Another glorious day on the ocean here in Exmouth saw us run further south than we have been going so far this season. The view back towards shore and the Cape Range National Park is just gorgeous and the weather was perfect to enjoy it - or a little nap! We had a super long swim with one 4.5m whale shark today - over 60 minutes! Everyone was happy, hungry and ready for another nap by the time we had enough.
We dived at Nick's Lumps again today and had some great schools of surgeonfish and sweetlips at the top of the site and some white tip reef sharks at the bottom. In between were all manner of blue, yellow, orange & purple fishes. Octopus were out and about all over the site, with several of them free swimming from one outlook to the next. A big school of Buff Bream circled endlessly during our whole dive.
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 20-25m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 16m
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Dive report - Lighthouse Bay, Tuesday 28 April 2009
Can't resist Blizzard Ridge with all of the schools of fish and masses of baitfish still luring the predator fish in! And the continuing exceptional visibility is a nice bonus. One of the anemone patches has the teeniest baby Clarkii anemonefish on it and the bigger fish are super protective of it. Seems to be the right time of year for big stingrays and several were being inconspicuous in the sand flat at the top of the ridge. This site is so filled with cool stuff, you just can't see it all!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 15m
CURRENT: slight
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
Labyrinth, another of our always awesome dive sites, continues to show us amazing things, no matter how many times we visit. Today there was a huge spotted ray - we're calling it a leopard ray, even though we know he isn't. The other common name for him doesn't do his beautiful black spots on a white background justice. I guess we could call him a Dalmatian ray :) We also had a group of over 50 big batfish, more turtles than we could count and mantis shrimp out of their holes waving antennae at us. A truly stunning dive!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
Don't forget our Diver Bites contest now running. You still have a couple of weeks to get your entry in...you gotta be in it to win it!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 15m
CURRENT: slight
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
Labyrinth, another of our always awesome dive sites, continues to show us amazing things, no matter how many times we visit. Today there was a huge spotted ray - we're calling it a leopard ray, even though we know he isn't. The other common name for him doesn't do his beautiful black spots on a white background justice. I guess we could call him a Dalmatian ray :) We also had a group of over 50 big batfish, more turtles than we could count and mantis shrimp out of their holes waving antennae at us. A truly stunning dive!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
Don't forget our Diver Bites contest now running. You still have a couple of weeks to get your entry in...you gotta be in it to win it!
Whale Shark report - Monday 27 April 2009
Superb whale sharks again today! Bright blue water, multiple sharks, calm seas and long swims.
At different times during our Whale Shark Adventure we had a whale shark start with us on the surface before slowly gliding just to the edge of vision straight below and then again rising effortlessly to continue swimming with us. It's awesome to see them coming toward the surface, huge mouths leading the way, and seemingly expending no effort at all.
We dived at Nick's Lumps and the fish life was very active. A lovely school of baitfish glimmered at the entrance to a swim through, bright orange and green parrotfish chomped away and a big shimmery school of silver trevally circled the site out in the blue, just off the reef.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY:20m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 16m
At different times during our Whale Shark Adventure we had a whale shark start with us on the surface before slowly gliding just to the edge of vision straight below and then again rising effortlessly to continue swimming with us. It's awesome to see them coming toward the surface, huge mouths leading the way, and seemingly expending no effort at all.
We dived at Nick's Lumps and the fish life was very active. A lovely school of baitfish glimmered at the entrance to a swim through, bright orange and green parrotfish chomped away and a big shimmery school of silver trevally circled the site out in the blue, just off the reef.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY:20m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 16m
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Dive report - Lighthouse Bay, Saturday 25 April 2009
Everyone had such a fabulous time on the dives yesterday that all of those diving again voted to dive Blizzard again today, too.
Blizzard Ridge was crazy. Multiple olive sea snakes roaming around, blue spotted rays digging in the sand, wobbies under ledges and resting their heads at impossible angles on reef outcrops, big unicornfish zooming every which way. Turtles cruising past while lionfish hung out with their fins all spread out. Golden trevally and tuna shot through the walls of baitfish.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: slight
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
We headed to Labyrinth for our second dive. Turtles were abundant and very mellow about divers swimming calmly beside them. Masses of fish in all sizes and colours hung out in big groups. Batfish were hanging around all the way from the surface to the sandy bottom and the cleaning action was awesome. Quite a few octopus just hanging out, changing colours & textures...being cool.
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: slight
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
Blizzard Ridge was crazy. Multiple olive sea snakes roaming around, blue spotted rays digging in the sand, wobbies under ledges and resting their heads at impossible angles on reef outcrops, big unicornfish zooming every which way. Turtles cruising past while lionfish hung out with their fins all spread out. Golden trevally and tuna shot through the walls of baitfish.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: slight
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
We headed to Labyrinth for our second dive. Turtles were abundant and very mellow about divers swimming calmly beside them. Masses of fish in all sizes and colours hung out in big groups. Batfish were hanging around all the way from the surface to the sandy bottom and the cleaning action was awesome. Quite a few octopus just hanging out, changing colours & textures...being cool.
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: slight
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
Whale Shark report - Saturday 25 April 2009
Oh so blue today! Gorgeous, clear bright blue water made the perfect backdrop for our mulitple whale sharks. They were all doing pretty slow cruises right under the surface, often with the tip of a tail or dorsal fin peeking out of the water. Most of them were also feeding with their mouths halfway open and heads bobbing. It was another of those picture postcard days where we couldn't really ask for anything more!
Central Station was gorgeous - we could see every ripple of sand from the boat! We had a big cowtail stingray, an eagle ray (WOW!) and a relaxed green turtle keep us company at various places on the site. Thousands of sparkling silver, blue and green fish bounced up and down out of the branching reef structures. Stunning!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 20m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 16m
Central Station was gorgeous - we could see every ripple of sand from the boat! We had a big cowtail stingray, an eagle ray (WOW!) and a relaxed green turtle keep us company at various places on the site. Thousands of sparkling silver, blue and green fish bounced up and down out of the branching reef structures. Stunning!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 20m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 16m
Whale Shark report - Friday 24 April 2009
Yesterday's conditions were shocking (and dangerous) so we canned the trip and decided to wait until things calmed down a little before venturing out. Overnight everything changed dramatically and we were greeted with a beautiful morning and lovely conditions for our Whale Shark Adventure.
The whale sharks were happy to see us and we swam with three different sharks. It's amazing how much difference a single day can make here! One of the bigger whale sharks we swam with today had his mouth open wide, vacuuming down as much plankton & bits as he could! All you could see at first was this huge mouth coming at you. Very cool stuff. All of the whale sharks were nice and slow as they cruised right under the surface and we spent a long time snorkelling with these gentle giants . It was a fabulous day!
Coral Gardens has been so good lately, that we popped back there for our reef dive. Again there were multiple stingrays, some good sized cods and lots of brightly coloured reef fish decorating the coral bommies. A group of about 20 stripey pufferfish hung out over the sand - it's cool to watch them all turn as one as the divers come closer. Lovely dive with tons to see!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 8m
The whale sharks were happy to see us and we swam with three different sharks. It's amazing how much difference a single day can make here! One of the bigger whale sharks we swam with today had his mouth open wide, vacuuming down as much plankton & bits as he could! All you could see at first was this huge mouth coming at you. Very cool stuff. All of the whale sharks were nice and slow as they cruised right under the surface and we spent a long time snorkelling with these gentle giants . It was a fabulous day!
Coral Gardens has been so good lately, that we popped back there for our reef dive. Again there were multiple stingrays, some good sized cods and lots of brightly coloured reef fish decorating the coral bommies. A group of about 20 stripey pufferfish hung out over the sand - it's cool to watch them all turn as one as the divers come closer. Lovely dive with tons to see!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 8m
Dive report - Lighthouse Bay, Friday 24 April 2009
Wow! What an incredible change. We cancelled our diving tour yesterday because the swell that has been running the past few days had turned everything just yuck and rough. Well, what a difference 24 hours makes! The water was crystal clear, there was no surge or current and the animals had a renewed sense of energy!
Dive one was at Blizzard Ridge and the wobbegongs were out in the open relaxing on the reef tops. All the schools - snapper, threadfin pearl perch, sweetlips, fusiliers - were just hanging out and didn't care at all as divers moved in next to them.
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 15-20m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
Gulliver's was amazing, too. There's a few enormous schools of various fish and white tip reef sharks everywhere. Alyson found yet another very cool nudibranch, this one on the mooring line. Unfortunately, she didn't have her camera with her as she had Open Water students doing their first two dives...they're a bit spoiled after today! And how about our Discover Scuba Diving participants? They came across a huge manta ray that just hung around them! If that's not enough, add in a funky leopard shark. Awesome day again.
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 15-20m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
Dive one was at Blizzard Ridge and the wobbegongs were out in the open relaxing on the reef tops. All the schools - snapper, threadfin pearl perch, sweetlips, fusiliers - were just hanging out and didn't care at all as divers moved in next to them.
