Dive Reports – July & August 2024

12th July 2024 – Fishy Friday

South Solitary Island greated us with an abundance of marine life today, both dives had loads to see even though the visibility was down a tad due to the increasing swell.

Dive one was at Buchanan’s Wall, this had schools of sweep and Pomfreds in mid water, Lionfish, Eels, Wobbegongs and a curious Eastern Blue Grouper.

Dive two was a drift from the top end around to The Gantry, the top end had only a few Grey Nurse Sharks which could of been because of the large swell generating. We had a few Eagle Rays, Kingfish, Turtles, Blue Tangs and Morish Idols as well. The singing Humpback Whales was the highlight of both dives today for sure.

Congratulations to Andrew, Lily and Aiden Starr who all finished their PADI Scuba Diver Course today.

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 20°C
• Visibility: 8m-10m

Dive Report By Lindsay

19th July 2024 – winter water “blues”

After a week out of the water we were beyond excited to get out to the islands! And we were even more excited to see the blue, clear water waiting for us!

For our first dive we dropped into Shark Gutters, and on the second we headed from Shark Gutters to The Gantry. We saw schooling fish, Wobbegongs, Moray Eels and lionfish. We had both Spotted Eagle Rays (about 5!) and Bullrays. There were a few Grey Nurse Sharks, and a couple of friendly turtles. We also saw plenty of Nudibranches, and our usual friendly Blue Gropers.

Overall the conditions were lovely, and we were so happy to be out diving again!

Check out our instagram for some gorgeous footage of the turtles from today, thanks to Dani!

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 19°C
• Visibility: 20m

Dive Report By Tara

20th July 2024 – Grey Nurse Shark Galore

We had a small crew of keen divers head out to South Solitary Island this morning!

Dive one had to be at Manta Arch due to the brisk Westerly wind, the dive around Manta Arch and the back gutter had a huge amount of Grey Nurse Sharks, schools of Tarwhine, Moray Eels and Nudibranchs.

Dive two was a drift from Manta Arch through the Gap to The Gantry. This dive was awesome and there was roughly 30 Grey Nurse Sharks in the Gap itself, plenty of Turtles on the shallow side near The Gantry, Wobbegongs and some very loud singing Humpback Whales.

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 18-19°C
• Visibility: 20-25m

Dive Report By Lindsay

27th July 2024- Super Saturday at South SOl

SoWild had a great group of divers on the boat today, heading out to South Solitary for a couple of awesome double dives!!

First up divers jumped in at The gantry, as the northerly wind made the top end slightly choppy. Visbility was great and everyone had a lot to see, including Barney the local turtle! Alongside Barney were a few more Green Sea Turtles, two (potentially mating?) Octopus, lionfish, and heaps of schooling fish that surrounded our whole dive.

After some tea and coffee to keep us warm on the surface, we geared up and jumped back in for a second dive. This time we entered at Shark Gutters and drifted on down to The Gantry. Grey Nurse Sharks were the highlight of this dive, as there were loooooads just past the third gutter on top of boulder wall. An estimated 30+ were seen on the boulder wall alone! Blue Spiny Lobster, A massive Black Cod, tons of Eagle Rays, and itty bitty nudibranchs were also spotted!

A massive congratualtions to Kalinda for completeing her PADI Open Water Diver Course!

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 18°C
• Visibility: 10m-20m

Dive Report By Teagan Anderson

4th August 2024- First Dive of August!

After a week out o the water, SoWild saw the opportunity with calmer seas to head out to South Solitary for a double dive! Upon arrival to the island, we saw two humpback whales crusing south past the island- giving us a sign of good dives ahead!

SoWild saw divers getting into Shark Gutters for their first dive. A juvenile Grey Nurse Shark was lingering around the bottom of the mooring, and shortly after we saw a massive prgenant female inside of the the gutter! An adult Semicirculatus was seen in the back of the third gutter, a Green Turtle having a mid morning snooze in the back of cleaner cave, and a Bull Ray around Boulder Wall.

