Could well be the difference we did I think 27 dives on several reefs tbh I would dive in the bath and enjoy it lol

LOL. Well who'd have thunk it? I will have to have another chat with her tomorrow Don't tell her I'm off to Oz though - I've not told work yet!!!

Graham

From what I've read and heard the barrier reef CAN be disappointing, as I understand it you need to get out to the outer reefs (most likely on a liveaboard) to get the really good stuff. Can anyone comment on this?

Also any other info on diving around Sydney???

Graham

I've only managed a few dives here so far due to problems (skipper sold boat, boat injector broke, tank burst to name a few) but we've joined a club here. THe club is Sydney Sub Aqua club and it meet every Wednesday at Moretons on Sussex street for food and a few beers between 7 and about 9.30 when they kick us out. Why not pop down and meet us. I'm also a PADI diver so they don't require you to change to BSAC although you can if you want to continue training. send me a PM if you want more info.

We completed our Adv Open Water on a liveaboard - with one of the big dive companies - on the Gt.BR but found the reef a bit disappointing. Again, we thought the Red Sea was better. The reef was recovering from a cyclone & it looked bleached & overdived in places. We went to quite popular divesites not that far away but I think if you hired a boat that took a group of you to the outer edge it would be much better....The liveaboard was fun, the skipper & crew were great, very tiring with all that diving & reading. The accommodation was very basic too but fine for a few days.

I got a bit scared doing the night dive as there were loads of sharks at the back of the boat where we had to exit the water. When I shined my torch on them I could see loads of green eyes. I made it worse as I go out through them to exit twice as I regained my composure & went back in with one of the instructors & all was fine. Really enjoyed it & saw a parrot fish in it's little night time bubble.

We would really recommend Ningaloo Reef, Exmouth. WA. Like diving in an aquarium. Couldn't keep up with the amount of sea life going about it's everyday life ....If you go the right time of year Mar/Apr/May? you can snorkel with whalesharks too....

My dives were on a liveaboard cannot remember the reefs we visited but they were outer it was a while ago I hope they haven't deteriorated as much as it seems from what you're all saying. That would be a waste.

You could try underwater.com.au
They have a small forum and lots of good links, and some fantastic pictures too.

We've just come back from our 4th trip to Ningaloo in 3 years. It's an incredible place. Amazing diving and snorkelling, coral right up to the beach. I'd recommend Exmouth over Coral Bay as CB is more of a huge backpackers and the beach coral isn't as good as say, Turquoise Bay out of Exmouth.

For example, every day I saw sharks when snorkelling, black tip, white tip. Once I saw a massive leopard shark too. My boy spotted a moray eel and a lion fish within 60 seconds of entering the water from the beach.

Turtles too, lots of turtles - Green, Hawksbill... you can even see them laying eggs or the babys hatch if you come at the right time of year.

The diving is good too, particularly the navy pier, there are some good "outer" reef dives too, which I've not done.

The whale sharks are supposed to be awesome, the Mrs. did it 3 years ago but at over $300 a pop it's just too expensive for us "battlers" to do every year.

Ningaloo/Cape Range National Park - the closest thing to paradise on earth in my book.

sorry don't know about diving down in sydney area...

but have had a few brilliant liveaboards on the GBR up at the outter top.

i think diving the GBR depends on what company you go with... we didn't see another boat the whole time we were out there where as a friend who went with a different company said she saw nothing but other divers!

good luck!

its not very likely mate

hav`nt seen her for 18 months
not what you would call close family

Thanks spottydog. Looks good and will definitely be checking it out when we arrive. Looking forward to diving much more regularly when we're down under.

Graham

Wow, Ningaloo sounds fantastic! Shame it's the other side of the continent to Sydney LOL! $300 - that's about £125? It IS quite a lot but will definitely be on our list of things to do/places to dive. Never been to WA either...

Cheers,

Graham

Agincourt, Ribbon, Osprey, Holmes, Flinders, Cod Hole??? Are these ringing any bells??

Graham

i`ve dived agincourt on the outer reef

didnt think much of it to be true
theres a huge pontoon out there and it gets hammered

Hmm. Is that that Quicksilver monstrocity? Didn't know excactly where that was except outer reef somewhere...

Most of our diving will be Sydney/central coast but would be nice to go on an outer reef liveaboard every now and then. Oh, and Ningaloo. Er, you can get to Fiji and the Cook Islands fairly easily too can't you?.... I need a bigger wage packet....

Graham