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 15-20m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
Gulliver's was amazing, too. There's a few enormous schools of various fish and white tip reef sharks everywhere. Alyson found yet another very cool nudibranch, this one on the mooring line. Unfortunately, she didn't have her camera with her as she had Open Water students doing their first two dives...they're a bit spoiled after today! And how about our Discover Scuba Diving participants? They came across a huge manta ray that just hung around them! If that's not enough, add in a funky leopard shark. Awesome day again.
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 15-20m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
Saturday, April 25, 2009
ANZAC Day - Lest we forget
The dawn ceremony for ANZAC Day here in Exmouth drew a huge crowd this morning. This young father presented his small child to an old soldier, who then pinned his own poppy on to the child.
Lest we forget.
Lest we forget.
Belated Congratulations - Anja & Sonny!
We adore love stories and Exmouth Diving Centre seems to be a great place to meet your significant other! We have lots of stories about couples brought together by diving with us - even Dave & I are kind of a dive centre couple from way back.
Anja & Sonny met while training and working here (click for her Facebook album Where Everything Began) a few years back and have now tied the knot in a beautiful beach ceremony earlier this month.
A huge Congratulations from us all - we know you'll continue to have many happy years and adventures together! Now you need to pop back for a visit so we can raise some glasses with you in person!
Anja & Sonny met while training and working here (click for her Facebook album Where Everything Began) a few years back and have now tied the knot in a beautiful beach ceremony earlier this month.
A huge Congratulations from us all - we know you'll continue to have many happy years and adventures together! Now you need to pop back for a visit so we can raise some glasses with you in person!
Friday, April 24, 2009
Whale Shark report - Wednesday 22 April 2009
Another day of multiple whale sharks and excellent swims! Each shark we swam with was feeding at least a little bit and one of them was doing huge mouth opens and closes - nom, nom, nom - sucking down all the plankton and bits floating in the water column.
The swell is still cranking so we did our dive inside the reef again at Coral Gardens. A giant rankin cod - about 1.5m long - was zipping all over the site and following the divers. We watched a triton shell slowly motor across the sand. Adult sailfin catfish were snuffling the sand while rolling balls of juveniles cavorted in small reef crevices. Blue spotted rays were tucked up under ledges and buried in the sand. So much to see!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 12m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 8m
The swell is still cranking so we did our dive inside the reef again at Coral Gardens. A giant rankin cod - about 1.5m long - was zipping all over the site and following the divers. We watched a triton shell slowly motor across the sand. Adult sailfin catfish were snuffling the sand while rolling balls of juveniles cavorted in small reef crevices. Blue spotted rays were tucked up under ledges and buried in the sand. So much to see!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 12m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 8m
Dive report - Muiron Islands Wednesday 22 April 2009
A cranking swell gave us the excuse we needed to explore some different dive sites on our trip to the Muiron Islands today. We hit Dinner Party first up and it was covered in schools of baitfish, bullseyes and other small fishes. Big rankin cod skulked just above the schools, waiting for just the right moment to swoop in for an easy buffet lunch. A small group of batfish swam close to the divers before heading for the surface where they drifted in the sun for a while before buzzing the divers again.
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 9m
East Side Bommies is always amazing. It's a shallow site and made up of a series of coral bommies sporting soft corals, small sea fans and lots of pretty - but stinging - hydroids. It also seems to always have some huge fish hanging out and today was no exception with enormous grouper cruising the edges and golden trevally zipping through the site throughout our dive time. Humbugs, damsels, anthias, several kinds of butterflyfish and various angelfish stick close to the coral and provide mulit-coloured sparkle. A turtle had a look at us and decided we were boring so toddled off to find something else to entertain him.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 8-10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 8m
A very lazy drift through our snorkel site gave us turtles, rays, two white tip reef sharks, anemonefish, eels and quite a few juvenile angelfish just changing their colours to the adult pattern.
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 9m
East Side Bommies is always amazing. It's a shallow site and made up of a series of coral bommies sporting soft corals, small sea fans and lots of pretty - but stinging - hydroids. It also seems to always have some huge fish hanging out and today was no exception with enormous grouper cruising the edges and golden trevally zipping through the site throughout our dive time. Humbugs, damsels, anthias, several kinds of butterflyfish and various angelfish stick close to the coral and provide mulit-coloured sparkle. A turtle had a look at us and decided we were boring so toddled off to find something else to entertain him.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 8-10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 8m
A very lazy drift through our snorkel site gave us turtles, rays, two white tip reef sharks, anemonefish, eels and quite a few juvenile angelfish just changing their colours to the adult pattern.
Whale Shark report - Tuesday 21 April 2009
We stayed inside the reef for our single reef dive on our Whale Shark Adventure today because the rising swell promised the outer sites would be hit by strong surge. Coral Gardens was stocked with fish of all sizes and colours swaying in the gentle surge. Rays tucked up under the bommies and a couple were making a mess of things searching for tasty treats buried in the sand. Small wrasse hovered close to the rays to grab anything the rays stirred up but missed. Active dive with lots going on everywhere around the site.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 12m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 8m
The whale sharks were super again today. We snorkeled with multiple sharks as they slowly swam and sucked down on all the extra food the swell has brought in. The water was a little darker and a little greener than it has been, but the sharks didn't seem to care!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 12m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 8m
The whale sharks were super again today. We snorkeled with multiple sharks as they slowly swam and sucked down on all the extra food the swell has brought in. The water was a little darker and a little greener than it has been, but the sharks didn't seem to care!
Dive report - Lighthouse Bay, Tuesday 21 April 2009
The swell came up dramatically overnight and was still rising, so visibility was much lower than what we've been spoiled with lately. Blizzard Ridge lived up to its name with rolling blankets of sand spilling over the ledges in places but that didn't stop us from having an awesome dive. Seems the fish rise higher into the water column when it gets like this, so there were even more big schools just hanging around. Olive sea snakes were out in force, swimming along the reef ledges, tongues flitting in and out in search of whatever it is sea snakes long for. One of the giant morays was halfway out his hole, face covered in small cleaner shrimp and tiny blue striped cleaner wrasse keeping busy.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 5m
CURRENT: very mild
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 14m
We decided to find some cleaner water for dive two, so came back around the Cape into Exmouth Gulf for dive two. We hit Clusters and it was an awesome choice. The corals are spectacular with tons of bright reds, oranges and yellows and every sort of strange creature was out and about. Crocodilefish casually hid in the sand, tiny hermit crabs scurried across the reef and eels peeked from ledges. Some of our divers found a very cool, very small catshark tucked into a coral head - not a common sight at all! That find would be great for our current Diver's Bites blog contest (but we bet you've got something just as cool to share with us, so hurry and enter now!)
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 12-15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 9m
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 5m
CURRENT: very mild
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 14m
We decided to find some cleaner water for dive two, so came back around the Cape into Exmouth Gulf for dive two. We hit Clusters and it was an awesome choice. The corals are spectacular with tons of bright reds, oranges and yellows and every sort of strange creature was out and about. Crocodilefish casually hid in the sand, tiny hermit crabs scurried across the reef and eels peeked from ledges. Some of our divers found a very cool, very small catshark tucked into a coral head - not a common sight at all! That find would be great for our current Diver's Bites blog contest (but we bet you've got something just as cool to share with us, so hurry and enter now!)
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 12-15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 9m
Dive report - Muiron Islands Monday 20 April 2009
Beautiful day out to the Muiron Islands today for a special trip. Our first dive site was Jaws and it was very active with turtles, sharks, rays and huge angelfish. Masses of neon blue damsels and blue-green chromis reflected the sun streaming through the water at the top of the reef.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: very mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 12m
Dive two was at Whalebone and again this site was drenched in colour. The batfish were being cleaned and swaying right on the sand. Moray eels peeked from small holes - some of the eels were as small as your little finger!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: very mild
DEPTH: 12m
Snorkelling later was excellent with swarms of fish and a few turtles lazing on the surface. A big school of convict surgeons rolled over the reef, totally obscuring everything else for what seemed like minutes! This school was huge.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: very mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 12m
Dive two was at Whalebone and again this site was drenched in colour. The batfish were being cleaned and swaying right on the sand. Moray eels peeked from small holes - some of the eels were as small as your little finger!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: very mild
DEPTH: 12m
Snorkelling later was excellent with swarms of fish and a few turtles lazing on the surface. A big school of convict surgeons rolled over the reef, totally obscuring everything else for what seemed like minutes! This school was huge.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Whale Shark report - Monday 20 April 2009
Wicked day!
We dived at Three Fins and it was awesome with a big potato cod, tons of fish, nice coral walls and, oh yeah, a WHALE SHARK! Nice way to start things off, really.
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 18m
The whale sharks were being cooperative and we had some great swims. We also got adopted by a good sized guy who decided that nosing the boat was a good thing! We'd watch him come straight up at us, mouth open sucking food down and then he'd nose right on to the marlin board. He'd swim off then, only to come right back and do it again. The whale shark stayed with us for ages and really spoiled us! Spectacular!
