Good dive sites in Australia for indepenent UW photography

My girlfriend and I are planning a dive/sightseeing trip to Australia in February/March 07 for 2 weeks. The idea is to spend about a week "getting a feel for the country" and a week in the water at locations that offer a good combination of independent diving/clear water/Australian reef life and snorkeling (she does not dive). If we can find a place that offers everything we would rather stay in on place.

Ideally we were hoping to do our own thing (stay at a hotel, rent a tank, shore dive/snorkel/not usual rushed photography associated with dive company diving) but are also not opposed to something like a 4 day liveaboard through the Ribbon Reefs (as long as it offers shallow water locations for snorkelers). We are aware that February/March is monsoon season so places other than Cairns maybe more appropriate. Do any of the Great Barrier Reef Islands offer tank rentals for independent shore diving? Are there possibilities in places like Lord Howe Island or Ningaloo reef? We did hear the day dive trips out of Cairns are not worth the time. Australia is a big place with a seemingly overwhelming amount of options. We are starting to make the plans so we can still decide b/w the west or east coast. Any recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks! Frank.

My favorite dive sites in Oz are (in no particular order)

Yongala wreck, QLD: Wonderful life on the wreck with big and small stuff. Don't go into the wreck or you go to jail! Do it by liveaboard only...day trips are too long for 2 dives unless done from south of townsville.

Point Murat Pier,WA (now closed off): Awesome pier dive with everything from fat whitetip reef sharks to toadfish to nudibranchs and schooling snappers.

Rapid Bay Jetty, SA: Sea Dragons Leafy and Weedy. Pyjama Squids and my 2nd dive there in 30m depth... a swimby by a great white! Hire your tanks from Glenelg Scuba

Jervis Bay, NSW: Mating orgies of port jackson sharks , weedy sea dragons and if you're really luck bottlenose dolphin swimming by. Nice macro life too.

Sydney Harbor: macro wonderland! And you get to see the opera house afterward (hopefully not while you're drifting past in the shipping lanes!)

Kangaroo Island, SA: seals, sea dragons! Do it with Jim Thistleton

Abrolhos Islands, WA: hammerhead and tiger sharks. Nice big fish schools, seals, sealions and during the right season migrating humpies. Have to do it by a liveaboard.

I could name a few more like Rowley Shoals which is only liveaboard.

It all depends on you. With 2 weeks your best bet is to go to Vanuatu or Fiji for a week after doing Sydney and Ulhuru. They have all sorts of deals for resorts with great snorkelling and decent diving in Fiji from Oz. The snorkeling in Fiji is much better than any day trip on the GBR.

Yes as Drew said. 2 weeks is not long enough..this place is a s big as the USA

Im up here in Ningaloo and yes there is snorkeling from the beach but I would not rate it very high but for someone who has never snorkled before...it's a nice experience and Coral Bay may suit you better but it's a tiny place that gets overloaded with people.

There is better stuff but you need a boat to get to it and some will put you on a dive boat but mixing snorklers and divers does not really work as the good dive sites are to deep for snorkeling and the good snorkeling is too shallow for the divers. Coral Bay they mainly dive inside the reef (12 meters max) so you could do both there I suppose.

Whale Sharks are here around April on so you would be abit early for them.

Yes the Navy Pier is closed for now untill they put out another tender for it. Went by it yesterday and there is huge scaffolding all over it as they are doing work on it for the next 3-4 months.

Shore diving here, well at this end its' too shallow inside the reef and you really need a boat. There is a place you can do it but you are swimming over the reef and it's only a matter of time before someone cops it..been some very close calls and swells can come out of nowhere and you may get really bashed up getting back.

You can see and do allot more on the East coast than the West in a short period of time. My nearest Commonwealth Bank Branch is like 360km away

Sydney or Cairns then Vanuatu / Fiji/ liveaboard or Tropical Island in Queensland.

Good luck...

If you want to stay in Aus, I would suggest that in your limited time you stay on the East Coast and do one of following things;

RIBBONS

Liveboard up to the Ribbons out of Port Douglas as you suggested yourself. Excellent dives but meing stuck on a boat for a week may not be the mrs's cup of tea. The snorkeling at some of the regular dive sites is fabulous. yes, it is cyclone season so you may be unlucky. Ive only done trips up there with www.undersea.com.au.

SOUTHERN BARRIER REEF

Lady Elliot Island, off Bundaberg in Southern Queeensland. This is the most southerly reef on the Great Barrier Reef, and it is the ONLY RESORT ISLAND that offers very good Great Barrier Reef snorkeling off the beach so you and the Mrs will have a really good time. Diving - well I reckon its great. The island sits on quite a small reef, but it is out in quite deep water and the vis is usually excellent. There are boat diving and shore diving opportunities. Lady Elliot is also a loggerhead turtle rookery, and at that time of year you will probably see the last of the hatchlings leaving the beach. Mantas and leopard sharks are the oher attractions underwater. It is also a seabird rookery, including terns, noddies, quite a few nesting red-tailed tropic-birds, and lots of brown boobies around, and even a few Frigate birds. Have a look at their website. http://www.ladyelliot.com.au/ It isn't the ritz, but it had recently had a makeover with new owners. You have to fly over on a small plane and their luggage limit is ridiculous (10kg for non-divers, 20kg if you book a dive pacakeg.) They won't guarantee excess bags travel, and they mean it, but you can hire dive gear. Most of the beaches are coral rubble rather than sand.

