Dive Reports – March 2021
Take a look at our dive reports from March 2021! We’ve detailed what we saw, the temperature and visibility, and surface conditions of the Solitary Islands in Coffs Harbour in March 2021.
Dive Reports March 2021 – Table of Contents:
1ST MARCH 2021 – BEAUTIFUL MONDAY DIVES
For today’s trips we took “2 Wild” out to South Solitary Island. It was a beautiful day on the water, incredibly blue and with amazing visibility.
On the first dive, we dropped into Manta Arch. Here excess of 20 Grey Nurse Sharks were spotted amongst some schooling fish. There was a Moray Eel, some black cod, a spanish dancer, and lots of Nudibranches.
On the second dive we headed from Shark Gutters to South Boulder. There were plenty more black cod on this dive, along with some Blue Groupers, and a few more Morays. We spotted a large Green Sea Turtle, and another large spanish dancer. There was lionfish, and a flatworm.
Congratulations to Jessica for completing her Open Water Diver Course! Great work Jess 🙂
Today’s picture is of Tara B, taken by Shop-Lady Tara! 🙂
Conditions Report:
- Temperature: 25°C-26°C
- Visibility: 20m
Dive Report by Tara
5th March 2021 – Fabulous Friday
Today we took 2 Wild out to South Solitary for a double dive, with clear and calm conditions awaiting us.
For the first dive, we checked out Manta Arch. Approximately 15 Grey Nurse Sharks were in the Arch, a Leopard Shark was spotted crusing around, Black Cod, Nudibranchs, and Wobbegongs, along with schooling Travelly, and Tarwhine.
The second dive all divers did a drift dive starting off at Cleaner Station and finishing up at South Boulder Mooring. During this dive, divers spotted Eagle Rays, a Blue Ringed Octopus, a few Green Sea Turtles, a Queensland Grouper, Wobbegongs. In addition the boulder wall was buzzing with fish life throughout the entirety of the dive.
Conditions Report:
- Temperature: 24°C
- Visibility: 20m+
Dive Report by
7th March 2021 – Great Diving at South Solitary
Conditions were not as forecasted this morning, as the swell had dropped dramatically allowing 2 Wild to head to South Solitary for a double dive.
For the first dive we had some divers roll in at Manta Arch, and the rest of the divers jumped in at Cleaner Station. Highlights from these dives include a Leopard Shark at both Manta Arch and at Cleaner Station, 15 + Grey Nurse Sharks at the arch, Spotted Eagle Rays, Wobbegong Sharks, a Queensland Grouper, Lionfish, and Green Sea Turtles.
For the second dive, all divers rolled in at Shark Gutters and finished up at South Boulder Mooring. During this gentle drift divers saw more Eagle Rays, Bull Rays, Moray Eels, Wobbegongs, Nudibranchs, Green Sea and Loggerhead Turtles.
Conditions Report:
- Temperature: 25°C
- Visibility: 15m-20m
Dive Report by Tara
8th March 2021 – Dolphins and Barry The Budda
The rather bumpy ride out to South Solitary Island was put on hold as we had a huge pod of dolphins come and check us out, once arrived and underwater everyone had a great time.
Dive one was at Manta Arch. We had the Arch surrounded with schooling fish and about 15-20 Sharks, out onto the sand we passively interacted with a Mantis Shrimp and a few huge Wobbegongs around the mooring.
Dive two was at Buchanan’s Wall as this was very protected from the NE wind. We had Bull rays, Nudibranchs, Lionfish, Blue Gropers, schools of Tarwhine and our group finally found Barry the Budda!!
Photo taken of Barry today by Cassie!!
Conditions Report:
- Temperature: 25°C
- Visibility: 10m-12m
Dive Report by Lindsay
9th March 2021 – Loads of variety at South Solitary
Both boats travelled out to South Solitary Island today for some more diving action!
