Dive Reports – April & May 2024

1st April 2024- Manta Rays?

Happy 1st of April, aka April Fools Day. We had a lovely start of the month today, where MegaWild shot out for a double dive and SoWild went for a lovely morning snorkel! Upon arrival, we had very similar conditions to what we’ve had the past week.

Our snorkelers had a lovely crusie around the whole island, starting from the very top end and swimming all the way down past the Gantry. They saw all sorts of marine life, including Grey Nurse Sharks in the Back Gutter as well as Leopard Sharks and all sorts of rays.

First up for MegaWild and its divers, everyone descended at Buchanans Wall for a lovely swim up and down the wall. April Fools day and its jokes aside, Julz our dive master and her group saw the tail end of two Manta Rays swimming past Cable Trail! Pictures to come (but if they dont.. maybe it was a joke!!). Other marine life seen were Cuttlefish, Turtles, Nudibranchs, and Blue Tangs.

After a rainy surface inteval, we were already wet so we decided to get back in. We descended at Clenaer Station for a drift down to the Gantry. 6 Leopard Sharks were seen, all very friendly and curious around the Cleaner Station Mooring. Eagle Rays are still out and about in full swing, swimming everywhere along the boulder wall and showing off their beautiful white spots! Lots of bull rays were seen, along with plenty of Eastern Sting Rays. We can just say this dive was all about the sharks and rays!

Congratulations Jo, Ned, and Stewart for completing your PADI Advanced Open Water Diver Course!!

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 25°C
• Visibility: 35m+

Dive Report By: Teagan

13TH APRIL 2024- TOP SATURDAY AT SOUTH SOLITARY ISLAND

It was great to get back out today after all the rough seas and strong winds. Conditions are looking good too, with nice warm 24c water and a slightly milky 15-20mtrs visibility. Our raging current is now gone, so the diving at Shark Gutters to South Boulder was a nice easy run. Plenty to see with Eagle rays as a highlight.

Dive 2 was South Boulder to North Boulder and then back to the Gantry, in search of Leopard Sharks. One of the groups caught sight of one in the Gap area, with the odd turtle around and Black Cod out and about. Very pleasant diving with the surge easing as the day went on.

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 24°c
• Visibility: 15m-250m

Dive Report By Mike

14th April 2024- Double Island Sunday Funday!

We had a cracker weekend and topped it off with two dive trips going out! SoWild packed up to shot northbound to North Solitay for a double dive, while MegaWild loaded up and headed out to South Solitary. Both trips were nice and easy, with calm seas and good company!

South Solitary surface conditions were great, where we had minimal chop which made for an easy entrace and exit. The visibility did drop slightly overnight, however there was still minimal current underwater. With the top end looking inviting, everyone rolled in at Shark Gutters for their first dive to explore the ins and outs of the gutters. Our second dive was a drift, with divers entering the water at South Boulder and swimming down to The Gantry. There was a lot to see on this dive, highlights being Leopard Sharks and Spotted Eagle Rays. Gold Egg Cowries, Bull Rays, schooling fish, and a Mantis Shrimp. Visibility was around 7-10 metres and the water temperature sat at a comfortable 24°C

So Wild made it to North Solitary in good time. Similar conditions were seen at North, calm surface and minimal underwater current. As always, everybody had a couple of beautiful dives! Divers were able to cruise around Anenome Bay for their first dive, while the second dive was spent in Elbow Cave. The most notable marine creature seen was a 2 metre (??) Great Barracuda that was lingering behind two of our regular divers, lucky them! A Leopard Shark was seen near the surface, so the recent winds havent scared them away! Other notable marine life seen were the numerous Anenome Fish in and around Anenome Bay, as well as lots of colourful Nudibranchs. Visbility was also 7-10 metres and 24°C in the water.

Congratulations Lindy for completing your PADI Open Water Diver Course!

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: South Sol: 24°C North Solitary: 24°C
• Visibility: North Solitary: 7m-10m, North Solitary: 7m-10m

Dive Report By Teagan

16th April – Leopard and Grey Nurse sharks in one dive

We started today’s diving at Manta Arch with 6 or more Grey Nurse in the Back Gutter and finished that dive with 5 Leopard Sharks around Cleaner Station. Amongst the abundant schools of fish a school of Barracuda circled the divers as well.