Monday, April 20, 2009
Dive report - West Side & Lighthouse Bay Sunday 19 April 2009
Concorde, one of our dive boats, took a little trip from Tantabiddi north along the reef to Lighthouse Bay today. Our first dive was the Coliseum, one of our West Side dives. The ridges and fingers of this site are spotted with bright soft corals, sea fans and sponges. Schools of big trevally and snapper swayed in the surge while boxfish darted in and out of impossibly small places. Crocodilefish snuggled into the sand and bright orange parrotfish crunched on coral so loudly it was like they were right in your ears!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 12-15m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 16m
Back in Lighthouse Bay we jumped in at Blizzard Ridge. Yesterday's lull had passed and today the baitfish were being hunted with great gusto again! Olive sea snakes were searching for food and places to tuck in for a nap. Multiple bannerfish hung out in little groups floating midwater and again lionfish were out in numbers, too.
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 12-15m
CURRENT: very mild
SURGE: very mild
DEPTH: 14m
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 12-15m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 16m
Back in Lighthouse Bay we jumped in at Blizzard Ridge. Yesterday's lull had passed and today the baitfish were being hunted with great gusto again! Olive sea snakes were searching for food and places to tuck in for a nap. Multiple bannerfish hung out in little groups floating midwater and again lionfish were out in numbers, too.
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 12-15m
CURRENT: very mild
SURGE: very mild
DEPTH: 14m
Dive report - Muiron Islands Sunday 19 April 2009
Our twice weekly trips to the Muiron Islands are always a treat and today we visited two of our favourite sites. Jaws was full of colour today with every sort of angelfish and butterflyfish imaginable flitting over the corals and yellow trumpetfish gliding effortlessly through the blue water. A good variety of nudibranchs dotted the reefscape while many spotted sweetlips and turtles hung out near hills. Oh, and should I mention the dolphins who buzzed us underwater again?!
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 12m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild to moderate
DEPTH: 12m
Whalebone's bright soft corals and sea fans were an awesome backdrop to all of the fish zooming here, there and everywhere. A school of good-sized batfish floated up and down for the whole dive and didn't seem bothered by the divers getting up close at all. A couple of nice white tip reef sharks swam slowly along the reef before plonking themselves down in a puff of sand, just off the edge of the reef.
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 12m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 12m
Our big snorkel through Turtle Bay was super - tons of fish of all sizes and colours, turtles, blue spotted stingrays and a couple of very large cod all kept up company on the slow drift.
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 12m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild to moderate
DEPTH: 12m
Whalebone's bright soft corals and sea fans were an awesome backdrop to all of the fish zooming here, there and everywhere. A school of good-sized batfish floated up and down for the whole dive and didn't seem bothered by the divers getting up close at all. A couple of nice white tip reef sharks swam slowly along the reef before plonking themselves down in a puff of sand, just off the edge of the reef.
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 12m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 12m
Our big snorkel through Turtle Bay was super - tons of fish of all sizes and colours, turtles, blue spotted stingrays and a couple of very large cod all kept up company on the slow drift.
Dive report - Lighthouse Bay, Saturday 18th April 2009
Gorgeous day out with flat seas, bright sunshine and clear water. We dived at Razor's first up and the site was rocking with baitfish attracting hunting trevally and big cods. Turtles were munching on red bell jellies, snoozin' on the reef and generally not being too interested in the divers as they swam alongside. We also had quite few octopus out and about keeping a wary eye on things. This site has some gorgeous soft corals and sea fans - it's a nice compliment to the limestone reef structures of our other sites.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 15+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
100s & 1000s was lovely with lots of blue spotted stingrays, white tip reef sharks and many spotted sweetlips. A big school of snapper hung out over the sand and would split in two as the divers came by and then regroup right behind them again. Lots of colourful reef fish like damsels, anthias, butterflyfish and some huge angelfish.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
Blizzard Ridge has calmed down after a few weeks of crazy feeding action. There are still good sized schools of baitfish and quite a few predator fish, but it wasn't as frenzied today. A big, beat up roughback ray was hanging out under a ledge getting a bit of a wash and wax from the local cleaner wrasse. Schools of glassfish sparkled against the reef and lionfish were abundant. Three itty bitty baby squids greeted me right under the boat as I surfaced - they are too cute (and too shy)!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 12m
CURRENT: slight
SURGE: slight
DEPTH: 14m
Gulliver's was great fun today. White tip reef sharks of all sizes, including a tiny 3 foot guy, were snoozing and cruising. Schools of perch, fusiliers and snapper were circling. I looked for the resident velevetfish and instead found a much smaller one in more or less the same place. Be interesting to keep an eye out to see if there are now two or if the larger one has moved on. Mary found a pair of harlequin shrimp jealously guarding their prized sea star leg, wedged up under a ledge.
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 12m
CURRENT: slight
SURGE: slight
DEPTH: 14m
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 15+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
100s & 1000s was lovely with lots of blue spotted stingrays, white tip reef sharks and many spotted sweetlips. A big school of snapper hung out over the sand and would split in two as the divers came by and then regroup right behind them again. Lots of colourful reef fish like damsels, anthias, butterflyfish and some huge angelfish.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
Blizzard Ridge has calmed down after a few weeks of crazy feeding action. There are still good sized schools of baitfish and quite a few predator fish, but it wasn't as frenzied today. A big, beat up roughback ray was hanging out under a ledge getting a bit of a wash and wax from the local cleaner wrasse. Schools of glassfish sparkled against the reef and lionfish were abundant. Three itty bitty baby squids greeted me right under the boat as I surfaced - they are too cute (and too shy)!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 12m
CURRENT: slight
SURGE: slight
DEPTH: 14m
Gulliver's was great fun today. White tip reef sharks of all sizes, including a tiny 3 foot guy, were snoozing and cruising. Schools of perch, fusiliers and snapper were circling. I looked for the resident velevetfish and instead found a much smaller one in more or less the same place. Be interesting to keep an eye out to see if there are now two or if the larger one has moved on. Mary found a pair of harlequin shrimp jealously guarding their prized sea star leg, wedged up under a ledge.
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 12m
CURRENT: slight
SURGE: slight
DEPTH: 14m
Whale Shark report - Saturday 18 April 2009
The weather and seas are simply perfect again. We headed to Central Station for our reef dive on our Whale Shark Adventure today and it was a day of big things. Some of the divers were super lucky and got to see a tiger shark cruise by; this doesn't happen very often and everyone else was insanely jealous! There were also some giant rays in the sand and an enormous loggerhead turtle.
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 12-15+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 17m
We had excellent sharks again and the highlight was a tiny 2.5m whale shark who just cruised super slowly right at the surface and allowed us to swim over and over for ages! Gorgeous day out again.
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 12-15+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 17m
We had excellent sharks again and the highlight was a tiny 2.5m whale shark who just cruised super slowly right at the surface and allowed us to swim over and over for ages! Gorgeous day out again.
Dive report - Lighthouse Bay, Friday 17th April 2009
Fantastic conditions for Lighthouse Bay again! First up is Blizzard Ridge because the baitfish and hunter action is still going strong. The schools of fish are growing - both in number and in the fish size...it's very cool to be able to watch the little guys grow up! One of our premiere spotters, Alyson (get to know her in her own EDC Team post!), found another great critter - a delicate, little pipefish! Some of our divers were treated to a pretty rare sight - a hunting white tip reef shark. It darted straight in under a ledge, grabbed lunch and zoomed around again. How cool is this dive site?!?!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
Gulliver's had a lot to live up after our first dive and though it was quieter, it didn't disappoint. Quite a few white tip reef sharks lazed on the sand, huge schools of yellow & blue snapper hovered in midwater and octopus were out running all over the reef. Some of the octopus were even free swimming from place to place. The cleaning stations were active with each big fish getting two or three cleaner wrasse scrubbing away.
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
Gulliver's had a lot to live up after our first dive and though it was quieter, it didn't disappoint. Quite a few white tip reef sharks lazed on the sand, huge schools of yellow & blue snapper hovered in midwater and octopus were out running all over the reef. Some of the octopus were even free swimming from place to place. The cleaning stations were active with each big fish getting two or three cleaner wrasse scrubbing away.
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
EDC Team - Alyson
Alyson has been with Exmouth Diving Centre for several years now. She first started as one of our students, went on to become a fabulous dive master and is now one of our excellent instructors.
She's devoted most of her 3 1/2 years of diving to the Ningaloo Reef out of Exmouth and has explored the reef from Coral Bay and the colder waters off Dunsborough in the southern part of Western Australia, too.
Her interest in this area started long ago - at only 6 years old! She decided then that she wanted to live in Western Australia and that she just had to swim with whale sharks. She came for a week's visit over 3.5 years ago and hasn't left yet! Her favourite dive memory is from a dive she did 2 1/2 years ago at Nick's Lumps, one of our great West Side dive spots, when a whale shark swam by!
