Forgot about Boyinaboat. Like the Centaur (off N/beach) theres actually a dive trail for both snorkellers and divers and it can be pretty popular in summer. I've only freedived there, many years ago but wasnt bad!

Agreed that if you dont have a boat, it can cost a fortune, so you need to find someone with a boat who dives :D I noticed when i was fishing a lot, many people with boats are always looking for dive / fishing buddies!! After that its just a matter of building up a solid friendship and most importantly, trust.

Could always hire out one of the Bluewater boats and head to Rotto and dive any number of easy / safe spots! If you went in with a few others it would cost that much..

Put
Another
Dollar
In

Id be in a group dive :D

[QUOTE=STi Tuned]"look after you good & proper" eh... ahh... I'm not sure thats the type of special I'm after ;)

You dive or are ya just good mates with Jimmy?[/QUOTE]

JUST good mates.. have every intention of learning to dive.. just havent got that far yet :)

Just back from some off it's nut diving in Phuket. Took a day trip out to Rach yai island for a couple of dives.

Rach yai is considered more of a beginners dive with most of the action around the 15mtr mark. Visibility was about 15 meters, apparently during the calmer weather weeks before it was up to 50mtrs! the water temp was a perfect 28deg so we were all diving in 3ml steamers which was a first for me.

The island is about one and a half hrs from phuket & the whole place looks like you've just stepped into a post card. Long boats with locals fishing in the distance, islands with huge cliffs, palm trees sticking out of the beaches on crazy angles.

I got so excited that I was chewing threw the air, theoretical bottom time of 50 minutes lasted me about 35. On our boat I was only one taking a joy dive with all of them still doing their ticket. Over there all divers get their own instructor so my buddy just took me off to see a wreck & a bit of coral.

The fish over there are insane, you couldn't swing your arm without hitting one. Eles, rays, starfish, parrot fish, angle fish, lion fish... but the highlight for me is still nemo. Those things are just cool as, also met this puffer fish with the hugest dough eye, I couldn't get enough of him.

Didn't see any turtles but short of that you'd be hard pressed to top it. So if you ever head to that part of the world it's not to be missed. Or even if you don't dive there wouldn't be too many other places on earth better to learn.


Now that I have the bug I want to head up to the ningaloo reef in March. Apparently the navel jetty up there is one of the best shore dives in oz. In the meantime any other quality shore dives around Freo or Perth?

I was reading this guys site, who says even the swan is pretty good round Bicton.
[url]http://www.marinedomaindiving.com/divesites.htm[/url]
Another few places say there’s some reef of Cottesloe worth checking out, anyone been?

Trip sounds awesome :D Get any pics? My mrs went to maritious recently and while all the photos showed lots of dead corals and reef

I dont think you can dive the navel jetty any more? Well last time i was up there, you couldnt due to security issues. Might be different these days.

I dived Ningaloo where it meets Waroora and it was pretty good, although the vis was ordinary even on the best days.. Lots of turtles too! Montebello Islands (about 120 islands about 14hrs offshore from Onslow where they did the nuclear tests in the 50's!) was mindblowing. Heaps of fish, dolphins, turtles, whales, sea snakes, rays and lots of small sharks. Biggest problem up was knowing there are thousands of BIG tiger sharks swimming around and you have NFI exactly where they are.

Also i've heard Ningaloo is better than the Great Barrier Reef but i shall let you know mid January :D

Would really love to see a dugong in the wild though. Would die a very happy boy but i dont think i ever will.

Have you dived the the plane wrecks in rocko? Lots of seals and stuff hanging around them! Busso Jetty night dives are also supposed to be pretty awesome.

Hey Mat, yeah I did get a few pics tho took me a while to figure out how to take a good pic. The zooms a no go underwater & distance shots don't come out too good at all. You really need to get the flash at about 50-70cms away.

Also got a few clips I'll see if I can get them up.


Yeah I've done rocco shore, we didn't see any seals tho. Reading through reports on Exmouth it sounds like feb-march-april is the time to go. I think the coral spawns in march when the waters are at their warmest. In the mean time maybe check out busso as you said.

I don't have my advanced ticket yet but I think it'll be on the cards soon so I can check out these night dives. I think the next on my list will be boy in the boat at Hillarys & maybe Cottesloe for something different.

Be interesting to see how you think the Great Barrier stacks up.

Also the ship dives down near Albany and Dunsborough are supposed to be good. Apparently gets very deep in some sections (more than a normal open water person is allowed to go). I think i'll stick to shallow dives though!

[QUOTE=Mat]Also the ship dives down near Albany and Dunsborough are supposed to be good. Apparently gets very deep in some sections (more than a normal open water person is allowed to go). I think i'll stick to shallow dives though![/QUOTE]
yeah the Dunsborough one is a good dive (Dive Wreck - HMS Swan), if I remember correctly its 20m at deck level (I could be wrong though)

Rottnest is a really good dive, an option to hiring a boat for yourself, pay to go with a diving group, I went with one last time, cost me $100 for the day, that was 2 dives and BBQ lunch included, and they picked me up and dropped me off at a jetty in Rockingham. (1 Tank refill included)

Another option if you dont mind diving with a few sharks is AQWA (Underwater World) go for a dive there, I dont know the cost now, but when I went before, it was $80 for a 40min dive, that gave you entry to AQWA and a free drink and some food.

Id be in for a dive with fellow pwrx'ers, the 6 months I had to keep from diving has passed since I got the bends, so Im ready to go :D

Yeah sounds like there's at least 4 of us, a mate & I would be up for a day trip out to Rotto. Maybe December if a you fellas are keen, I don't mind calling around a few places to see if they'll look after us.

Gumb, so I take it the swan is a boat dive, do you remember how much it cost you?

[QUOTE=STi Tuned]

Gumb, so I take it the swan is a boat dive, do you remember how much it cost you?[/QUOTE]

If you were feeling fit, you can swim out for the swan, but it isnt all that close to shore, boat would be my recommendation, but sorry, I dont remember how much, I went about 7 years ago, and it was through my high school.