For the first dive we had one boat roll in at Buchanans Wall, and another boat jump in at Manta Arch and swim through the Gap and finished up at The Gantry. During these dives we saw Eagle Rays and Grey Nurse Sharks at Manta Arch, a Green Sea Turtle which was unfortuntely missing a fin 🙁 along with Moray Eels, Blue Grouper, Nudibranchs, and Wobbegongs at Buchannans Wall.
The second dive we had one group stay up at the top end exploring Cleaner Station and Shark Gutters, whereas the other boat dived from The Gantry to Buchanans Wall. Highlights from these dives include a Leopard Shark, Green Sea Turtles, an Octopus, Numb Rays, more Moray Eels, and more friendly Blue Groupers.
Conditions Report:
- Temperature: 25°C
- Visibility: 10m-12m
Dive Report by Tara
10th March 2021 – Wednesday on the Water
Today we took both boats out again to South Solitary for our Double Dive where visibility had improved! The water was more blue and we could see the bottom from the boat.
2Wild headed out first and took their first dive at Manta Arch, whilst Wildfin headed from Cleaner Station to Shark Gutters. At Manta Arch, half a dozen Grey Nurse Sharks we’re spotted, there were wobbeygongs, black cod, moray eels, and even a blue ring octopus. For wildfin’s dive they saw eagle rays, lots of different Nudibranches, and pufferfish. They also spotted a cuttlefish and a spanish dancer, some lionfish and a turtle.
For the second dive Wildfin headed from Cleaner to the Gantry, Whilst 2Wild dived Shark Gutters to Cleaner Station. Wildfin’s divers saw more eagle rays, bull rays, and two leopard sharks. There were many turtles, mantis shrimp, some nudibranches and moray eels. 2 Wild also saw some moray eels, along with octopus, eagle rays and a really large bull ray. They also spotted a banded coral shrimp, and a lionfish.
Conditions Report:
- Temperature: 25°C
- Visibility: 10m-15m
Dive Report by Tara
11th March 2021 – Blue Water and Leopard Sharks
We were welcomed with beautiful blue water this morning at South Solitary Island and the water temp was a balmy 25C!
Dive one was at Buchanan’s Wall and you could see the Eagle Rays on the bottom under the boat as everyone rolled in. We had a few Green Sea Turtles, Schools of Tarwhine and Bullseyes.
Dive two was an epic drift dive from Shark Gutters down to The Gantry. We had Bull rays, Black Cod, Turtles, a 2-3m Queensland Grouper, Octopus and 3-4 Leopard Sharks.
Photo today was Josie with a chilled-out Leopard Shark near South Boulder.
Conditions Report:
- Temperature: 24°C-26°C
- Visibility: 24m-30m
Dive Report by Lindsay
13th March 2021 – Sunny Shark Saturday
Today the weather conditions were thankfully better then predicted and we got out for a magnificent dive at South Solitary Island!
For the first dive our boat of divers hopped in at Manta Arch to finish the dive at The Gantry. The visibility here was beautiful and our divers saw plenty of Grey Nurse Sharks in the arch, wobbeygongs and Bull Rays, along with some Turtles. The highlight of this dive was swimming through the gap, passing by schooling fish.
On the second dive, we headed from Cleaner Station to The Gantry. Here a friendly leopard shark was spotted, along with some Eagle Rays. More bull rays were spotted, along with schooling fish, and Nudibranches.
Today’s Dive Report image is of a leopard shark taken by Heidi. If you want to see footage of it cruising through the water check out our instagram and facebook pages.
Conditions Report:
- Temperature: 25°C
- Visibility: 20m-25m
Dive Report by Tara
25th March 2021 – Eels Everywhere!
After the wild weather of the past week, we rejoiced the clear skies and calmer seas and headed out on “2 Wild” for a double dive!
For the first dive we headed out to Shark Gutters, exploring cleaner station too. Here we saw a very friendly blotched fantail ray , along with a few BlueSpotted Ribbontail Rays. There were huge amounts of schooling fish, an octopus just before Cleaner Station Cave. We spotted a few wobbeygongs, blue grouper, and a spanish dancer too.