Alyson is one of our super spotters; it seems like she finds something cool on every dive...and it's usually teeny tiny! Check out some of our recent dive reports for her finds and keep an eye out for more from her. Nudibranchs are her favourite critters because the Ningaloo Reef always has a new one to find and some of them are so tiny it's a great challenge to your observation skills!
Her passion for diving and the ocean is contagious and her Open Water students (actually, everyone she dives with!) always have huge grins on their faces after the ocean dives! It's her favourite course to teach as she loves to show others the amazingly wonderful world that's under the surface.
She's just recently added her first PADI Distinctive Specialty rating - Whale Shark Interaction - to her course list and listening to her talk about whale sharks makes you want to jump in with them right now!!
She's devoted most of her 3 1/2 years of diving to the Ningaloo Reef out of Exmouth and has explored the reef from Coral Bay and the colder waters off Dunsborough in the southern part of Western Australia, too.
Her interest in this area started long ago - at only 6 years old! She decided then that she wanted to live in Western Australia and that she just had to swim with whale sharks. She came for a week's visit over 3.5 years ago and hasn't left yet! Her favourite dive memory is from a dive she did 2 1/2 years ago at Nick's Lumps, one of our great West Side dive spots, when a whale shark swam by!
Alyson is one of our super spotters; it seems like she finds something cool on every dive...and it's usually teeny tiny! Check out some of our recent dive reports for her finds and keep an eye out for more from her. Nudibranchs are her favourite critters because the Ningaloo Reef always has a new one to find and some of them are so tiny it's a great challenge to your observation skills!
Her passion for diving and the ocean is contagious and her Open Water students (actually, everyone she dives with!) always have huge grins on their faces after the ocean dives! It's her favourite course to teach as she loves to show others the amazingly wonderful world that's under the surface.
She's just recently added her first PADI Distinctive Specialty rating - Whale Shark Interaction - to her course list and listening to her talk about whale sharks makes you want to jump in with them right now!!
Whale Shark report - Friday 17 April 2009
Glassy seas, warm sunshine, stunning blue water. The Floats was hopping with a leopard shark swimming along the edge of the reef, big schools of buff bream circling the divers and the "resident" cowtail ray still hanging out.
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 15+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 17m
The whale sharks were outstanding today, too. We swam with three different whale sharks: 2 small ones plus one very large 6m shark. One of the whale sharks decided to play "Chase the Snorkellers" and kept trying to round us up on the surface while the snorkellers tried to learn how to swim backwards out of its way!
Awesome day!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 15+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 17m
The whale sharks were outstanding today, too. We swam with three different whale sharks: 2 small ones plus one very large 6m shark. One of the whale sharks decided to play "Chase the Snorkellers" and kept trying to round us up on the surface while the snorkellers tried to learn how to swim backwards out of its way!
Awesome day!
Saturday, April 18, 2009
CONTEST - Diver Bites
I had an awesome time on the Ningaloo Reef!
We’re announcing our first ever Diver Bites contest here on our new blog and you can be a winner! Diver Bites are our dedicated blog posts from those of you who have dived and snorkeled with us – whether it was today, last week, last year or years ago – we love to hear from you.
Our first contest is “I had an awesome time on the Ningaloo Reef!” – pretty much anything goes as long as it’s from one of your tours or courses with us here at Exmouth Diving Centre. It could be recent or it could be from ages back. All you need to do is submit your best experience or your favourite photo from your recent tours with us. Make sure to include which tour (or course) you did and the date (if you remember!). It’s that easy.
We will sort through the submissions and pick one lucky winner in each category (one story and one photo). Winners will have their story and/or photo posted on our blog and receive a nifty prize, too! Other contributors may also see their story and/or photos published on the blog with their name in lights. If you have your own blog, web site or web gallery and would like us to include that link with your story/photos, just add it to your contribution.
This contest is open from today until 15 May 2009 and the winners will be published on 28 May 2009.
Send your stuff to us at this email with GREAT TIME ON NINGALOO in the subject line. Please make sure your photos are web size, if possible – jpg, 650 pixels on the longest side, and under 200kbs works fabulously (if you don’t know how to change the size of your photos, we’ll do it for you).
Can’t wait to hear from you!
Friday, April 17, 2009
Whale Shark report - Thursday 16 April 2009
Sunshine! After a couple of days with the sun only peeking through, today was bright and sunny again. The water on our dive site, The Floats, was super clear and there were hoards of fish zooming over the reef. A big potato cod rocked in the gentle surge and a huge cow tail ray rested under a coral outcrop.
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 15-20+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 17m
Yay for awesome whale sharks! We had super long swims with two different whale sharks today. Both of them started a little deeper than usual and then turned their mouths towards the surface and levitated towards the snorkellers. Both were feeding and watching them rise out of the deep blue opening and closing their mouths was too cool. Happily, once they reached the surface, they were perfectly content to swim along right next to the snorkellers. Another fantastic day out on Exmouth Diving Centre's Whale Shark Adventures!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 15-20+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 17m
Yay for awesome whale sharks! We had super long swims with two different whale sharks today. Both of them started a little deeper than usual and then turned their mouths towards the surface and levitated towards the snorkellers. Both were feeding and watching them rise out of the deep blue opening and closing their mouths was too cool. Happily, once they reached the surface, they were perfectly content to swim along right next to the snorkellers. Another fantastic day out on Exmouth Diving Centre's Whale Shark Adventures!
Whale Shark report - Wednesday 15 April 2009
Overcast skies greeted us as we headed out for the day, but the water was beautifully blue and there was only a very gentle breeze. Again our planes were finding multiple sharks and we swam and swam and swam! Today we had a good variety of sizes including a really broad 6m whale shark.
Most of the whale sharks were cruising along fairly slowly so it was easy to relax and watch them move effortlessly through the blue. We still have tons of food in the water and most of the sharks we swam with were feeding a little bit, too.
We did our dive on Coral Lumps and it was crazy with bright greeny-blue parrotfish. You could hear them crunching away on the reef and they seemed to be in every size possible. Little stingrays hid out on the sand surrounding the bommies and colourful chromis flitted over the tops of the corals.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 12m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 6m
Most of the whale sharks were cruising along fairly slowly so it was easy to relax and watch them move effortlessly through the blue. We still have tons of food in the water and most of the sharks we swam with were feeding a little bit, too.
We did our dive on Coral Lumps and it was crazy with bright greeny-blue parrotfish. You could hear them crunching away on the reef and they seemed to be in every size possible. Little stingrays hid out on the sand surrounding the bommies and colourful chromis flitted over the tops of the corals.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 12m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 6m
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Dive Report - Muiron Islands Wednesday 15 April 2009
Today was overcast and a little cooler, but we had gorgeous seas and a wonderful trip over to the Muiron Islands. Today we had lots of snorkellers with us so we headed to two of our sites that have the reef reaching up to within 5 or 6 meters of the surface.
Keyhole is covered in great soft & leather corals and always has very active marine life, too. Today white tip reef sharks patrolled the edges, big groupers & cod hung out just above the corals and turtles nestled between ridges and swam along next to the divers and the snorkellers! One of our super guides, Alyson, found another frogfish - this time a bright orange guy with the funkiest pattern
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 12m
We mixed it up a little by heading for The Maze for our second dive. This site has excellent swim-throughs swarming with baitfish and bullseyes. A huge ray tried to tuck in under a ledge, but he was so big only his nose wasn't sticking out. We found a great variety of little guys, too...shrimps, coral crabs, octopus and nudibranchs dotted the whole site.
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 12m
Everyone had an awesome snorkel at Turtle Bay - little white tip reef sharks, turtles, anemonefish, angelfish, butterfly fish, parrotfish...so many fish! The current was gentle and the water was blue. What a terrific day!
Keyhole is covered in great soft & leather corals and always has very active marine life, too. Today white tip reef sharks patrolled the edges, big groupers & cod hung out just above the corals and turtles nestled between ridges and swam along next to the divers and the snorkellers! One of our super guides, Alyson, found another frogfish - this time a bright orange guy with the funkiest pattern
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 12m
We mixed it up a little by heading for The Maze for our second dive. This site has excellent swim-throughs swarming with baitfish and bullseyes. A huge ray tried to tuck in under a ledge, but he was so big only his nose wasn't sticking out. We found a great variety of little guys, too...shrimps, coral crabs, octopus and nudibranchs dotted the whole site.
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 12m
Everyone had an awesome snorkel at Turtle Bay - little white tip reef sharks, turtles, anemonefish, angelfish, butterfly fish, parrotfish...so many fish! The current was gentle and the water was blue. What a terrific day!
