Exmouth Diving report - Lighthouse Bay Friday 31 December 2010

Two awesome dives to end 2010! We started at Blizzard Ridge and were escorted down the line by a pair of inquisitive batfish, their yellow fins glowing bright. At the bottom, a plump roughback ray kept one eye on us as cleaner wrasse gave him a scrub & he blew sand into a big cloud. An olive sea snake coiled in and out of the group, checking out fin tips carefully before meandering off. Not bad for the first three minutes of our dive! We also had a giant moray eel waving his head side to side as small clear shrimp picked bits off him, octopus snaking their arms around themselves, trios of bannerfish hovering just inches from our masks, semi-circular angelfish scrounging for tasty treats and wobbegong sharks sleeping under ledges. Fish, fish and more fish today!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: very mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m

Labyrinth had a lot more food and floaties in the water which reduced visibility but certainly didn't deter mobs of fish putting in an appearance! Lots of green turtles, a huge painted crayfish, batfish, trevally, barracuda, pink anemonefish, parrotfish, butterflyfish, cardinalfish, lionfish, blue spotted stingrays, cleaning stations, wobbegong sharks, white tip reef sharks, five lined sea perch, sharpnose snapper, stars & stripes pufferfish - a feast for the eyes every minute of the dive!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 5m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m

Exmouth Diving report - Muiron Islands Thursday 30 December 2010

We love the Muiron Islands so much we had to head out again! We went to Whalebone first and it was fabulous again, but the visibility was quite a bit lower than yesterday. We still had more than enough to see: raccoon butterflyfish, honeycomb cod, reindeer wrasse, many spotted sweetlips, unicornfish, green turtles, moray eels, nudibranchs, batfish, black tipped rock cod, big estuary cod, Nor'West snapper...
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 4-5m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: strong
DEPTH: 12m

As the swell was creating quite a lot of surge & the wind was giving us a bit of surface chop after the dive, we tucked around to East Side Bommies for dive two. It was a great choice as the water was much clearer than yesterday and the marine life was rocking! Sharks, rays, turtles, schools of convict surgeonfish, firefish, grouper, coral trout, Christmas tree worms, nudibranchs, barracuda, porcupinefish, pink anemonefish - so many fishes!
WATER TEMP: 28C
VISIBILITY: 10-12m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 10m

Exmouth Diving report - Muiron Islands Wednesday 29 December 2010

Whalebone was hopping with lots of emperor angelfish including quite a few juveniles, big trevally buzzing the divers, white tip reef sharks circling on the sand, damsels & anthias in every hue and moorish idols zipping here and there. The swim throughs had just enough baitfish to add sparkle and big rankin cod patrolled the exits. We had a lovely dive!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 8m
CURRENT: mild-moderate
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 12m

The wind was forecast to come in pretty strong, so we trekked to the more sheltered east side of the Islands for dive two at North East Bommies. It was a little dirtier here, but the fish life was great. Lionfish, sailfin catfish, butterflyfish, wrasses, pufferfish, sea pike, moray eels, snapper and so much more!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 4-5m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 8m

Happily, the wind didn't come in as expected so we had a lovely cruise back down Exmouth Gulf in the afternoon and were greeted by a small pod of dolphins at the mouth of the marina - perfect end to the day!

NEWS: Roads are due to be open today!

THE ROAD SHOULD OPEN THIS MORNING - Main Roads have said they expect to open the North West Coastal Highway to all traffic during daylight hours from 9am this morning. Go to mainroads.wa.gov.au or ph 138138 for confirmation after 9am.

Exmouth Diving report - Lighthouse Bay Monday 27 December 2010

Oh so clear and blue underwater today! The sea breeze came in super early so we had a little chop on the surface, but underwater was divine.

We started at Labyrinth and before we even hit the water we'd seen more than ten turtles and the turtle action continued underwater - they were everywhere! The super blue water really made the purples, oranges, yellows, reds and greens of the massive number of fish stand out. Big trevally and mackerel were cruising and coral trout were hunting. Pink anemonefish were enjoying easy meals and swimming quite a ways away from the safety of their anemones. A good sized wobbegong shark snoozed under a ledge at our entry/exit point - completely disinterested in anything around him. Today was one of those dive days you dream about!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 20+m
CURRENT: mild-moderate
SURGE: very mild
DEPTH: 14m

We dropped in at Razor's next and it was also excellent with big schools of scad, fusiliers and snapper rolling back and forth at the top of the ridge. A giant leopard spotted stingray whose wingspan was easily 1.8m tried to ignore us, half buried in sand, while cleaner wrasse went to work on his head. He got fed up with them and took off in a massive cloud of sand, leaving a trail behind him for miles! Moray eels, pufferfish, nudibranchs, baitfish, juvenile sailfin catfish and moorish idols tried to steal our attention from the gorgeous coloured sea fans. Our best find of the day: a teensy white anglerfish!! He posed prettily for each of our divers so everyone got a very good look. His little tiny feet were so cute and he even did a couple of yawns for us - amazing!!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 20+m
CURRENT: mild-moderate
SURGE: very mild
DEPTH: 13m

Exmouth Diving report - Muiron Islands Sunday 26 December 2010

Happy Boxing Day! It was a HOT day here in Exmouth and on the boat at the Muiron Islands was the place to be to keep cool.

