Dive Reports – June 2024

5th of June 2024- A Solid Intro to Winter Dive

It was great to be back out at Sea today after a few days of high winds and swell. SoWild was welcomed with good conditions too, nice and fresh water and a green 10 metres of visbility. Humpback whales joined us on our journey out. As they are making their way North at the moment, we will soon be seeing heaps!

With easy eough surface conditions, we all dropped in at Shark Gutters. Not much current or surge on the top end of the island, allwoing an easy time underwater. Wow, was there some large schooling fish hanging around the gutters!! Divers spent their time blowing bubbles and swimming through big clouds of fish! Grey Nurse Sharks are also slowly making their way around the corner, with about 6 sitting off the deep side of Cleaner Station.

The surface interval came and went, and all divers dropped in again at Shark Gutters to finish up at the Gantry. Loads of Green Turtles and Eagle Rays stole the show. With a good mix of both tropical and subtropical species to see underwater, we where delighted to hear ther Humpback Whales singing softly in the back!

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 21°C
• Visibility: 10m (green)

Dive Report By Teagan

6th June 2024- Leopard Shark and Grey Nurse Shark

So wild had a “so wild” time underwater today! The day was looking good when we were escroted to South Solitary Island by a pod of 6 Humpback Whales migrating north! They wished us good luck and went on their way, but we still heard them underwater!

The south end of the island had a bit of wind, so we tucked in at Manta Arch for the first dive. 15 metres (plus?) of blue water awaited us, with about six Grey Nurse Sharks waiting for us at the bottom of the moorning line alone! With groups spilitting between the arch and the back gutter, there was an abudance of Grey Nurses to see! Another highlight were the Banded Coral shrimp, which you could find if you looked closely in the rocks!

After a surface interval, we dropped in at Shark Gutters for a drift down to South Boulder. The sun came out and the vis got up to about 20 metres, but progressively got dirtier the further south you went. A leopard Shark was sighted lying in the gap, an odd time of year to be hanging out at South Sol! Lots of schooling fish were out and about today. A MEGA massive Eagle Ray crusied by Cleaner mooring, just in front of a big Green Turtle!

Congratulations to our four new PADI Open Water Divers, Tahahni Hayden Cora and Riley! Another big congrats to Laurie whose finished up her Advanced PADI Open Water Diver Course today!

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 21°C-22°C
• Visibility: 15m-20m

Dive Report By Teagan

7th June 2024 – Clear water Brings The Grey Nurse Sharks

The reports of the visibility yesterday was getting everyone excited for todays dives and it did not disappoint!!!

Dive one had the certified divers and Advanced students in at Manta Arch where we had a rough count of 40-50 Grey Nurse Sharks, and a huge school of Barracuda! The Open Water Students got in at Cleaner Station and were lucky enough to also see 4-6 Grey Nurse there.
Wobbegongs, Black Cod, Blue Angel Fish, Moorish Idols and Nudibranchs were also spotted.

Dive two had half the group head around to the Back Gutter and half the group stayed at Cleaner Station to explore the top end.
Lots of Grey Nurse Sharks again, one lone Barracuda, Octopus, Mantis Shrimp and an ever so faint sound of singing Humpback Whales.

Congratulations to Hannah, Alex, Maddie and Nina who all finished their PADI Open Water Course today.

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 21°C
• Visibility: 30m+

Dive Report By Lindsay

8TH OF jUNE 2024- Great Vis and lots of sharks

Sowild shot out to South Solitary Island this morning for a double dive. Escorted out by a pod of humpack whales steaming north, we had nearly glass out surface coniditons and a quick trip out to sea.

First up, divers saw themselves entering the water at Manta Arch. Visbility dropped ever so slightly since yesterday, where we had about 15-20 metres of vis. While only a few Grey Nurse Sharks were actually cruising in and out of the arch, we had about a dozen sitting in the surrouding area. A frog fish was seen, along with nudibranchs if you were a diver with a keen eye!

Most of the divers got in at Cleaner Station for their first dive, swimming around to meet our Open Water Students who were again at Manta Arch. The highlight of this dive was the number of Grey Nurses that were in the back gutter. All in all, we saw probably around 40 grey nurses pon this dive- just not all in one spot like yesterday! A massive Eagle Ray was seen in the Cleaner Gutter, a Green Turtle, as well as a single Queensland Grouper!!!

