Lord Howe Island trip March 2017 Report

Lord Howe Island trip report

4th – 11th March 2017

World Heritage Listed Lord Howe Island

Lord Howe Island is an easy 2 hour flight from Sydney, Brisbane or Port Macquarie and is approximately the same Latitude as Coffs Harbour. The Island offers treasures to see both above and below the water, so the trip Ideally suits divers and non-divers. The scenery is just spectacular and is one place you must see.

8 Dives planned but just did 6.

The trip included 4 days of diving around the local area with Pro-Dive Lord Howe aboard their new boat. We were hoping to dive the legendary Balls Pyramid too. We were unfortunate to get a weather pattern that stopped us diving the last two days of our trip. Knowing that it could do this, we opted to do 3 dives a day in the first two days of diving.

Great Diving

Lord Howe is unique in the terrain and the blend of fish-life. Like Coffs Harbour and the Solitary Islands, it has a mix of Tropical and Sub-tropical fish, and because of it’s isolation, species of fish that are only seen in that area.

Our 6 dives were in a variety of sites, with some lovely corals and fish in the Admiralty Islands on the northern end, to the spectacular open cave at Cathedral Cave  and swim throughs at The Arch. Even the dives inside the lagoon at Erscotts Hole had amazing amount of fishlife.

Our group took the bad weather in their stride and used the time out of the water to explore the walking tracks and panoramic views that this remote island offered.

Dining together, the whole group had a great time socializing, as you can do on trips like this. Whilst we all would have loved to dive more, no one missed out on this trip as there was always something to do. Most said they will be back to try again!

Pristine Island landscape, untouched underwater marine life.

Lord Howe Island management govern the number of visitors to the island at any one time, you will feel like it’s not crowded.  The diving, whilst having a similar mix of marine life to the Solitary Islands, has a lot of different corals and fish compared to our waters, like the Galapagos Shark and the rare Ballina Angelfish. The Pro Dive dive boat takes you to local sites, quite often just minutes from the lagoon. With the size of the island, the size of the aircraft is small, so baggage is limited. Pro Dive does include all equipment if you don’t wish to bring your own.