Whalebone had lots of parrotfish action today. Big ones, little ones, purple, orange, blue and yellow ones! They were munching the corals, darting after each in games of chasey and were just everywhere we looked. The swim throughs had quite a few baitfish in them and lots of blacktipped rockcods along the walls. Many spotted sweetlips hung under ledges and trios of batfish swam above our heads. Our cute reindeer wrasse was busy wafting here, there and everywhere over the sand. It was a very active dive site today!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 6-8m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild-moderate
DEPTH: 12m

Keyhole was also pretty active and we saw tons of nudibranchs, small moray eels, three kinds of shrimps and many tiny hermit crabs. Big schools of fusiliers sparkled in mid-water and four big mackerel patrolled the perimeter, occasionally darting in towards us for a better look. White tip reef sharks, giant trevally, neon damsels, longfin bannerfish, coral trout, rankin cod - the variety of fish was excellent!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 6-8m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild - moderate
DEPTH: 12m

Congratulations to our newest PADI divers!

It's a very Merry Christmas for our last PADI Open Water students of 2010 as they finished their course this beautiful Christmas Eve day with two awesome dives in Lighthouse Bay!

Some of these new divers are heading out with us on Boxing Day to the Muiron Islands and we look forward to taking them out for their first dives as certified divers!

Congratulations and we hope you all spend lots of time underwater in 2011 (and return to check out the whale sharks)!

Exmouth Diving report - Lighthouse Bay Thursday 23 December 2010

The conditions are just getting better and we started at Blizzard Ridge for our first dive in Lighthouse Bay since the big rains. There were quite a few floaties in the water that kept visibility a little low but the fish were loving the extra food, darting & dashing in and out constantly. Wobbegong sharks, white tip reef sharks, estuary cod, threadfin pearl perch, rankin cod, lots of nudibranchs, bright yellow trumpetfish and lots of groups of baby sailfin catfish.
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: -86m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 12m

We headed over to Gulliver's for dive two and the cleaning stations were super busy with huge cod waiting patiently behind smaller snapper. We found a huge giant moray (is that redundant? LOL) and many smaller eels dotting the landscape. Batfish drifted sideways along the sand and a trio of them hung out with us on the safety stop. It was a dive filled with fish, fish and more fish!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 6-8m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 12m

Exmouth Diving report - Muiron Islands Wednesday 22 December 2010

After a week of wild, windy, rainy weather we were finally able to head out diving again and since it was a Wednesday, that meant the Muiron Islands! The water was very muddy all the way out but we were confident that there would be some nicer water once we got there - and we were right!

Whalebone's water was slightly more green than blue, but the visibility wasn't terrible and the fish life was fantastic. It's always fun to see Reindeer Wrasse in the week before Christmas! We also had: starry toadfish, emperor angelfish, juvenile emperor angelfish, barramundi cod, barracuda, white tip reef sharks, green turtles, trevally, parrotfish, schools of surgeonfish and sparkly baitfish in the swim-thrus.

And our snorkellers saw a dugong!!

WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 8-10m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 12m

During our surface interval it looked like the water was clearing up close to the Island, so we did Keyhole next and were rewarded with even better visibility and tons of excellent fish and nudibranchs. Lots of snapper, trevally, barracuda, sea pike and small rankin cod hung out in mid-water. Teeny juvenile yellow boxfish danced in and out of small holes in the reef and a variety of happy bright butterflyfish flitted everywhere we looked.
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 15m
CURRENT: mild
SURGE: moderate
DEPTH: 12m

SPECIAL: Do a dive for free!

Time for another Christmas spirit savings from Exmouth Diving Centre!

Today's special:
Book a Whale Shark Adventure with Single Reef Dive for our upcoming 2011 Whale Shark Season and get the dive for FREE! Pay only $385 instead of $415!

How to book:
- email us -> bookings@exmouthdiving.com.au <- with the date you want and how many people you are booking for
- include the code EDCXMAS10WSDV
- complete the booking form we'll send you by return email

It's that easy!

