Coffs Harbour Bubbles

We’ve spent the last five days in Coffs Harbour, so that Luke could do his advanced dive course ahead of scuba adventures in Turkey.  He spent three days out on the water exploring Split and South Solitary Islands.  I joined him on the final day and we had a lot of fun.  South Solitary is home to a large posse of Grey Nurse Sharks, and on his first dive there Luke saw about 30 of them.   I was lucky as well and saw about 10 on my dive.  We got within a couple of meters and had a really good look.  The islands are a unique place where the southward flowing warm water East Australia Current (EAC dude) meets the cooler upwellings from the Tasman Sea.  That means it’s a crazy meeting point for all sorts of tropical and temperate species – grey nurses and nemos, just as one example.  On my second dive we saw a whole lot of cool things – turtles, eagle rays, lots of fish and a giant cuttlefish (about a meter long – amazing).

The dive shop is affiliated with a backpacker’s, so we’ve given Troopy a rest for the last few nights.  But that little luxury is over and we’re back in the truck tonight.  There is supposedly some bad weather blowing in, so fingers crossed we find some sheltered spots to hide out (and maybe get a few waves).


Picture below is of Luke and I before our dive (can you tell who's who?) and I've uploaded some of the better underwater shots to flikr (kindly shared with us by the Banana Coast Dive DM Nicki, since my camera is still with Olympus for repairs - unfortunately, none of the sharks).  South Solitary Is Diving Photos