Dive 2 was from Cleaner Station to the Gantry with again a few leopard sharks along Boulder Wall. Again the dive had large schools of Tarwhine and Silver Trevally with the odd huge Black Cod.

Visibility was at least 15 mtrs with the odd patch of clearer water on the northern end of South Solitary Island.

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 23.5°C – 24°C
• Visibility: 15m

Dive Report By Mike

18th April 2024-Blue Water, Leopards and Eagle Rays

We were welcomed to beautiful, blue and warm water today at South Solitary Island.
Dive one was at the northern end around Cleaner Station and Shark Gutters. This dive had huge schools of fish out in the deeper water, a Mantis Shrimp, Octopus and a huge Queensland Grouper out near the Santuary marker.

Dive two was a one way swim from Shark Gutter down to The Gantry, although there was no current at all it was a very relaxing swim along Boulder wall.
We spotted 5-6 Eagle Rays, 4 Leopard Sharks, Turtles near the gap, Nudibranchs, and schools of travelly around North boulder.

We also had a bit of an adventure on our hands today with the reports that a Grey Nurse Shark was spotted with a 8-10m rope stuck in its mouth. This had a crew from Gold Coast Sea World heading down to get the rope out, our job was to attach a rope to the rope attached to the shark with a flaot so the Sea Wold crew can bring it up and remove the rope. Unfortunatley we could not find this Grey Nurse Shark all morning so fingers crossed it has got the rope out and is recovering.

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 24°C
• Visibility: 25m-30m

Dive Report By:

24th April 2024- Turtley Time and Fun Dives

After nearly a week out of the water, today we jumped on SoWild and headed out to South Solitary before its forecasted to be windy the next few days. We had a cruisy ride out, with minimal swell and low winds.

The top end of the island looked like good condtions, so everyone descended at Shark Gutters to explore the gutters. We had a great time, with loads of marine life to see! The large amounts of schooling fish really stole the show, while they were building thick walls we had to swim through! Two White Spotted Eagle rays were gliding past the Shark Gutters mooring line, which was definetely a highlight.

After a surface interval, we moved down to South Boulder and let the current push us down to The Gantry. With just the right amount of current, we barely needed to do anything but sit back and watch the show! After making our way into The Gap, we were greeted with 4 or 5 Green Sea Turtles. One of them was extremely curious/friendly and stayed with us for the whole dive. Other notable life seen were Octopus, Nudibranchs, Abbots Eels, and Coral Banded Shrimp.

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 23°C
• Visibility: 7m-10m

Dive Report By Teagan

28th April 2024- Beautiful Sunday

We had an epic time diving South Solitary Island, with both SoWild and MegaWild shooting out this morning.

Both boats did very similar dives. The first dive took place at Shark Gutters, where all divers and students dropped in to see what they could find! We had some nice interactions underwater today, one of the highlights being the massive Loggerhead and Green Sea Turtle that cruised around our divers for a short while outside of the Third Gutter. Other notable highlights were the “Mango Smoothie Nudi”‘s (as named by our dive master heidi), and a few small White Spotted Eagle Rays!

The sun came out on the surface interval, which sent everyone into high spirits and we were ready to dive again!

Our second dive was a nice little swim, where we descended again at Shark Gutters and cruised down to South Boulder! The Boulder wall had loads of schooling fish, which is always lovely to be surrounded by! Some big Black Cod were seen swimming out in the open, along with a Spiny Lobster that is usually hiding in the rocks. Cuttlefish and Octopus were also seen!

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 24°C
• Visibility: 20m

Dive Report By Teagan Anderson

5th May 2024- Shark Sunday

After a few days of high winds, we finished the weekend with a group of epic divers heading out to South Solitary for a double dive!

A group of experienced divers dropped in at Manta Arch for a swim around to Shark Gutters, where the rest of our divers were. The top end of the island was lovely today! With lots of schooling fish, some including Pomfrets, Surgeon Fish, and Stripeys. We were lucky enough to see 20+ Grey Nurse Sharks and a couple Leopard Sharks in the same dive. Unfortunately, the same Grey Nurse Sharks we saw last week with 10+ metres of fishing line was seen again today. This is a gentle reminder to please leave the ocean cleaner than you found it and be smart when using fishing equipment! There was another lonesome Grey Nurse Shark that was seen at the Boulder Wall, signs that they will slowly be moving out of just the Manta Arch as the water cools down!