Congratulations Wayne For completing your PADI Open Water Diver Course!

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 21°C-22°C
• Visibility: 15m-20m

Dive Report By Teagan

9th June 2024-GIANT CUTTLEFISH FINALLY SEEN AGAIN!

We had a glamour day out today! With a lot of familiar faces on the boat, we all had high spirits and everyone was able to do some advcanced diving!

First up, we dropped a couple of our regulars off at Archies Cave to complete ther first dive, whilst everyone else descended at Manta Arch to look for the sharks! From the mooring line, all the way down the gutter, there were sharks everywhere!!! We counted around 40 different individuals. In around 27 metres of water, a Giant Cuttlefish was spotted. We haven’t seen these in a few years so we are all super excited about this! To top off this dive, we saw a massive Eagle Ray gliding by as we were comleting our safety stop.

Our second dive was again a drop in at Manta but this time a swim through the gap and finish at the Gantry. Most divers made their way into the back gutter, finding more Grey Nurses. A lot of turtles were seen on this dive, in fact all three species we see at the siland! Hawksbill, Green, and Barney the loggerhead came to say a quick (and abrupt as always) hello! One diver even spotted a GuitarShark

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 21°C-22°C
• Visibility: 10m-20m

Dive Report By Teagan

20th June 2024 – Grey Nurse Sharks and Macro Dives

We were finally underwater again since the large swell last week. Unfortunately this has stirred up the bottom and the visibility has dropped down to about 3-5m but the marinelife on both dives was epic!
Dive one was at Manta Arch and Shark Gutters. This dive had 10-20 Grey Nurse Sharks, 2 Queensland Groupers, Banded Coral Shrimp, Nudibranchs and Moray Eels.
Dive two was a drift from Shark Gutters down to South Boulder. This dive had 3-5 Grey Nurse Sharks, big Wobbegongs, Turtles, Black Cod, schools of Bulleyes, Tarwhine and a very curious Mantis Shrimp near South Boulder mooring
Congratulations to Sarah Mae, Nick and Tracey who all finished their PADI Open Water Course today
Congratulations to Steve who finished his PADI Deep Specialty

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 20°C-21°C
• Visibility: 3m-5m

Dive Report By Lindsay

26th June 2024 – Whale Songs Underwater

Finally we were back out at South Solitary Island for some dives.
Both dives were spent on the Western side of the island due to the current and northerly breeze up the top end.
We had all the usual critters spotted today including Turtles, Wobbegongs, Banded Coral Shrimp, Nudibranchs, Lionfish, Blue Groupers, Schools of Bulleyes and Spotted stingrays and some very loud Humpback Whale singing during both dives.

Visibility 5-6m
Temp 20C

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 20°c
• Visibility: 5-6m

Dive Report By Lindsay

29th June 2024 – Sunny Saturday at South Solitary

With So Wild loaded with divers, we were greeted by much improved conditions at south solitary Island. The first dive was spent exploring the top end of the island, getting in at shark gutters the site lived up to its name with large numbers of Grey Nurse Sharks hanging around.

The current that brought the clear water was still going strong, so we took advantage of this for our second dive, drifting from shark gutters to the gantry. Eagle Rays were cruising along the boulder wall with more Grey Nurse Sharks, and The Gantry was packed with turtles.

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 21°C
• Visibility: 15m-18m

Dive Report By Bryce

30th June 2024 – 20 Metre Visibility!!

We had another magical day out at South Solitary Island!
Dive one was at Buchanan’s Wall due to the northery wind. This dive had a few Turtles, Wobbegongs, Moray Eels, Lionfish and Nudibranchs,

Dive two was a drift from Shark Gutters down to The Gantry, this dive was epic, with loads to see including 5-6 Spotted Eagle Rays, 10-12 Grey Nurse Sharks, Turtles, Black Cod, Botched Fan-Tail Rays, and numours Wobbegongs swimming about!!

Congratulations to Wesley, Inanna and Duncan who all finished their PADI Open Water Course.
Congratulations to Kate who finished her Advanced Open Water and Nitrox certifications today

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 20°C-21°C
• Visibility: 20m

Dive Report By Lindsay