Heron Island is another island resort right on the reef. It's a bit further north, but still southern reef (the reef is 1200km long remember). It is of a higher accommodation standard than LE but hasn't got beach snorkelling to come anywhere close to lady elliot, and there is no shore scuba (it sits on a much bigger reef) everything is boat diving and boat snorkelling, which is well organised, but a bit regimented. It is a green turtle rookery (late hatchlings again), and there are heaps of birds there too, which can be very noisy at night. It is a very pretty island and the beaches are nice. You transit to the island by high speed launch , so you can take your own dive gear. http://www.heronisland.com/.

Between those two, for diving I would say Lady Elliot, for a week off with some diving Heron is nice. Both are still in the cyclone zone, the further south you are the less likely you will be to get unlucky.

When you are in Queensland, also remember that the dive industry is over-regulated, so if you are an experienced diver, you will feel like you are being nannied somewhat.

LORD HOWE

Lord Howe. Now that is a great spot. http://www.lordhoweisland.info/ You will have a great week if you go there. Not just diving but walking and snorkeling and having a nice time together. The snorkeling is really good off some of the beaches, but the best snorkeling is from boats. Diving is from the boat too, some simple coral reef diving - great mix of fish species as the tropics and temperate species mingle, lots of diversity. Also some great "adventure" diving, schooling galapagos whalers, big seacliffs, and if the weather is right, 20kms or so south is balls pyramid, a sea stack which is a reall open ocean dive experience. Also a summer bird rookery with heaps of species. Nice thing about lord howe and your time frame is that is 1 direct flight ex Sydney or Brisbane and you are there, so you will make the most of your time.

Any of those options would give you a great weeks holiday.

darren

I just checked the lady elliot web site and if you book a SCUBA package you get 20kg baggage allowance to Lady Elliot.

Wow! Great info. Exactly the locations we needed the inside tips on. Thanks guys.

My favourite spot in Australia HAS to be South West Rocks (about half way between Sydney and Byron Bay), specifically Fish Rock. It's an incredible cave, about 125m long, much of it completely without light that makes for an awesome dive (I know the girlfriend might not like it, but its my most memorable dive to date). Watch the ledge in the chimney for some seriously HUGE wobbies!

Aside from that, around South West Rocks there are loads of Grey Nurse (aka Ragged Tooth / Sand Tiger) Sharks... on one dive we were lucky to see in excess of 50/75 individuals lurking off one particular rock... an amazing site to see so many of these gentle fish!

I'd also second Sydney, it really is much underrated as a dive destination. Head to Shelly Beach & Fairy Bower by Manly for some great snorkelling (theres a marine park there), and for shore dives I like to hunt for weedy sea-dragons on the North side of Bondi beach. I know a couple of good dive shops if you need a local hook-up.

So Rabbit fish, did you decide on a destination for your feb/march trip?

One person mentioned weather, that is not enough of a mention.

You are coming to Oz in the middle of our Big Wet/Cyclone season. Big Wet means that if it is raining hard enough (we are in the midst of a huge drought of some years duration - sooner or later it will break) you will not be able to drive because your wipers will not be able to cope.

For Cyclone, google Cyclone Tracy. That one totally ruined Darwin.

Provided you are aware of these, by all means go for it, but your intended holiday might be totally ruined. Back in the old days Oz liveaboard operators used to take the mid December to mid April (at least) time period as an opportunity to refurbish their vessels. Not much moved at that time.

Cheers,

Christian

Here's the met. bureau's seasonal forecast for Queensland. And the one for the gulf of carpenteria.

Have a bit of a hunt around from there. Nothings perfect though.

So Rabbit fish, did you decide on a destination for your feb/march trip?

Photovan,

We did.

Sydney for a day.

Lord Howe for 6 days.

Cairns for 5 days.

In Cairns we are looking to spend 3 days on the reef and 2 days doing land activities.

Any recommendations?

I was thinking a quick 2-3 day outer reef liveaboard such as:

http://www.divingcairns.com.au/liveaboard13.html

http://www.prodive-cairns.com.au/3dayouterreef.html

would be a good way to get a good feel for the reef in that amount of time.

I know the 4 day/3 night Ribbon Reefs/Cod Hole trips are probably quite a bit better...but that would cut into our land time too much.

This was a difficult trip to plan since we did not have that much time and the weather can be quite disturbing that time of year.

Thanks for all your help. We cant' wait.

Photovan,

 

We did.

Sydney for a day.

Lord Howe for 6 days.

Cairns for 5 days.

In Cairns we are looking to spend 3 days on the reef and 2 days doing land activities.

Any recommendations?

I was thinking a quick 2-3 day outer reef liveaboard such as:

http://www.divingcairns.com.au/liveaboard13.html

http://www.prodive-cairns.com.au/3dayouterreef.html

would be a good way to get a good feel for the reef in that amount of time.

I know the 4 day/3 night Ribbon Reefs/Cod Hole trips are probably quite a bit better...but that would cut into our land time too much.

This was a difficult trip to plan since we did not have that much time and the weather can be quite disturbing that time of year.

Thanks for all your help. We cant' wait.

Sydney for the day: Bridge Climb is a must do if you can get in any time day or night; Ferry ride on the harbour to Manly or Taronga Zoo; buy some of my prints at the Sydney Aquarium gift shop...

Lord Howe: Great choice, should be well out of cyclone trouble...have a great time!!! Wish I was there!

Cairns Diving: maybe ask/PM pmooney, he is on here and operates his business out of Cairns.

Cairns land: ditto above, but there are some nighttime/spotlighting wildlife tours to the rainforest or carbine tableland i think they would be best way to see critters if thats what you want, I'm pretty sure you can do a tour to see wild platypus up that way too, pretty special. Most Aussie wildlife only comes out at night. Cape Tribulation is nice, on the way you can cruise the daintree to see some big crocs.

A few touristy things in there, but what the heck.

Enjoy!

darren