Dive Report - Lighthouse Bay, Tuesday 14 April 2009
So many red bell jellyfish (not stingy!) through the whole bay today. We hit Blizzard Ridge and the smaller fish were making meals of the dead red bells. There was tons of plankton-type floaties, too. Every lionfish for miles was hanging out here on the ridge, hovering just over the sand or floating in mid-water. If you hang out with one for long enough, he'll get bored and show you a big yawn! We are also seeing more big flatheads in the sandy patches lately.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
Dive two at the Labyrinth also had quite a few red bells and the turtles were feasting while small wrasse darted in and out trying to steal morsels right from the mouths of the turtles. All of the white tips were being lazy but the octopus were out and about...some were even swimming from coral bommie to coral bommie!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 12m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
Dive two at the Labyrinth also had quite a few red bells and the turtles were feasting while small wrasse darted in and out trying to steal morsels right from the mouths of the turtles. All of the white tips were being lazy but the octopus were out and about...some were even swimming from coral bommie to coral bommie!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 12m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
Whale Shark report - Tuesday 14 April 2009
Our first day of "late" sharks so far this season, but we can't complain since we still had them before 2pm! Our planes had been seeing them for a while but some of the whale sharks were up and down so much that we couldn't get in and snorkel with them.
But once we found a whale shark that was content to stick around, we had excellent swims...and then we found a second shark who wanted to hang out with us, too! It ended up being a great day of multiple sharks and we all came home tired and smiling.
But once we found a whale shark that was content to stick around, we had excellent swims...and then we found a second shark who wanted to hang out with us, too! It ended up being a great day of multiple sharks and we all came home tired and smiling.
Dive Report - Lighthouse Bay, Monday 13 April 2009
We just can't resist Blizzard Ridge! Today was Meet a Wobbie Day with wobbegong sharks hanging out under various coral outcrops. We even saw a very very small wobbie - definitely the smallest anyone can remember...all head and tail, no body yet! The olive sea snakes were out in numbers, too, and the big schools of baitfish attracted a large potato cod in for a look-see.
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
Dive two took us to Gulliver's and the white tip reef sharks were everywhere. Swimming and following each other around. They were more animated than usual so it was nice to see that some of them actually do move! Numerous turtles watched the divers as they slowly made their way to the surface and then returned after a breath or two to snuggle into a coral crevice for a much needed nap.
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 13m
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
Dive two took us to Gulliver's and the white tip reef sharks were everywhere. Swimming and following each other around. They were more animated than usual so it was nice to see that some of them actually do move! Numerous turtles watched the divers as they slowly made their way to the surface and then returned after a breath or two to snuggle into a coral crevice for a much needed nap.
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 13m
EDC Team - Jemima
Just call her Jem! She's one of our new team of instructors for our 2009 season and she's picked everything up so quickly you would swear she's been here for years already!
Jem started diving about 8 years ago and went straight through to Dive Master. She's been a PADI Instructor for about a year now and her favourite course to teach is PADI Open Water because she likes to see others get as addicted to diving as she is.
She's dived a whole heap of places: Borneo, Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Egypt, Australia, South Africa, the UK and - how cool is this (no pun intended) Siberia! It's no wonder one of her passions is travel and one of her past jobs was as an STA Travel Recruiter & PR/Promotions person.
Unusual sea creatures top the list of favourite things to find - especially our frogfish because they are "hard to find and stupidly ugly!"
The weird and wonderful also feature in her favourite dive memory - a shoal of hammerheads circling above her head on a dive at Blue Hole in Egypt.
Jem's only been diving on the Ningaloo Reef for just over a month, but has already fallen in love with Jaws, one of our excellent Muiron Island sites. She's loving the spectacular corals and says she always sees turtles there.
Come meet Jem yourself - she's always smiling and can't wait to show you around!
Jem started diving about 8 years ago and went straight through to Dive Master. She's been a PADI Instructor for about a year now and her favourite course to teach is PADI Open Water because she likes to see others get as addicted to diving as she is.
She's dived a whole heap of places: Borneo, Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Egypt, Australia, South Africa, the UK and - how cool is this (no pun intended) Siberia! It's no wonder one of her passions is travel and one of her past jobs was as an STA Travel Recruiter & PR/Promotions person.
Unusual sea creatures top the list of favourite things to find - especially our frogfish because they are "hard to find and stupidly ugly!"
The weird and wonderful also feature in her favourite dive memory - a shoal of hammerheads circling above her head on a dive at Blue Hole in Egypt.Jem's only been diving on the Ningaloo Reef for just over a month, but has already fallen in love with Jaws, one of our excellent Muiron Island sites. She's loving the spectacular corals and says she always sees turtles there.
Come meet Jem yourself - she's always smiling and can't wait to show you around!
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
EDC Team - Kristin Anderson
It's taken me longer than expected to start our Meet the Team posts and I thought I should start with myself, since I am the keeper of the blog! This is me in the cold weather from my 2009 trip to South America & Antartica
Ushuaia 2009 where I was photo pro for a cruise group
I've been diving since about 1993 and moved to Coral Bay on the Ningaloo Reef in 1996, when my husband (you'll meet Dave soon), his brother and I bought the business. In 1999 Dave and I moved to Exmouth and have been living and diving here ever since. I can't imagine living any place else than the Ningaloo Reef right now - I love it!
I am an underwater photography addict and almost never go under without at least one camera. I am also a professional land photographer and run Kristin Anderson Photography as well Exmouth Diving Centre.
Photo courtesy of Ross Gudgeon
Most of my dive shop time is spent answering your emails and helping visitors choose equipment, souvenirs, courses and tours. I don't get to head out on the boats to guide very often, but I do sneak out now and then for a fun dive or two! I also teach the following specialty courses: Underwater Photography, Underwater Videography and my two PADI Distinctive Specialties Whale Shark Interaction & Mantas of Ningaloo.
Most of my diving has been on the Ningaloo Reef from both Coral Bay and Exmouth. I've also been fortunate enough to get under the sea at the Cocos/Keeling Islands, Cozumel, Florida Keys, Perth, Rottnest, Great Barrier Reef & Coral Sea and Wakatobi. Wakatobi was such a big trip for me that the trip report is in five parts: Underwater I, Underwater II, Underwater III, Land I, Land II
It's hard for me to pick a favourite dive site because we have such an amazing variety of reef structures and creatures here. Some of my favourites are our "secret" sites in Exmouth Gulf because there are always funky nudibranchs and cool fish that we don't often see other places. Blizzard Ridge is probably my favourite Lighthouse Bay dive site because no matter what the conditions, it is always incredibly active.
When I'm not diving or working, I'm spending time with my two Rhodesian Ridgebacks - Dora & MatildaLily. Hitting the beach for a romp or a fish with hubby is the best way to spend time off!
Me with the Goof-meister Tilly
Ushuaia 2009 where I was photo pro for a cruise group
I've been diving since about 1993 and moved to Coral Bay on the Ningaloo Reef in 1996, when my husband (you'll meet Dave soon), his brother and I bought the business. In 1999 Dave and I moved to Exmouth and have been living and diving here ever since. I can't imagine living any place else than the Ningaloo Reef right now - I love it!
I am an underwater photography addict and almost never go under without at least one camera. I am also a professional land photographer and run Kristin Anderson Photography as well Exmouth Diving Centre.
Photo courtesy of Ross Gudgeon
Most of my dive shop time is spent answering your emails and helping visitors choose equipment, souvenirs, courses and tours. I don't get to head out on the boats to guide very often, but I do sneak out now and then for a fun dive or two! I also teach the following specialty courses: Underwater Photography, Underwater Videography and my two PADI Distinctive Specialties Whale Shark Interaction & Mantas of Ningaloo.
Most of my diving has been on the Ningaloo Reef from both Coral Bay and Exmouth. I've also been fortunate enough to get under the sea at the Cocos/Keeling Islands, Cozumel, Florida Keys, Perth, Rottnest, Great Barrier Reef & Coral Sea and Wakatobi. Wakatobi was such a big trip for me that the trip report is in five parts: Underwater I, Underwater II, Underwater III, Land I, Land II
It's hard for me to pick a favourite dive site because we have such an amazing variety of reef structures and creatures here. Some of my favourites are our "secret" sites in Exmouth Gulf because there are always funky nudibranchs and cool fish that we don't often see other places. Blizzard Ridge is probably my favourite Lighthouse Bay dive site because no matter what the conditions, it is always incredibly active.
When I'm not diving or working, I'm spending time with my two Rhodesian Ridgebacks - Dora & MatildaLily. Hitting the beach for a romp or a fish with hubby is the best way to spend time off!
Me with the Goof-meister Tilly
Dive Report - Lighthouse Bay Friday 10 April 2009
A little late in coming, but here's the report for four sites in Lighthouse Bay from Good Friday.
Bedrock is a dive site we don't get to visit very often because it can have pretty strong currents, so we need to pick our days carefully. Swarms of fish surrounded the divers as we swam from coral bommie to coral bommie. Schools of sweetlips hung out on the tops of ridges, swaying back & forth in the light surge. Stingrays, eels, shrimps, damsels, humbugs, parrotfish...excellent fish dive!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 10+m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 11m
Lassiter's was also busy with an enormous variety and number of fish. A couple of curious turtles checked us out before going back to sleep. White tip reef sharks mostly lazed on the sand with one eye on the divers, moving a few feet before dropping back onto the bottom in a puff of sand.
