Anybody into SCUBA Diving

[Campfire]

Any swaggers in the group hard core bubbleheads ( SCUBA Divers)  I sometimes take my camper trailer to locations not necessary for the surface views ( mountains, beaches etc), but more so for the undersea locations.

I like to frequent South West Rocks and dive fish rock cave ( cave diving the island) and other locations.

 I have been planning for a while now to do a weekend down south coast near Jervis Bay and hook up with a local dive charter to scuba dive with seals  ( when in season).

I've done a bit of wreck diving both here in Aussie and overseas, and this resulted in me taking up amatuer underwater photography. I say only half of my photos on any trip are what I consider OK the rest are deleted, I'm no expert at it and still see myself as a learner even after doing for the last 2.5 years.

I've dived with sharks a few times and do enjoy close up encounters with grey nurse sharks in the
protected marine areas.

Where ever possible ( coastal camping locations) , I try to take my scuba diving equipment with me.

While it is great to see rainforests , mountains, beaches etc, taking my dive gears also allows me to see the beauty and diversity of the underwater environment also.

For those interested , a simple open water cause through PADI, NAUI, SSI can cost around $300 - $400. This will allow you to go as deep as 18 meters. Advanced courses after that can take you to 30 or 40 meters deep. For the adventurous, there are tech Rec courses out there which can take you beyond 40 metres.

I have my own gear , but many people I know simply hire it through a local dive store.

Cheers

Campfire

[Eagle Outback]

Mate I'm not game to, as we have a boat, and have had to many visits from large great whites over the year's, so i stay above the water

[Manjimike]

I used to have my Naui advanced and used to spend a lot of time on the wrecks in Darwin Harbour. Lady Musgrave Island was also a favourite when in the area 

[Renno]

I try to get out a couple of times a week, when I was in Sydney 4 a week was very common and easy to do, Every Thursday night then beer and pizza and a few on the weekend. Since moving up north the lack of shore diving has reduced the amount of times I get out however the diving is sensational. Heaps of Leopard Sharks up here at the moment and Manta Rays have been a regular visitor for the last few months, the GNS are starting to come in and once the water cools a bit more they will be everywhere.

We used to come up and camp at Clarkes Beach and dive with Sundive . I still go with Sundive who are a great bunch and occasionally Blue Bay Divers who are a new operator and get out to some of the deeper spots like Windarra Banks.

Let me know if you get this far north, A good trip would be SWR, Wooli then here....

Here's one from last week. The water has cleared up a lot this week so hopefully I can get a cracker on Saturday.
Renno
 

[GGV8Cruza]

I am a dive master, have done most of my diving in Melbourne all year round. Of late I have not been in the water due to may factors but I must get back into the deep soon, I miss the freedom when under the water.

I have had some great dives and many when training others to learn the skill, when in Fiji I did a shark dive with two tiger sharks which was a real buzz and I will post up some pics when I get the chance. Should start packing the gear when we go away but a lot of the time the camper is pretty full.

GG

[Campfire]

Reno,

Very impressive underwater photos, it's obvious you have had a bit of practice at this, alot better than the crap I'm turning out, sometimes I get lucky but on average on 40% - 50% of my photos turn out.

Seem to loose alot of red even though I'm using a red filter lense, I've learnt to angle the flash away from divers I'm taking pics of so it doesn't shine back to much.

The shots you have are so clear and defined, not faded or dark. I presume the shots of the leopard shark and manta ray was in very clear water with good vis.

What depth were you at, I'm presuming around 10-15 meters looking at the light and colour. Correct me if I am wrong.

Do you do much wreck diving?

Excellent shots , thanks for posting them

Cheers

Campfire
 

[Campfire]

On a similar topic, how imPressive is James Camerons deep sea visit to the Marinana Trench in his submersible . I can't wait to see the underwater cinematography from that trip.

Lately I've also been that docuementary on the Great Barrier Reef which is currently showing on TV.

Cheers

Campfire

[Renno]

I'm still learning myself, only had the camera for about 2 months. I hope to learn a bit from Ross's Course which I am doing in a couple of weeks. I still don't have a shot good enough to blow up and stick on the wall. Most of the Shots are in the shallower side of Julian Rocks from the Nursery to the Needles. About 10-15 deep. So far I haven't had a dive where its been clear and good vis, has with been raining and good vis (very dark) or sunny and poor vis or big current.
I used to do a bit of wreck diving in Sydney. Still a member of St George Scuba Club . They do a deep wreck dive once a month, I pulled my twin set apart since being up here and use it as a spare set for visitors. Occasionally get up to dive the Brisbane. 
This one was from SWR 2 weeks ago, the vis was poor, about 2m and it was rough. I only took 2 pics and spent a bit of time looking for teeth on the bottom for my young bloke. I canned the second day it was that bad.
Renno

Took my young bloke out for his fist open water dive (shallow) last month and he saw a turtle. Pretty Excited...