After a surface interval chit chatting about what was seen udnerwater, we again descended for our second dive! One group dropped at Manta Arch to sus out the Back Gutter and Gap, whilst the others drifted from Cleaner Station to South Boulder. There was lots to see on this dive. Grey Nurse Sharks, Leopard Sharks, massive Wobbegongs (the biggest ive seen!!), Octopus and Cuttlefish, Moorish Idols and Blue Tangs, Green Sea Turtles, lots of Black Cod, and loads of nudibranchs were seen on this dive.

A massive congrats to Leigh who was certified today as a PADI Open Water Diver!!

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 22°C-23°C
• Visibility: 20m-25m

Dive Report By Teagan

9th May 2024 – South and South West Solitary Dives

We had reports that the visibility was good so we ventureed out to South Solitary Island for dive one.
The surface conditions were a little rough but under water was spectacular! There was 10-12 Grey NUrse Sharks at Manta Arch, Schools of fish around Cleaner Station, Turtles, Black Cod, a Mantis Shrimp, Nudibranchs, 2-3 beautiful Lionfish and a huge school of Barracuda.
Dive two we decided to go to South West Solitary Island as the surface conditions started to worsen.
This dive was like Fish Soup and the visibility was still about 15m. There was huge schools of Travelly, Surgeon Fish and Bullseyes, there was a few Nudis, Lionfish and Painted Crayfish

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 23°C
• Visibility: 15m-20m

Dive Report By Lindsay

10th May 2024- CHEC Open Water Students

This morning, MegaWild ventured out to South-West Solitary Island for a double dive. We were joined by nearly 20 students, all of whom are completing their Open Water Course through Coffs Harbour Education Campus (CHEC) in the Marine Studies Program.

With surface conditions easing slightly, we had a quick trip out and were able to get in the water easily. First up, we descended at Coral Gardens. After a surface interval, we were able to get in at Crazy Maze despite the surge. Lots of active Wobbegongs were out and about, coming from behind the rocks. Schooling fish covered most of the dive site, along with colourful nudibranchs, Painted Crayfish, Moorish Idols, and Banded Coral Shrimp. Blue Gropers, Anenome Fish, and Old Wives were amongst the most sighted today. Cuttlefish and Octopus were also a highlight today!!!

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 23°C
• Visibility: 15m

Dive Report By Teagan

12th May 2024 – Leopard Sharks Still at South Solitary

The seas had calmed down enough to get out to South Solitary Island for our dives.
Dive one was at Buchanans Wall, this dive had a massive abundance of fish life at the mooring and towards the island. There was a couple Turtles, Nudibranchs, a little Yellow Box Fish and a Batfish hanging around the mooring.
Dive two had divers get in at Shark Gutters and make their way down to The Gantry while the students did their Rescue and Open Water dives in the shallows.
Bullrays, Wobbegongs, Bluetangs were some of the life seen and we had a group of divers that were lucky to see a Leopard Shark near South Boulder.
Congratulations to Indigo who finished her PADI Open Water Course today and congratulations to Ty, Troy and Addison who finished there Rescue Diver Course too.

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 23°C
• Visibility: 15m

Dive Report By Lindsay

16th May 2024- Calm Before The Storm

With wind and swell forecasted to pick up over the next few days, SoWild ventured out to South Solitary Island this morning to enjoy some diving while we can!

The top end of the island had lovely surface conditions, so half of our group descended at Manta Arch to meet the other half at Cleaner Station! In the transition from Summer into Winter, we were fortunate enough to see a dozen Grey Nurse Sharks in the arch and surrounds! There was also two seen on the deeper end of Cleaner Station Mooring. Abbots and Moray Eels were seen hiding in the rocks, along with Mantis Shrimp, a decorated crab, and of course Nudibranchs!

Our second dive was a cruisey swim through the gutters, starting at Cleaner Station and working our way down to the Third Gutter. Loads of marine critters were seen today, some highlights being exceptionally large Green Sea Turtles. Other noteworthy animals we saw were numerous Octopus and Cuttlefish, and soaring White Spotted Eagle Rays!

Congratulations Blake, who finished his PADI Open Water Dive Course this morning! Good job!