WATER TEMP: 298C
VISIBILITY: 10+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 11m
Labyrinth was going off! Massive schools of baitfish were again being hammered by all manner of big predator fish like trevally, barracuda and cod. If you hovered for a minute or two, the school would surround you and you could barely see the camera, the fish were so dense. There were also a huge number of big batfish - some were at the cleaning stations on the bottom while others were dancing mid-water and right on the surface. We had so much activity that it's almost easy to forget that there were turtles everywhere you looked - including one that was almost as big as I am!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 12-15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild to moderate
DEPTH: 14m
Blizzard Ridge was missing some of the bigger cod that had been feeding on the baitfish (we saw the cods at Labyrinth!) so the baitfish seemed far more relaxed today. Olive sea snakes were poking around under ledges and octopus were sitting up on coral outcrops. The schools of snapper, threadfin pearl perch and fusiliers were even bigger than they have been and if you hung motionless in midwater, the school would slowly move around and completely screen out the rest of the world. It's an incredible feeling.
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 13m
Exmouth Diving Centre heads out for two morning reef dives every day except Wednesday & Sunday all year round, so why not join us soon?! Drop us an email and we will help sort out a great schedule of diving no matter when you visit.
Bedrock is a dive site we don't get to visit very often because it can have pretty strong currents, so we need to pick our days carefully. Swarms of fish surrounded the divers as we swam from coral bommie to coral bommie. Schools of sweetlips hung out on the tops of ridges, swaying back & forth in the light surge. Stingrays, eels, shrimps, damsels, humbugs, parrotfish...excellent fish dive!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 10+m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 11m
Lassiter's was also busy with an enormous variety and number of fish. A couple of curious turtles checked us out before going back to sleep. White tip reef sharks mostly lazed on the sand with one eye on the divers, moving a few feet before dropping back onto the bottom in a puff of sand.
WATER TEMP: 298C
VISIBILITY: 10+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 11m
Labyrinth was going off! Massive schools of baitfish were again being hammered by all manner of big predator fish like trevally, barracuda and cod. If you hovered for a minute or two, the school would surround you and you could barely see the camera, the fish were so dense. There were also a huge number of big batfish - some were at the cleaning stations on the bottom while others were dancing mid-water and right on the surface. We had so much activity that it's almost easy to forget that there were turtles everywhere you looked - including one that was almost as big as I am!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 12-15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild to moderate
DEPTH: 14m
Blizzard Ridge was missing some of the bigger cod that had been feeding on the baitfish (we saw the cods at Labyrinth!) so the baitfish seemed far more relaxed today. Olive sea snakes were poking around under ledges and octopus were sitting up on coral outcrops. The schools of snapper, threadfin pearl perch and fusiliers were even bigger than they have been and if you hung motionless in midwater, the school would slowly move around and completely screen out the rest of the world. It's an incredible feeling.
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 13m
Exmouth Diving Centre heads out for two morning reef dives every day except Wednesday & Sunday all year round, so why not join us soon?! Drop us an email and we will help sort out a great schedule of diving no matter when you visit.
Diver Bites - Cool fish at Muiron Islands
We saw this unusual sight Sunday 12th April at Whalebone at the Muiron Islands.
It's a juvenile Reindeer Wrasse (Novaculichthys taeniourus) and he was only a few centimeters long! These guys flop and float and twist and sway along the bottom, pretending to be pieces of weed. They are hard to spot and even tougher to get a good shot of!
Big thanks to Laurence for her shot and to being the first of our divers to contribute to our new blog section Diver Bites!
We would love to hear from more of you - photos, stories, dive reports. You can send your stuff to us via email - just click!
It's a juvenile Reindeer Wrasse (Novaculichthys taeniourus) and he was only a few centimeters long! These guys flop and float and twist and sway along the bottom, pretending to be pieces of weed. They are hard to spot and even tougher to get a good shot of!
Big thanks to Laurence for her shot and to being the first of our divers to contribute to our new blog section Diver Bites!
We would love to hear from more of you - photos, stories, dive reports. You can send your stuff to us via email - just click!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Whale Shark report - Monday 13 April April 2009
Central Station was a nice dive again today. In addition to all the usual suspects, we came across a gigantic cow tail stingray snoozing in the sand.
WATER TEMP: 29C
VISIBILITY: 4-6m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 16m
The whale sharks were totally awesome today and we swam with our first shark for almost the maximum allowable time (90 minutes) as it cruised along the surface feeding. It's amazing to watch a whale shark bob its head and open & close its mouth as it filters all the little food goodies from the water! Our second shark wasn't feeding as actively but simply swam quietly and slowly along with us for over 20 minutes. Needless to say, everyone was exhausted and ready for more food by the end of our encounters!
WATER TEMP: 29C
VISIBILITY: 4-6m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 16m
The whale sharks were totally awesome today and we swam with our first shark for almost the maximum allowable time (90 minutes) as it cruised along the surface feeding. It's amazing to watch a whale shark bob its head and open & close its mouth as it filters all the little food goodies from the water! Our second shark wasn't feeding as actively but simply swam quietly and slowly along with us for over 20 minutes. Needless to say, everyone was exhausted and ready for more food by the end of our encounters!
Whale Shark report - Wednesday 8 - Sunday 12 April 2009
Apologies for "cheating" on the blog with several days in one hit!
We've had awesome sharks every day. Each day we've found them pretty early in the day and swum with multiple sharks. Almost every shark has been cooperative, allowing us nice easy long swims. It's been fabulous and everyone is coming home tired, but with big grins!
We've dived a variety of sites on the West Side - Ranger Bommies, Floats, Central Station - during our recent Whale Shark Adventures and there have been masses of baitfish, huge stingrays, turtles and very large groups (100+) of pufferfish. We've had very little current or surge on any of the sites and the viz has ranged from about 8-15m over the past few days.
We are now fully booked out for our Whale Shark Adventures for the rest of the week but have availability starting again on Tuesday 21 April. Contact us for more information on our Whale Shark Adventures and our other diving opportunities!
We've had awesome sharks every day. Each day we've found them pretty early in the day and swum with multiple sharks. Almost every shark has been cooperative, allowing us nice easy long swims. It's been fabulous and everyone is coming home tired, but with big grins!
We've dived a variety of sites on the West Side - Ranger Bommies, Floats, Central Station - during our recent Whale Shark Adventures and there have been masses of baitfish, huge stingrays, turtles and very large groups (100+) of pufferfish. We've had very little current or surge on any of the sites and the viz has ranged from about 8-15m over the past few days.
We are now fully booked out for our Whale Shark Adventures for the rest of the week but have availability starting again on Tuesday 21 April. Contact us for more information on our Whale Shark Adventures and our other diving opportunities!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Dive Report - Lighthouse Bay Thursday 9 April 2009
Blizzard Ridge was rockin' again with the huge schools of baitfish getting a little smaller, but still providing ample cover and incentive for hungry trevally, rankin cod and coral trout. The white tip reef sharks were lazing on the sand just off the ridge while lionfish patrolled the ledges with their pectoral fins spread way out.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
Labyrinth didn't have as many schools of baitfish but all of the cool reef creatures were out and about. Crabs, shrimps, octopus, turtles, rays, mantis shrimps...everything seemed to be feeling brave! A very cool razorfish was drifting along the sandy patch in the middle of the site...too fun to watch his erratic path! There are also a huge number of big batfish popping their dorsal fins out of the water on the surface and then swimming along mid-water through shafts of sunlight - pretty!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
Labyrinth didn't have as many schools of baitfish but all of the cool reef creatures were out and about. Crabs, shrimps, octopus, turtles, rays, mantis shrimps...everything seemed to be feeling brave! A very cool razorfish was drifting along the sandy patch in the middle of the site...too fun to watch his erratic path! There are also a huge number of big batfish popping their dorsal fins out of the water on the surface and then swimming along mid-water through shafts of sunlight - pretty!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
Dive Report - Muiron Islands Sunday 12 April 2009
Apologies for falling behind in our blogging! Easter Weekend has been craziness as it always is and there's been no time to do much on the computer. Updates from our recent trips are coming soon - they'll just be a little out of order!
We knew Easter Sunday was going to be an incredible day out to the Muiron Islands when we cruised out of Exmouth Marina and saw a 5m whale shark just bobbing along on the surface! It was totally unexpected as whale sharks are not usually seen in the Gulf. We spent about 20 minutes just watching him cruise along.
Our first dive of the day was at Keyhole and it was lovely. Lots of bright colours, tons of fish and white tip reef sharks. Feeding action and cleaning stations doing a brisk business. It was a far better dive than this little description makes it sound!
WATER TEMP: 29C
VISIBILITY: 12-15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
It had been such an incredible day already we didn't think there was any way that our second dive - at Whalebone - could top it. We were wrong again! The most awesome nudibranch (we haven't identified him yet) was crawling across the sand. And those who like bigger things weren't disappointed: 3 bottlenose dolphins buzzed us - twice! And as if that wasn't enough, the most curious leopard shark ever languidly swam around and through the divers, too!