[Campfire]

South West Rocks is a great place to dive, I set my Camper Trailer up at the Eco Park Resort, and usually go see one of the local dive charter shops. My las dive there I found 3 x Grey Nurse Teeth in the shark gutters. Local dive operator showed us where to look, it was fun diving fish rock cave, plenty to see.

Always enjoy going back there. Nasty thing though the holiday park where I stay( Eco Park Resort) has a cafe which does ( wait for it) a " Deep Fried Mars Bar with Icecream"  I was game to try it but the wife gave me the typical " forbidden fruit speech "  and once she  got off the female soapbox about how unhealthy it was she ended up helping me finish it off with a bit of persuasion .

They also do it with snickers bars also.

Cheers

Campfire

[LC]

We have been into the diving for about 15 years, I have done about 600 dives during that period, my wife a few less, although we have slowed down a bit since our son was born, but he is now getting to the age where he can do have a go in shallow waters so hopefully we will get back into it as the young fella gets a bit older. In the past we have dived on the President Coolidge in Vanuatu, Gizo in the Solomons, Walindi in PNG, the Maldives, Bay of Islands in NZ and reasonable number of places up and down the east coast. Had a dive on the ex-HMAS Adelaide in January. It will be good to go back to it each year and watch it grow as an artificial reef.

Living at Nelson Bay has meant we have some very good shore dives in the past, but unfortunately the council has done something (or stopped doing something) that has caused the currents to change and one part of the marine park is now getting covered in sand and the dive site is just about wrecked. Fortunately the dives off the coast are still worth the effort. A couple of pics that I have taken over the years with my Sea & Sea camera (eventually I will do something about getting a digital camera that I can take diving).

[KieranR]

Yep, I'm a scuba diver, love it, cant get enough of it.  I just enjoy being under there checking out seeing whats going on, Did some diving at coral Bay at xmas, not real deep stuff, but amazing fish life and coral formations, oh and a couple of the big toothy buggers around aswell.


I also enjoy my spear fishing (free diving), which is a bit exciting when trying to fend of sharks that are after your recently speared bluebone and coral trout..


Cheers
Kieran

[Teabag]

Yes, been around SCUBA diving my whole life. My old man was heavily into it and was a BSAC leader diver in the early 70's as there was no NAUI, FAUI, PADI or SSA then. I haven't done much in recent years as I was spoil as a young fella and got a little bored with it. Rarely get wet nowadays. Have dive all the wrecks in Darwin Harbour, all the wrecks off Honiara (Soloman Islands including Munda, Gizo and Upi and PT109.) Have dived Fiji, Vanuatu and the President Coolidge (touched the Lady), much of PNG, Rabaul, Madang, Tonga, Western Samoa, Marshall Islands, Guam, Micronesia. I must admit I do now find reef diving pretty boring(crazy I know) but mostly enjoy wreck diving. Living in the Soloman Islands in the late 70's early 80's was awesome, going diving every weekend with the old man as I would snorkel. I was also into spearing but gave that up after a couple of very scary situations........I'm only Advanced qualified but have countless deep dives under my belt. Deepest was 58mtr multi level dive on Benegi 2 in the Solomans. It's a shore dive and I really wanted to hit the stern which the old man an I did, with an interesting story along the way. Best dive was night dive on Benegi 1, again in the Solomans. I was nearly going to Indonesia this month with the old man to dive HMAS Perth that sunk in Sunda Strait with the USS Houston. This year was the 70th Anniversary of the sinking. My Grandfather was a sailor on it when it sunk ( survived to be POW on the Burma Railway) and its a demon my old man want to clear. Plans fell through but still on the drawing board..........

[Crazy Dog]

That's a fantastic record Paul. . Wish I could have done the same but failed at 7 ft in the Singapore chamber when in pussers .. Oh well --- maybe in the next life. The Perth dive would be amazing after the history and tragedy of the sinking.

Hope you get to do it one day.

Grrr!!!

[fridayman]

I've done my rescue divers, but never found the time to finish my dive master. Maybe some day... Dived a few spots in Oz when we were over a couple of years ago. Enjoyed the dive at South West Rocks. Also done some diving in South Africa, Jamaica and Red Sea in Egypt. Still haven't seen Mantas though

Would love to take my dive gear with on our big trip next year, but will have to see about space..