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 21°C
• Visibility: 8m-10m

Dive Report By Teagan

17th May 2024 – Coffs Senior College Certified

We had Seventeen students from the Coffs Harbour Senior College on board today doing dives towards their Open Water and Advanced Open Water certifications!

Dive one was at Cleaner Station and all students were welcomed to 6-8 Grey Nurse Sharks at the bottom, after skills were completed, our groups went in search of other intresting things and found lots of Wobbegongs, Schools of Tarwhine and Surgeon Fish and a Mantis Shrimp.

Dive two was at Shark Gutters and the life underwater was about the same but we all knew where the Grey nurse were this time so all divers went in search and got some epic close up encounters. There was also a few Turtles, lots of Nudibranchs and some very pretty Lionfish.

Congratulations to Jewel, Fern, Mitch, Finn, Ayla, Tara, Lily, Stanley and Quinn who all finished their PADI Open Water Diver Course.

Visibility 8-10m
Temp 22-23C

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 8m-10m
• Visibility: 22°C-23°C

Dive Report By Lindsay

24th MAY 2024-BIG AND LITTLE AT THE LIGHTHOUSE!

We had a lovely Friday morning at South Solitary Island! With conditions easing slightly, our small group of divers had plenty to see and enjoy underwater on our double dive!

First up, divers entered the water at Shark Gutters. Upon descent, divers were greeted with a very large Male Grey Nurse Shark! Most divers kept this dive on the deeper side, on the search to find more Grey Nurse Sharks! While we did find a few, some other interesting critters from the dive included a Juvenile SemiCircle Angelfish, HoneyComb Moray Eel, and loads of active Wobbegongs!

Dive two was amazing! Again, all divers got in at Shark Gutters but this time we drifted to South Boulder! We saw loads, and all of our divers were buzzing afterwards. Anywhere from 10-15 White Spotted Eagle Rays crusing up and down the Boulder Wall. Three different (and very large) Green Turtles were seen around the Gap in the island. Blue Lobster, Black Cod, and the ittist bittiest NudiBranch was find by our diver, Craig!

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 21°C-23°C
• Visibility: 8m-12m

Dive Report By Teagan

26th May 2024- GREY NURSES ARE BACK

MegaWild packed up all dive equipment and shot out to South Solitary Island this morning for a double dive. With a nice mix of divers and sunny skies, we all enoyed our time underwater!

Upon arrival, we were welcomed with calm seas and were able to get in at Manta Arch and Cleaner Station for the first dive. The Grey Nurse Sharks have returned in large numbers, indicating a drop in water temperatures as winter is approaching! All in all, around 12+ Nurses were seen in and around the top end. Mike also spotted an Adult Pomacanthus semicirculatus (Semicircle Angelfish) swimming around the Cleaner Station mooring! Thick walls of schooling fish were also seen and admired!

The surface interval came and went, and we were eager to jump back in! This time, everyone descended at Shark Gutters for a look around the top end and a swim down to South Boulder. 2 Green Sea Turtles were potting around the Third Gutter, saying G’Day to instructor Teagan and students! Loads of Nudibranchs and Spanish Dancers made an appearance today, showing off vibrant colours! Lastly, a quick yet inqusitive visit from a Spotted Eagel Ray was had!

Congratulations Sam and Charlotte for finsihing your PADI Open Water Diver Course!

Congratulations Bailey and Adrianna for completeing your PADI Advanced Open Water Diver Course!

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 22°C
• Visibility: 10-15m (Milky)

Dive Report By Teagan

27th May 2024-Good vis blows in

Lovely weather today with some smooth sea conditions allowed us to get two great dives in at South Solitary Island. Cleaner Station was a green 10 metres visibility on dive 1 and then with a current change, turned on 25 metres of visibility all the way to the gap on the second Drift dive.

A real mix of sightings from a dozen Grey Nurse to Eagle Rays and Bull Rays. Barney the Loggerhead made an appearance, along with a number of Green Turtles. The usual loads of fish including a Frogfish in Cleaner station gutter. Sun prevailed all day making it a very pleasant trip there and back. Pic from Mike’s new 8mm Olympus Fisheye Lens.

Congratulations to Sam, Harry and Jack for completing their PADI Open Water Diver course today!

Conditions Report:

• Temperature: 22°C-23°C
• Visibility: 10m-25m

Dive Report By Mike