Want to buy one for a Christmas present? We can provide a gift certificate for you!

Not sure of your dates? You can still take advantage of this special by purchasing an open dated voucher. You must take your tour between 25 March - 07 July 2011 if you purchase an open dated voucher.


Conditions:
- your payment must be received before 3pm 24 December 2010, Western Australia time
- no other discounts or specials apply
- each diver must be certified Open Water or higher and have dived within 12 months of the date of your booked dive
- you can take your tour anytime from 25 March - 7 July, 2011; subject to availability
- gift certificates & open dated vouchers must be presented at check-in and we recommend that you prebook your preferred date before you arrive in Exmouth
- you must include the code in your email; no code, no pressie!
- valid for new bookings only

Exmouth Diving report - Muiron Islands Sunday 12 December 2010

Fantastic day!

We started at Cod Spot and had probably the best visibility we've ever seen there. Now, we don't normally care too much about viz as the reef is so active it doesn't matter much how far you can see coz there's so much to see right in front of you but today, WOW! The colours in the soft corals were jaw-droppingly vivid and you could see the bright colours for miles underwater - it was truly remarkable. Of course, there were also tons of fish around: trevally, mackerel, pink anemonefish, green parrotfish, moorish idols, emperor angelfish, 6 banded angelfish, many spotted sweetlips, white tip reef sharks... Best sight today: 3 grey reef sharks! They came in pretty close and didn't seem inclined to dart away from the area like they usually do. We spent ages just watching them circle and cruise. Fantastic, for sure!
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 25+m
CURRENT: very slight
SURGE: none
DEPTH: 17m

We headed to Keyhole to see if we could find the juvenile grey nurse shark that we found last Sunday, but couldn't find her anywhere. There were tons of different species of nudibranchs out and about including four different species on one small (about the size of an esky) coral bommie! So pretty! The swim-thrus had masses of red soldierfish adorning the ceilings and walls. Two big razorfish did their funky dance over the sand for us and three big barracuda patrolled over our heads for almost the entire dive. This was an outstanding dive!
WATER TEMP: 27C
VISIBILITY: 15m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: very mild
DEPTH: 12m

The water around at Turtle Bay, where we stopped for lunch and a big snorkel, was rich blue & green - and so clear you didn't even need to get off the boat to see the fish! There were masses of turtle tracks on the beach - looks like the Mama Turtles were super busy last night digging nests and laying eggs.

Exmouth Diving report - Lighthouse Bay Saturday 4 December 2010

Blizzard Ridge was top to bottom fish today - we didn't even start going down the mooring line before we were surrounded by a big school of fusiliers with some big Nor-West Snapper zipping in to say hello! The ridges were hectic with pipefish, banded cleaner shrimp, nudibranchs galore, hermit crabs and tiny moray eels. Quite a few blue spotted stingrays were making a bit of a mess foraging for snacks and patient snapper hung out waiting for scraps. Lionfish snuggled on the reef and floated all fanned out just above the sand. A very nice dive for a Saturday!
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 6-8m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 14m

Labyrinth was Wobbie City today. They were everywhere - sleeping under ledges, sleeping out in the open, sleeping draped over bommies, swimming circles round and round! Green turtles, white tip reef sharks, coral trout, moorish idols, many spotted sweetlips - so much to see!
WATER TEMP: 26C
VISIBILITY: 6-8m
CURRENT: none
SURGE: mild
DEPTH: 13m

SPECIAL: Treat yourself to reef diving!

Welcome to our first special of the 2010 holiday season!

Today's special:
Save 20% on every 2 morning reef dive tour you book directly with us!

How to book:
- email us - bookings@exmouthdiving.com.au - with the dates you want, how many divers you are booking for and if you will be bringing your own diving gear
- include the code EDCXMAS10LHB
- complete the booking form we'll send you by return email.

It's that easy!


Want to buy one for a Christmas pressie or stocking stuffer? We can provide a gift certificate for you.

Not sure of your dates? You can still take advantage of this special by purchasing an open dated voucher. You must take your tour between 20 December 2010 and 30 June 2011.

Beat the rush and grab this great deal today!

Conditions:
- your payment must be received before 3pm 4 December 2010, Western Australia time
- no other discounts or specials apply
- each diver must be certified Open Water or higher and have dived within 12 months of the date of your booked dive
- you can take your tour anytime from 20 December 2010 - 30 June, 2011; subject to availability
- gift certificates & open dated vouchers must be presented at check-in and we recommend that you prebook your preferred date before you arrive in Exmouth
- you must include the code in your email; no code, no pressie!
- valid for new bookings only