[Bird]

Was when I fitted into a wetty..

Did most of NSW coast, and then to Solomons, Honiara for a wreck dive, Upei Island, some awesome drift diving and sharks etc
Most were done with Dave http://www.davidireland.com/index1.htm

[GGV8Cruza]

Was when I fitted into a wetty..

Lost, you have nothing on a bloke I was instructing on an open water course a few years ago. From memory he had 28kg in his weight belt, while doing a remove and replace on it he dropped it to the bottom, what a bugger of a thing to bring back up and put back on

GG

[Campfire]

Recently in the last 12-18 months, a British aircraft carrier sunk near Shri Lanka has just been opened up to recreational divers , prior to that I would say less than 50 people in the world would have dived it. Only problem is the wreck is sitting in water around 50 metres deep.

I think it's called HMS Hermes  (correct me if I'm wrong).

Cheers

Campfire

[BrindiCruiser]

Wow there are some pretty hard core divers here.

I did a bit with my dad when I was 13, and then picked it up again when I was at Uni. Lady Musgrave, North West Island, varius random dives on the reef and in Moreton Bay. My last dive was at South West Rocks about 5 years ago.

I was all keen to dive on the Yongala last year, but got Deep Vein Thrombosis just before the flight there, and did not like the idea of doing a relatively deep dive with a clot in my system.

Will try and do a dive or two at Xmas from Kingscliff, in Nth NSW.

[gowalkabout]

Yeah another divemaster here  most of my diving has been here in Tassie chasing crays and abalone, although i have done a dive in Singapore and a few dives in NSW.

[Campfire]

The amount of money I have pumped into diving over the last 14 - 15 years, I could have easily bought a new camper trailer.

No regrets though.....

[Bird]

Lost, you have nothing on a bloke I was instructing on an open water course a few years ago. From memory he had 28kg in his weight belt, while doing a remove and replace on it he dropped it to the bottom, what a bugger of a thing to bring back up and put back on

GG

Yea, I cant get my rooted leg into the wetsuit more than my blubber.
Same thing, I was helping on a few course, and had a few huge chicks there...
28kg of weight? fawk...

[BigJules]

I was a mad keen diver, have about 650 logged dives, the majority of which would be around Sydney or Nelson Bay.

I've dived PNG, Fiji and Hawaii, and possibly elsewhere but have forgotten.

I was always a keen spearo as a kid, and though diving would be snorkeling without having to hold your breath. I always struggled with the price of the course, but when my local dive shop went bankrupt the owner started doing courses for cash at my uni, $110. He was a good instructed but a pretty ordinary human.

I then joined the Hawkesbury Scuba club, became president, got my Dive Master quals and lived for diving. All my friends were into it, and we'd HO several times a week. I even told my first wife she had to learn how to dive if she wanted me to marry her. She hated me going away every weekend and having so much fun. She got her ticket too.

I bought a 4.2m Zodiac and got great use out of it. After I bought a bloody great expensive house my diving took a back seat, then a child, divorce, work, marriage, another child have all taken their toll.

For about two years I've been having war trouble which has prevented me from going, despite some almost irresistible invitations.

I think my favourite spot is Nelson Bay, so it's sad to hear it is currently not so flash.

Went to 68m on a wall dive in PNG, simply amazing. It was so light and bright, and I'll admit diving in Sydney became less appealing after that. 25m and grey, yeah....

[Campfire]

Nelson Bay is a great dive, I've always been keen on Broughton Island. I'm the only one in my family that dives, wife isn't too crash on it. Kids are OK with snorkeling but diving hasn't really been a big ticket item with them.

I guess like some, once family, career, online/ part time post graduate studies, home renovations  etc became more of a dominant focus, diving in some aspects took a little bit of back seat, I still dive but not as much as I use to. With what little free time I have now, it's usually around family focused activities.

I have taken a keen interest in apnea diving and spearfishing which is easy to do and simple ( no bells and whistles required).  Once or twice a month I might take my kayak out a few hundred metres offshore , drop anchor and jump in with a speargun to chase some table fish, other times I might just drop in a line and relax.

Deepest I've ever been on a wreck dive is 52 metres ( overseas dive trip).

I would love to do Truk, haven't been there yet but hope to one day.  Would also like to scuba dive Cocos Keeling islands / Christmas Island locations.

Cheers

Campfire

[Renno]

I know this is not a photograph thread. Just showing you guys whats around up here at the moment... and to entice you back in the water.
Took these this morning at Julian Rocks, Byron
Renno
 

[Renno]

Few more from this morning.
Renno