Blue-ringed Octopus at Clifton Gardens

Blue-ringed Octopus at Clifton Gardens

Diving
Saturday morning got off to an early start as I headed down to Clifton Gardens to lead one of Frog Dive's shore dives. It was a beautiful morning, with an orange glow coming off the sun, not a cloud in the sky, and absolutely no wind to speak of. The sea was dead flat, and judging from the surface, visibility looked good for Clifton Gardens. I was expecting 7 divers, but the group grew to 9 when the shop's boat dive was cancelled due to poor conditions. Thankfully Cec had offered to help out, and arrived shortly after me. The group group geared up in the parking lot, and once everyone was ready, I gave the dive briefing around one of the many tables scattered around the field. I opted…
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Diving Forster – Sharks, Whales, and the Biggest Turtle in the World!

Diving Forster – Sharks, Whales, and the Biggest Turtle in the World!

Diving
In the spirit of making the most of our downtime, Sharon and I found ourselves on a boat with the crew from Forster Dive Centre for our first ever dive in Forster. As luck would have it, Sharon and I were the only customers for the day and so we had the boat to ourselves, along with the skipper, instructor, and 2 divemasters in training who were keen to brush up their deep dive skills, including working on the lift bag and knots. We hit the jackpot with the weather. There was not a breath of wind and the water was like glass. There were a scattering of clouds in the sky, otherwise the sun was out in full force. Looking south from Forster, NSW On our journey out to…
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Diving With Dolphins at the Monument

Diving With Dolphins at the Monument

Diving
Every so often something magical happens on a dive that lodges it into your memory forever. This was one of those dives. It started on less positive notes, as a friend was leaving Sydney, so the dive was planned as a farewell of sorts. Visibility had also been amazing all week, but due to large swells overnight had taken a turn for the worse. We therefore weren't expecting much from the dive. Things got off to a rocky start...thanks mostly to the rocks. The swell from the evening before was still present, although it had gotten a fair amount smaller. That said, we still needed to wade across the rocks, and then do a rock entry into a small swell. One of the divers with us had some balance issues,…
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Guiding at Blue Fish Point and Chapel Steps

Guiding at Blue Fish Point and Chapel Steps

Diving
On a crisp Saturday morning, I headed down to the Mosman Rowing Club to guide a double boat dive for Frog Dive. We launched at the usual 8am, and headed straight for North Head, where we planned to dive Blue Fish Point. After the safety briefing, we chatted away for the short 15 minute boat ride out to the heads. The weather was perfect, blue skies, no wind, and limited swell, with temperatures eventually rising to 18 degrees. There were even whales to be seen in the distance, although we didn't get close enough to truly enjoy them. At Blue Fish Point I did the dive briefing and weight checks, and then we dropped down to a rocky bottom in 15 meters of water. Visibility was incredible, as it usually…
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Exploring Fairlight Underwater…

Exploring Fairlight Underwater…

Diving
Not every day goes according to plan...but generally it all works out in the end... Early on Sunday morning, Sharon and I snuck off for a quick dive at Fairlight. It's not the most popular dive site in Sydney, but it's definitely worth a visit every now and then. Our day got off to a bad start when we discovered a leak in Sharon's regulator's first stage. While I was trying to repair it, a lady walked by with a King Charles Cavalier puppy. Sharon got talking to her, told her we also had a King Charles Cavalier puppy, and explained our situation. Eventually, the lady continued on her walk, and we started packing the dive gear back into the car to go and try hire a regulator from Dive…
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Taking New Divers Out at Clifton

Taking New Divers Out at Clifton

Diving
A military ship silhouetted by a glorious Clifton Gardens sunrise One of the most common questions I get during Open Water courses is how they can get back into the water. And in my opinion, the best and easiest way is to join one of Frog Dive's free weekend shore dives. They're led by qualified divemasters, cost nothing other than equipment hire, and take place in stunning locations like Shelly Beach. And not only that, there's always a great group of divers, and great conversation afterwards around soup and other snacks. The only problem is that they're often booked out well in advanced. So to try and solve that, we decided to start hosting beginner only shore dives, with the first one taking place at Clifton Gardens. I arrived at…
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Shelley Beach Showing Off (Diving as Minnie Mouse)

Shelley Beach Showing Off (Diving as Minnie Mouse)

Diving
Seeing as we had the day off, and the kids were at school, Sharon and I decided to head down to Shelly Beach for a quick dive and to test out some new gear. On route, we stopped in at Frog Dive to fill our tanks and pick up Sharon's "new" regs. And somehow, while I was loading the tanks into the car, Sharon ended up borrowing a Minnie Mouse hood in case the water was chilly. Sydney was expecting a huge rain bomb to pass through in the upcoming days, and some of that rain was already starting to hit us, so we wanted to make hay while the sun shines. We parked near the Fairy Bower pool and kitted up on the side of the road. The air…
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A Sneaky Dive at Shelly Beach

A Sneaky Dive at Shelly Beach

Diving
With Kerry out from Perth, what else would we do other than go for a sneaky dive. The initial plan was to dive with Kerry, but sadly she wasn't able to do her refresher in time so Sharon stepped in to fill her shoes (fins). We packed up the family early on Sunday morning and headed down to Bare Island to join Frog Dive for a shore dive. Despite it being a beautiful day, water conditions were still far from ideal. In fact, a quick chat with the dive master confirmed that we shouldn't expect more than 3 meters of vis. We therefore made a last minute decision to change venues and headed north to Shelly Beach, where we knew visibility was likely between 5 and 10 meters. Bare Island…
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We Found Secret Vis!

We Found Secret Vis!

Diving
After months of no diving in Sydney, courtesy of La NiƱa induced flooding and near zero vis, Sharon and I finally managed to get back into the water. As per usual, we met the Frog Dive crew at the Mosman Rowing Club just after 7am, and kitted up in the carpark while getting to know our fellow divers for the day. At 8am we climbed onto the boat and began the trip to North Head, while receiving our safety briefing. Our first dive was at Rock Fall, and it was an interesting experience to say the least. The 6 of us met on the surface, and then descended in what turned out to be a shocking 2 meters (if that) of visibility. By the time we reached the bottom, we'd…
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An Adventure at BlueFish Point and Rock Fall (Including a Wobbegong Attack)

An Adventure at BlueFish Point and Rock Fall (Including a Wobbegong Attack)

Diving
I've done a lot of dives of late, but this was perhaps one of the more memorable ones, and for all the wrong reasons. After finally securing a babysitter, Sharon and I booked ourselves a double boat dive. We were slightly apprehensive since a fatal, white shark attack had taken place only 3 days prior, just 10 kms south of the dive site, but we decided to go for it anyway. As planned, we met at the boat ramp at 7:30am, ready to head out at around 8am. We immediately ran into our divemaster, who happened to have run my Emergency First Responders course, and had a quick chat to him while we setup our gear. Everyone arrived on time, so we were soon on the boat and headed for…
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