After a warm surface inteval drinking teas and soups, all divers jumped in at Cleaner Station moorning for a drift to South Boulder. A few more Grey Nurse Sharks were seen, two very curious and laid-back White Spotted Eagle Rays, a couple Lion Fish, some active Wobbegongs, and lots of defferent species of schooling fish!!

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 18.4°C
• Visibility: 5m-8m

Dive Report By Teagan

9th August 2024- Vis is down but quality of dive is high!

SoWild had a great day out at South Solitary Island, with a small group of divers venturing out for a lovely couple of dives!

With a South Westerly wind hitting the light, the top end of the island made for perfect conditions! All certified divers entered the water at Manta Arch, hoping to find some Grey Nurse Sharks! Whilst there weren’t many sharks in the arch itself, there were a heap hanging out just past the mooring at Cleaner Station! The rest of the group entered the water at Cleaner, where a massive Eagle Ray was seen cruising by! Small “clusters” of Lion Fish were seen, 3 sitting together on Boulder Wall and 3 sitting together inside of Cleaner Station.

No one wanted any soup.. which doesn’t happen almost ever! The sun must have been strong enough to warm everyone on the surface interval! After an hour or so, we jumped back in at Shark Gutters.

Loads of Grey Nurse Sharks were seen outside of the Sanctuary Marker, staying out relatively wide on this day! Lots of Moray Eels were seen, however they were all outside of the rock crevasses swimming freely. A massive Queensland Grouper was seen as well as heaps of Black Cod. Some big king fish chasing a school of fish was a nice sight to watch, as well as all of the little critters like nudibranchs the like! Dolphins swam over the divers at the end of the dive, if only they looked up!

Conditions report: 5-8 metres vis and 18°C temperature

Congratulations Ella and Charlotte on completing your PADI Open Water Diver course!

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 18°C
• Visibility: 5m-8m

Dive Report By Teagan

10th August-Lots of Pregnant Grey Nurse Sharks

Today we shot out to South Solitary Island on SoWild with a group of divers. Our sweet saturday was filled with lots of good times underwater shared with some amazing dive buddies! The top end of the island was best suited for out group, as the winds and the swell were affecting around the corner.

Dive one saw a group of divers jumping in the water at Manta Arch to swim around and meet the other group at Cleaner Station. Opposite to yesterday, loads of Grey Nurse Sharks were seen! Especially tons of really massive Females who look tired from carrying bubba! A Half-circled Angelfish was seen in one of the gutters as well as lion fish. Regular diver Craig sighted a never before seen (at the island) nudibranch called Tambja sp. 1

A Humpback Whale traveling South was seen on the surface interval while we were tied up to the mooring. It came soooo close to the boat and gave everyone a great smile!

Dive two was a dive around the top end, dropping in at Shark Gutters. Everyone new to the area soon realised why it’s actually called “shark gutters”, and thats because it lived up to its name today! A really large school of Silver Sweep were seen both on descent and ascent, encompassing all divers on the line! Some usual marine life was seen, like Spotted Eagle Rays, White Eyed Moray Eels, and Wobbegongs.

A MASSIVE congratulations to Darlene! She completed her PADI Open Water Dive Course today!

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 18°C
• Visibility: 8m

Dive Report By Teagan

11th August 2024- Vis is back

After a few days with low visibility, the southerly swell and wind brought back some half decent blue water! “So Wild” packed with a full boat this morning and went out for a double dive at the lighthouse!

Although surface conditions weren’t the nicest of times, underwater was amazing!! Everyone descended at Shark Gutters for their first dive! Lots of Grey Nurses weere crusing around out wide, whilst a few large (and pregnant?) females stayed shallow in the gutters. Green Turtles were also everywhere as well as a Bobtail Squid.

Dive two was also on the top end at Shark Gutters. Tons of White Eyed Moray Eels, more Grey Nurse Sharks, Spotted Eagle Ray, Schooling Sweep, Old Wives and Moorish Idols, a more than normal amount of Blue Groper, and Nudibranchs. It was a lot more lovely unerwater than it was on the surface! Happy diving!!!!