WATER TEMP: 29C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
Exmouth Diving Centre runs trips out to the Muiron Islands every Wednesday and Sunday, so make sure you have at least one day to head out on this fabulous trip during your stay!
We knew Easter Sunday was going to be an incredible day out to the Muiron Islands when we cruised out of Exmouth Marina and saw a 5m whale shark just bobbing along on the surface! It was totally unexpected as whale sharks are not usually seen in the Gulf. We spent about 20 minutes just watching him cruise along.
Our first dive of the day was at Keyhole and it was lovely. Lots of bright colours, tons of fish and white tip reef sharks. Feeding action and cleaning stations doing a brisk business. It was a far better dive than this little description makes it sound!
WATER TEMP: 29C
VISIBILITY: 12-15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
It had been such an incredible day already we didn't think there was any way that our second dive - at Whalebone - could top it. We were wrong again! The most awesome nudibranch (we haven't identified him yet) was crawling across the sand. And those who like bigger things weren't disappointed: 3 bottlenose dolphins buzzed us - twice! And as if that wasn't enough, the most curious leopard shark ever languidly swam around and through the divers, too!
WATER TEMP: 29C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 12m
Exmouth Diving Centre runs trips out to the Muiron Islands every Wednesday and Sunday, so make sure you have at least one day to head out on this fabulous trip during your stay!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Dive report - Muiron Islands Wednesday 8 April 2009
A glorious day on the ocean with calm seas, just enough breeze and beautiful water. We did Jaws first and all manner of creatures were out and about swimming along. The swim-throughs are filled with baitfish and small & medium sized cods just hanging out. Even the octopus were dashing from one hidey hole to another over the reef. The brightest highlight of the dive was a stunning Spanish Dancer rippling from his perch on a small coral outcrop.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 12-15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 12m
We headed to Whalebone for our second dive. All of the usual suspects were there as well as the coolest black boxfish with bright blue spots - he's quite unusual and we aren't 100% sure what he is. The sailfin catfish, endemic to the Ningaloo Reef, were abundant and wiggly everywhere we looked!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 12m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 12m
Snorkelling was awesome on the gentle current. Lots of turtles, a couple of white tip reef sharks, tons of big angelfish and zillions of neon damsels.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 12-15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 12m
We headed to Whalebone for our second dive. All of the usual suspects were there as well as the coolest black boxfish with bright blue spots - he's quite unusual and we aren't 100% sure what he is. The sailfin catfish, endemic to the Ningaloo Reef, were abundant and wiggly everywhere we looked!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 12m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 12m
Snorkelling was awesome on the gentle current. Lots of turtles, a couple of white tip reef sharks, tons of big angelfish and zillions of neon damsels.
Dive report - Lighthouse Bay, Tuesday 07 April 2009
Nor'West Reef was dive one today and even though the current was stronger than on most of our dive sites, it was an excellent dive. The white tip reef sharks were actively cruising up and over the reef edges, colourful nudibranchs were everywhere, the sea fans had their polyps out to catch food being carried by the current and schools of fishes sparkled in the sunlit water over the sand. We also had an eagle ray do a fly-by!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 20+m
CURRENT: moderate to strong
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 16m
We ducked in to Gulliver's for dive two. There was a ton of feeding action and all of the cleaning stations were doing brisk business. Multiple olive sea snakes were out and about searching for hiding snacks. A surprise visitor today was a big potato cod, languidly swimming along the outer edge of the site.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 20+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
Mantis shrimp
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 20+m
CURRENT: moderate to strong
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 16m
We ducked in to Gulliver's for dive two. There was a ton of feeding action and all of the cleaning stations were doing brisk business. Multiple olive sea snakes were out and about searching for hiding snacks. A surprise visitor today was a big potato cod, languidly swimming along the outer edge of the site.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 20+m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
Mantis shrimp
Whale Shark report - Tuesday 07 April 2009
Started the day with a gentle dive at Floats. There were schools of sweetlips on top of the reef and marauding schools of surgeonfish sweeping around the edges. We saw quite a few crayfish tentacles as well as one big guy peering out from under his ledge. The clear blue water made for awesome reef vistas.
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 15+m
CURRENT: mild to moderate
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 16m
Another fabulous day with multiple sharks and long swims! We had two smaller 2-3m whale sharks and one big, broad 6m guy. All were swimming along pretty slowly and two of them appeared to be actively sucking down the plentiful plankton! We're getting spoiled on our Whale Shark Adventures so far this season and hope it continues for a long time!
Bookings are heating up all through May and June so drop us a line and book your Whale Shark Adventure and other Ningaloo Reef diving with us now!
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 15+m
CURRENT: mild to moderate
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 16m
Another fabulous day with multiple sharks and long swims! We had two smaller 2-3m whale sharks and one big, broad 6m guy. All were swimming along pretty slowly and two of them appeared to be actively sucking down the plentiful plankton! We're getting spoiled on our Whale Shark Adventures so far this season and hope it continues for a long time!
Bookings are heating up all through May and June so drop us a line and book your Whale Shark Adventure and other Ningaloo Reef diving with us now!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Whale Shark report - Monday 06 April 2009
Today's Whale Shark Adventure started with a stop at Central Station. There was no swell at all so the snorkellers were able to explore the really shallow areas of this site while the divers headed for the deeper edge. There were tons of small jellies in the top few meters, but none of these guys really sting (and we provide full length suits as part of our tour, just in case), they just provide food for everything else! The site was active with the usual schools of fish, turtles, reef sharks and colourful reef fishes.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 8-12m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 16m
This was one of those surprising whale shark days. We've been having a very good season so far and expected nothing less today. Boy, were we wrong!
It wasn't very good ... it was totally AMAZING! We swam with EIGHT - yes EIGHT - different sharks!! They were all in a very small area and we'd swim for a while, then move to the next one, swim for a while, move to another one ... and they were all just going along slowly so we had awesome, long and easy swims each time!
And we had a very cool size range, too. The smallest whale sharks were about 3.5m and we had 5 whale sharks in the 4-6m range. As if that wasn't cool enough so far, the biggest whale shark of the day was a whopping 8.5m!! That is huge, enormous, gigantic; they don't just get l-o-n-g they get W-I-D-E!
Incredible incredible incredible day. Booked yours yet? If not, drop us a line and we'll get you out for an amazing day of your own!
Tell us you saw this blog post and there's a special bonus when you make your booking with us, too!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 8-12m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 16m
This was one of those surprising whale shark days. We've been having a very good season so far and expected nothing less today. Boy, were we wrong!
It wasn't very good ... it was totally AMAZING! We swam with EIGHT - yes EIGHT - different sharks!! They were all in a very small area and we'd swim for a while, then move to the next one, swim for a while, move to another one ... and they were all just going along slowly so we had awesome, long and easy swims each time!
And we had a very cool size range, too. The smallest whale sharks were about 3.5m and we had 5 whale sharks in the 4-6m range. As if that wasn't cool enough so far, the biggest whale shark of the day was a whopping 8.5m!! That is huge, enormous, gigantic; they don't just get l-o-n-g they get W-I-D-E!
Incredible incredible incredible day. Booked yours yet? If not, drop us a line and we'll get you out for an amazing day of your own!
Tell us you saw this blog post and there's a special bonus when you make your booking with us, too!
Dive report - Lighthouse Bay, Monday 6 April 2009
Stunning conditions today and the right tides, so we dived Fish Hole first up. A-mazing dive! Huge potato cod, schools everywhere, big and little morays, a turtle, nudibranchs everywhere ... and a MANTA RAY! This was a smokin' dive.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 15-20m; lots of floaties and just slightly dull blue
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
Dive two had a lot to live up to so we hit Blizzard Ridge and it didn't disappoint. The viz was even better here and everything was out feeding again. White tip reef sharks, giant moray eels, bright yellow boxfish, egg cowries, wobbies - just a fantastic dive.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 20+m and super clear blue
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 15-20m; lots of floaties and just slightly dull blue
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
Dive two had a lot to live up to so we hit Blizzard Ridge and it didn't disappoint. The viz was even better here and everything was out feeding again. White tip reef sharks, giant moray eels, bright yellow boxfish, egg cowries, wobbies - just a fantastic dive.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 20+m and super clear blue
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
Dive report - Muiron Islands Sunday 5 April 2009
Fantastic conditions let us dive Skywalker's, a crew favourite that isn't always accessible and is always a treat! Today's dive had a serious number of schooling fish, tons of colourful reef fish, turtles, moray eels, nudibranchs and just generally so much stuff it was visual overload. The 20m+ visibility didn't hurt, either! The highlight of the dive was a tawny nurse shark that cruised past the divers a couple of times during the dive.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 20+m
CURRENT: very mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
We did our second dive at Key Hole and it was crazy with fish life, too. The visibility wasn't as good here, but there was plenty of feeding action right in your face, so it didn't matter too much. Everyone was delighted with the turtles, nudibranchs, butterflyfish and other usual suspects and then...another tawny nurse shark! We don't see these sharks regularly so to see one on each dive was really special.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 8-12m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 12m
We snorkelled through the Turtle Beach area in a gentle current. Lots of anemonefish, some medium sized barracuda, a great variety of parrotfish munching coral, blue spotted stingrays and, of course, turtles.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 20+m
CURRENT: very mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m
We did our second dive at Key Hole and it was crazy with fish life, too. The visibility wasn't as good here, but there was plenty of feeding action right in your face, so it didn't matter too much. Everyone was delighted with the turtles, nudibranchs, butterflyfish and other usual suspects and then...another tawny nurse shark! We don't see these sharks regularly so to see one on each dive was really special.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 8-12m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 12m
We snorkelled through the Turtle Beach area in a gentle current. Lots of anemonefish, some medium sized barracuda, a great variety of parrotfish munching coral, blue spotted stingrays and, of course, turtles.
