The isis, wirraway, Uralba

The trip departed on Seadragon, from Frankston Pier at 1 pm ish and from here it is not far to the first dive site. The dive sites are the Isis yacht wreck in 10m,  the second dive a Wirraway Plane wreck in 18-20m and the third the Uralba wreck – an auxiliary minefield tender, in 14-18m.


Dives really to do once , experience what the top of the bay is like so you can then enjoy diving toward the heads, but know you have at least done it once. The wrecks are not that great with the plane wreck almost totally un recognizable.
But as they it half about the diving and half about the company and the company was great! 

Catherdral Reef

Cathedral Reef

With Lynne and Bruce, a boat dive with dive vic.

A part of the lonsdale wall system toward the heads on the geelong side.

Like most of the wall dives there is plenty to see,

Blairgowrie Pier

Blairgowrie Pier Dive
Another great dive at one of the best piers in Melbourne
trying our new video light while peter tried out new side mounts

New camera setup is
Canon s95 with Ikelite af35 as strobe and Ikelite 2800 as video lite.

Coogee Wreck and portsea pier

Coogee Wreck Dive
One of the grave yard ships, but at the start so a short trip after passing through the heads
Laying in 32 meters the dive is a nice easy wreck dive, but like all dives in the area if it has rained over the few days beforehand river runoff can reduce vis. and like all through the head dives better to do on a calm day.
Two major parts of the wreck the bow and stern with boilers, no penetration is possible.

Flinders

Flinders
Another great day of diving, Flinders for a start and then devils drop off boat dive. Vis on both was lower than expected but still good.
blue devil fish were good at devils drop off with plenty else to see, one of the better spots on the wall.

Video is of Flinders.

Spider Crabs at Rye

Spider Crabs at Rye Pier.
The annual Spider Crab migration in May each year is a must see for divers, very freaky when you see so many in the one place.  it is then interesting to watch the pier over the following months as the food created from die off, helps other fish and animals breed and grow rapidly.

Spider Crab Expeditions

Spider Crabs reside in Port Philip Bay, Victoria, Australia for 12 months of the year.

However, in April through to July each year, as the water cools, the crabs gather in the shallows in their tens of thousands! This aggregation is continuously “on the move” and has been referred to as the “March of The Spider Crabs”.

This amazing natural phenomenon is believed to be linked to a mating ritual. Through out this time period the crabs gather and play “stacks on the middle”. The mountains of crabs can be up to 2 metres high and cover areas up to a kilometre long.

Through out the cycle the crabs often moult their shell and at times mass “die offs” of Spider Crabs can be seen. The Spider Crab march is an amazing visual experience and resembles scenes from a science fiction film. The gathering also attracts predators such as sting rays and even sharks.

Rye

Rye,
One of the easiest and nicer pier dives, Simply park in the carpark , kit up and walk off the pier. forget anything see AOS across the road. what is there will vary according to the season , but usally something of interest, todays dive was seals and seahorses.

Ricketts At Night

A night dive at Ricketts on a very nice calm night.
Despite my view that Ricketts at low tide is undiveable , on a nice calm night it provided a very nice muck dive.
Instead of heading out to the green pole we went right using the boat channel for additional depth, Vis was a good 20 meters with no surge, so it was all about the fish.

Cavern Deep Training

Caven Diving  - Mt Gambier

Deep and Caven Course , because everyone who dives sometimes just has to figure out if cave are really interesting.   A great course for skills and developing a better understanding of dive techniques including trying out some caverns, but ultimately after a successful completion decided it was not for me. But a very enjoyable couple of weekends.

Thanks Andy Higgins for a great experience.

Flinders

Flinders Pier , another great dive at this awesome spot. Still one of the best and apart from a longish walk from the car to landing it is one of the easier.  high or incoming tide preferred.  The rays were out to play today and the sea dragons didn't disappoint with a number of babies spotted toward the end of the pier.