In the surface interval a large turtle was taking a few breaths at the surface a few times, and we decided to head to the Gantry and The Gap in hopes of seeing some more.
At the Gantry, Barney was spotted, along with a Green Sea Turtle. There were heaps of Moray Eels, and even a few Abbott’s Moray Eels (They feature as today’s Dive Report Picture!). There were clownfish and Blue Tangs among other schooling fish. Some Nudibranches were spotted, and another Spanish Dancer. We also saw 2 Wobbeygongs!
Conditions Report:
- Temperature: 23°C-24°C
- Visibility: 5m-10m
Dive Report by
27th March 2021 – Wonder Down Under!!
Both boats travelled to South Solitary in no time, as we were greeted with a nice calm sea.
On “Wildfin” we had a group of divers from Dive Centre Manly, whereas on “2 Wild” we had a mix of local and other divers keen to check out what South Solitary has to offer. The first 5-10m down the visibility was quite poor, but down at the bottom it was surprisinly clear and all dives were buzzing with life.
Dive 1 for Wildfin was at Manta Arch. Lot’s of Grey Nurse Sharks were in the arch, Green Sea Turtles, Numb Rays, Eagle Rays, and Black Cod, in addition to constant scholling fish. 2 Wild rolled in at Cleaner Station, where they also saw a Numb Ray, a large male Grey Nurse Shark, Wobbegong Sharks, Nudibranchs, and tonnes of fish life.
Dive 2 we had both boats do a drift from the top end down to The Gantry. During these dives we had countless Ray’s ranging from Blotched Fantail Ray’s, to spotted Eagle Ray’s, to tiny Blue Spotted Ray’s. We also spotted Lionfish, a Queensland Grouper, Green Sea Turtles, loads of Wobbegong Sharks, Moray Eels, a baby Cuttlefish, Crayfish, and once again great fish life throughout the entirety of the dives.
Conditions Report:
- Temperature: 23°C
- Visibility: 8m-12m
Dive Report by Tara
28th March 2021 – Great weather for North Solitary
A lovely day for the longer trip to North Solitary. It proved to be similar conditions to South Solitary Island, in fact , South Solitary Island yesterday had better visibility. 2 dives at North Solitary and a look at North West Solitary on the way home was on the agenda.
Dive 1 today was at Anemone Bay, and amongst the masses of Anemone fish, they had turtles, large Blotched Fantail Rays, a few nudibranchs and Egg Cowrie shells.
Dive 2 was at Fish Soup, and was relatively short with a bit of current, but they had, along with the masses of fish, more Rays, nudibranchs and even a sea hare.
Dive 3 was better at North West Solitary Island, with a little better visibility. Wobbegongs, Rays and lots of fish as well as a few turtles. They were searching for Manta Rays but none were spotted.
Visibility was only 5 mtrs at North Solitary, but better with 10 Mtrs at North West Solitary Island.
Conditions Report:
- Temperature: 23°C-24°C
- Visibility: 5m-10m
Dive Report by Mike
29th March 2021 – Beautiful Dives!
Today we headed out on Wild Fin with our group from Dive Centre Manly for their last day of diving with Jetty Dive!
After a quick trip to South Solitary Island, our divers hopped in at Shark Gutters. Here they spotted Blue Groper, some Blotched Fantail Ray’s, and plenty of Black Cod. We spotted some Grey Nurse Sharks, along with a wobbeygong swimming along. There was a little spanish dancer, along with some Nudibranches and a beautiful flatworm.
For the second dive we dropped back into Shark Gutters. There were more Blotched Fantail Rays, Grey Nurse, and Black Cod on this dive, but our divers noted the huge amounts of schooling fishlife everywhere. There was a mantis shrimp, an octopus, and a pineapple fish, along with another active Wobbeygong and some nudibranches.
Conditions Report:
- Temperature: 22°C-24°c
- Visibility: 10m-12m
Dive Report by Tara
Conditions Report:
- Temperature:
- Visibility:
Dive Report by