Whale Shark report - Sunday 5 April 2009
What a fabulous season we are having already for our Whale Shark Adventures! Today we had multiple swims with three different whale sharks. We had two males about 4 & 5m long and one small female about 3m long. All were cooperative and swimming along at a nice slow pace! There seemed to be a little more food in the water and so the blue was a little milkier than yesterday, but we were still able to watch the whale sharks as they approached from quite a distance.
Central Station was great with tons of mid-sized fish out and about. Sweetlips, trevally, big angelfish, coral trout and schools of threadfin pearl perch. A big turtle swam along the sand on his way to who knows where, but in no hurry.
WATER TEMP: 28c
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: mild to moderate
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 16m
Central Station was great with tons of mid-sized fish out and about. Sweetlips, trevally, big angelfish, coral trout and schools of threadfin pearl perch. A big turtle swam along the sand on his way to who knows where, but in no hurry.
WATER TEMP: 28c
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: mild to moderate
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 16m
Whale Shark report - Saturday 04 April 2009
Sharks, sharks and more sharks! We again had multiple whale sharks and just swam until we couldn't swim anymore! It was a beautiful day with gorgeous blue, clear water and very little wind or swell. Just a delightful day to be on the ocean, snorkelling with largest fish in the sea!
We again dived Central Station before heading out to look for the whale sharks and it was a lovely dive. There seem to be a lot of small and medium sized coral cod taking up residence and the pink anemonefish are bravely darting quite a ways from their anemone. Turtles, sting rays and white tip reef sharks were cruising today...none in any hurry, but none hanging around either.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: very mild
DEPTH: 16m
We again dived Central Station before heading out to look for the whale sharks and it was a lovely dive. There seem to be a lot of small and medium sized coral cod taking up residence and the pink anemonefish are bravely darting quite a ways from their anemone. Turtles, sting rays and white tip reef sharks were cruising today...none in any hurry, but none hanging around either.
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 10m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: very mild
DEPTH: 16m
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Whale Shark report - Friday 03 April 2009
Another multiple shark day on our Whale Shark Adventure! The water varied from being the nice clear blue from yesterday to a milkier greeny-blue where tide lines had formed. The sharks didn't seem to mind!
We swam with four different sharks today. The first was another small 2.5 whale shark who was super cuirious and was circling the snorkelers to see what all the commotion was about. The other three sharks were all over 5m and the last shark of the day was an enormous 6m...it's always amazing to see the huge difference a mere meter in length makes to the overall size of a whale shark!
We dived Central Station again and our manta ray friend was buzzing the cleaning station. She didn't settle in at the station but instead would float through it, disappear in the distance, then reappear and float through again. The fish life today was noticeably more active...it looks like someone has dropped about 10 zillion humbugs into all the staghorn coralheads and there are big schools of baitfish dotting the reef. Of course all the usual suspects - butterflyfish, angelfish, parrotfish, turtles, white tip reef sharks, eels, bannerfish, threadfin pearl perch, nudibranchs - were all there, too!
WATER TEMP: 28c
VISIBILITY: 8-10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 16m
We swam with four different sharks today. The first was another small 2.5 whale shark who was super cuirious and was circling the snorkelers to see what all the commotion was about. The other three sharks were all over 5m and the last shark of the day was an enormous 6m...it's always amazing to see the huge difference a mere meter in length makes to the overall size of a whale shark!
We dived Central Station again and our manta ray friend was buzzing the cleaning station. She didn't settle in at the station but instead would float through it, disappear in the distance, then reappear and float through again. The fish life today was noticeably more active...it looks like someone has dropped about 10 zillion humbugs into all the staghorn coralheads and there are big schools of baitfish dotting the reef. Of course all the usual suspects - butterflyfish, angelfish, parrotfish, turtles, white tip reef sharks, eels, bannerfish, threadfin pearl perch, nudibranchs - were all there, too!
WATER TEMP: 28c
VISIBILITY: 8-10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 16m
Friday, April 3, 2009
Whale Shark report - Thursday 02 April 2009
Blue blue water today and multiple early sharks again!
We swam with two males (2.5m & 5m) and one female (4m) whale shark today. All three were awesome - slow, easy and in clear blue water. Wonderful!
Here's a little low-res video from today...
We also did a dive during our Whale Shark Adventure and finally got back to Central Station. And who was waiting for us but a huge manta ray! There were also lots of turtles scratching themselves on reef outcroppings during the dive.
WATER TEMP: 28c
VISIBILITY: 10+m
CURRENT: mild to none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 18m
We swam with two males (2.5m & 5m) and one female (4m) whale shark today. All three were awesome - slow, easy and in clear blue water. Wonderful!
Here's a little low-res video from today...
We also did a dive during our Whale Shark Adventure and finally got back to Central Station. And who was waiting for us but a huge manta ray! There were also lots of turtles scratching themselves on reef outcroppings during the dive.
WATER TEMP: 28c
VISIBILITY: 10+m
CURRENT: mild to none
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 18m
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Dive report - Lighthouse Bay, Tuesday 31st March 2009
Craig's Crack was really active again, but today the current was a little strong. For some reason the really big moray eels like a bit of a current and we saw three of them with a substantial amount of their bodies out of their holes. There seems to have been a nudibranch explosion here over the past few days and there were nudis everywhere!
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 8-12m
CURRENT: strong
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 18m
Dive two brought us to Labyrinth again for more green turtles and wobbegong sharks. The nudibranchs were out in force here, too. Batfish, snapper and cod were lining up for the cleaning stations.
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 6-10m depending on where we were on the site
CURRENT: very mild
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 8-12m
CURRENT: strong
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 18m
Dive two brought us to Labyrinth again for more green turtles and wobbegong sharks. The nudibranchs were out in force here, too. Batfish, snapper and cod were lining up for the cleaning stations.
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 6-10m depending on where we were on the site
CURRENT: very mild
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 14m
Whale Shark report Tuesday 31st March 2009
Another day out with multiple sharks on our Whale Shark Adventure! We swam with three different sharks ranging from a tiny 2.5m to 4m. There's such a huge difference in size that isn't really reflected in just the length measurement - the 4m shark is positively massive and seems to be WAY bigger than just twice as long!
We did our single dive on the Ningaloo Reef at Coral Lumps. This site, as the name suggests, is a collection of coral bommies covered in Christmas tree worms &anemones with anemonefish, stingrays resting under ledges and many species of colourful reef fishes dancing in the sunlight. Several pufferfish kept a close eye on the divers from their strategic position over the sand between the bommies.
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 8m
CURRENT: very mild
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 6m
We did our single dive on the Ningaloo Reef at Coral Lumps. This site, as the name suggests, is a collection of coral bommies covered in Christmas tree worms &anemones with anemonefish, stingrays resting under ledges and many species of colourful reef fishes dancing in the sunlight. Several pufferfish kept a close eye on the divers from their strategic position over the sand between the bommies.
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 8m
CURRENT: very mild
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 6m
Email glitch is now fixed!
We'd like to take a moment to apologise for a recent email glitch that has meant extraordinary delays in getting answers to you. Monday we discovered that our server had been not been playing nicely and we were not receiving all of our emails each day, only some of them. In addition, for some reason the server has kept all of the email - including spam - from July 2008, so I had to download all of that and wade through it, too! There were over 17,000 messages to sort through.
It appears that the only emails and online booking forms that did not reach us were from a period from March 19th to March 30th.
I spent all day yesterday working on the backlog and am completely caught up. We should not have any outstanding emails and our response time should again be under 24 hours.
If you sent an email to us or filled in an online form (before 31 March) and have not heard back, please ring the dive centre on 08 9949 1201 and give us your details so I can respond promptly and so we know that there is still a problem somewhere in the system.
Thank you for your patience & understanding. We apologise for the delays!
It appears that the only emails and online booking forms that did not reach us were from a period from March 19th to March 30th.
I spent all day yesterday working on the backlog and am completely caught up. We should not have any outstanding emails and our response time should again be under 24 hours.
If you sent an email to us or filled in an online form (before 31 March) and have not heard back, please ring the dive centre on 08 9949 1201 and give us your details so I can respond promptly and so we know that there is still a problem somewhere in the system.
Thank you for your patience & understanding. We apologise for the delays!
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