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 18°C
• Visibility: 10m-15m

Dive Report By Teagan

17th August 2024- Sharks, Rays, and Blue Water!

“So Wild” packed up and headed out to South Solitary for a double dive. The wind was coming in from the NW so the only protected site at South Solitary Island was Manta Arch. However, we were keen to jump in to some blue water!

Dive one saw everyone getting in at Manta Arch, pleased to see the visibility has drastically improved. Sitting around 20+ in some blue water!! Swimming around to the back gutter, there were 50+ Grey Nurse Sharks. All jammed packed, some were very inquisitive and curious about our divers. A Lion Fish was seen flashing its colors in the middle of the gutter along with some Black Cod and Nudibranchs.

Second up was Shark Gutters to South Boulder. This was a beautiful dive, with the highlight being 10+ Spotted Eagle Rays. Bull Rays, more Grey Nurse Shark, and a Queensland Groper. The adult Semi Circle Angel Fish has been hanging around, and we also saw lots of long nose Angel Fish! The Humpback Whales sounded rather close to us under water, their songs were so loud!!!

Congratulations Adelayde for completing your PADI Open Water Diver Course!

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 19.7°C
• Visibility: 20m

Dive Report By Teagan

24th August 2024 – Super South Solitary

We finally got out for a dive trip today to South Solitary Island.
Everyone got in at Manta Arch for dive one to head around and explore the Back Gutter, once the groups arrived, they were welcomed by 15-20 Grey Nurse Sharks!! There were also schools of Travelly around the Arch some large Green Sea Turtles and plenty of nudibranchs.
Dive two was a drift from Cleaner Station down to South Boulder, this dive had lots of schooling fish around North Boulder, Turtles, Blue Angle Fish, Blue Spotted Rays and heaps of Bull Rays down the wall.

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 19°C
• Visibility: 20m

Dive Report By Lindsay

25th August 2024 – Potential Hammerhead?

To finish off a fantastic and busy weekend at Jetty Dive, “So Wild” packed up this morning and shot out for a great couple of dives at South Solitary Island! 

With a mixed group of divers and certified divers, everyone dropped in at The Gantry for their first dive! Upon descent, our group of students and their instructor saw a possible Great Hammerhead Shark swimming out wide off of 5 metre rock! An unusual sighting at this time of year but not impossible! A massive male Green Sea Turtle was seen, along with a few other small ones. A lion fish, a large Octopus, and loads of White Eyed were seen swimming outside of their usual hiding spots in the rocks! 

Making the most of the conditions, everyone descended at Shark Gutters on their second dive for a drift down to South Boulder. Grey Nurse Sharks were everywhere, approximately 20 in total around the top end! A few Wobbegongs were seen cruising around, next to some Bull Rays, Nudibranchs, a Green Moray Eel, and a Semi Circle Angel Fish! 

On our venture back to land, we came across “Mega Wild” who was following a pod of Humpback Whales who were on a heat run! Approximately 10 whales were in this pod, believed to be chasing a female! 

Congratulations Eva and Francesca who completed their PADI Open Water Diver Course today! 

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 19°C
• Visibility: 20m

Dive Report By Teagan

31st August 2024 – Sealy Saturday

With our boat load of divers keen to escape the heat we headed out to South Solitary this morning for a double dive! Once we arrived at South Solitary today we were surprised by a big Fur Seal sunbaking up on South Solitary Island!

For the first dive we dropped in at Manta Arch. This dive was filled with schooling fishlife, plenty of nudibranches, and a few turtles.

The second dive was action packed with a drift from Shark Gutters to The Gantry. In the swim through divers saw plenty of Grey Nurse Sharks, while other divers saw 8-10 Grey Nurses. They also saw loads of Green Sea Turtles as they cruised past boulder wall, and some big bull rays!

Conditions Report:

Air Temperature: 34°C for the last day of winter!

• Temperature: 19°C
• Visibility: 10m-15m

Dive Report By Tara