Black rock to the coast. Deciding to dive shifts to maintain a live boat, Bob and Dave plunged over first on the eastern edge of Black Rock, keen on a 40m dive, while John, Ashley and Olivia kept a ‘live boat’. Bob and Dave dived most of the dive together in some terrific bottom with Large rocks, dense sea whip gardens and myriad sponges, invertebrates & small Butterfly Perch. At depth the dive was really awesome and as good as all the rumours we had heard. Dave & Bob didn’t see much of each other during the later part of the dive (Whats new) but both came up using words like ‘WOW’ and ‘colours’ and ‘fantastic’ and ‘awesome’ which, coming from these two, tends to signify something special !. The last 10-15m was a real washing machine so both Bob and Dave headed away from the rock to do a much more pleasant safety Stop away from the surge. Ashley, Olivia and John dived on another section of the reef running from the bluff at the base of Brown Mountain. This location was a a Reef top that came to within 8-10m of the surface. They WERE amazed !. ‘Black Rock’ .. and ‘Mt Brown’ .. sound a bit dark and sinister, but switch the light on at 30+m and the colours were incredible. Lots of multicoloured sponges, sea whips, butterfly perch and other things I wish I knew the name of. John was stoked by his first dive over 30 m whilst Olivia enjoyed her first seal sighting when one came down to check her out mid-dive. Olivia, being economical with words, also wanted “saw seal .. whoohoo” in the report. It was a fantastic garden to visit. Bob and Dave dived “the Rock” a second time after lunch, Bob finding a large cave in the wall with a well hidden and large “resident” cray in it. This dive also showed the huge colour range that we get with extensive Sea Whip gardens in around 20m. We again come up with “awesome dive” back on the surface. Ash, Olivia and John did a second dive on the northern end of Crescent Bay, sheltered a bit from the NE wind that had come up. This one not deep enough to get below the kelp but still found heaps of colour, and a school of yellow-tail I-don’t-know-what fish !.
A great day out on and in the water, something new for everyone, good company and hot pies at Murdunna on the way home. Thanks all and Dave for supplying the boat and crew for supplying the TimTams"
By Bob Blaauw

Who Dived it?
Dave John Ashley Olivia Bob