Diving

Iain Hosking, Adrian Roddam

Swam straight down onto the sloping side of a rock reef, then over the steep side (past anchor rope abrading on the rock). Turned left into a shoal of bullseyes - some are yellow with a grey top and others are the reverse. Roughies look similar but are brown with a white and black stripe (#137 - bullseyes are #334 and #332). [There's more, but I didn't finish writing it up.]

Wetsuit, 82, 20lbs.

509

24 Apr 2000

Iain Hosking, Andrew Kennedy

Not quite as interesting as Idol Bay yesterday, but similar, with lots of gullies, rock outcrops and sandy patches, and strong wave action. Saw porcupionefish (globefish) but no spotted boxfish. Couple of moray, groper and nudibranchs. The variety still puts Sydney in the shade.

own. Dry suit very wet. Sopping, in fact.

541

5 Oct 2013

Most of the time spent sitting on the bottom waiting for the others

Dry suit, I think

547

30 Dec 2015

Iain Hosking, Nick Heiniger

Not written up at the time so I'm working from photos. These prove that it was a sunny day, the water was clear and we definitely saw blue groper and a wobbegong. I also recall that I wasn't seasick, thanks to the wonders of Travacalm.

Hired wet suit, alloy tank and BC. 21 lbs

549

2 Oct 2016

Iain Hosking, Nick Heiniger, Iain Hosking, Nick Heiniger

Another sunny day with Forster Dive Centre, made magical by the sight of breaching humpback whales before the dive, and whalesong during it. Fish life included the ever-personable blue groper, stripey and bullseyes, and Nick also found a slipper lobster. This may have been one of those dives where sharks were seen (grey nurse), but not by me.

Hired wet suit, alloy tank and BC. 18 lbs in shot belt

554

2 Jan 2017

Nick Heiniger, Karl Brindell, Iain Hosking

Dived with Karl Brindell. Notable for lionfish, turtle and moray eel. Water very green.

Fourth Element dry suit, steel tank, Arctic, 27 lbs

559

1 Oct 2017

Matt Clark, Iain Hosking

Good weather: sunny & light winds (S, 8 km/h). Reasonably large swell (2-3m) but little chop, The swell did mean a lot of wave action even at 17m. Visibility good where it wasn't stirred up; water was blue. Highlights: turtle and lionfish.

Fourth Element dry suit, Oceanic Chute 2, 12 litre tank. 29lbs

565

30 Dec 2020

Diving organised through Dive Forster; Ron Hunter, daughter Gabby and Keith who shares the leading of the dives. Boat was the "Avanti", a twin-engined catamaran with 4 exits, 2 boarding ladders and a toilet. I visited the shop on Sunday, where Ron said Wednesday looked like the first day with good conditions; the wind changing to southerlies which would clear the water somewhat. The forecast had rain, but it turned out to be a beautiful day for diving, sunny and calm. The sea was flat except for a long, lazy swell. There were around 10 divers all up. After a briefing I was paired up with David, from Chester in the UK, but as I jumped in without my weightbelts I joined the second group. Ron and Keith led us to a gutter where grey nurse sharks swam lazily up and down beside us while we lurked in the kelp. The first was a male (white claspers behind its pelvic fin), which looked huge, and the other two looked like females. They seemed so close we could reach out and touch them. Return to the line was leisurely, with time to take in all the other sea life; gropers, scalyfin, mado, blennies, eastern blue devil; the usual suspects. We had a distant view of an eagle ray swimming away from us. Visibility was average; perhaps 10m, but for my first dive at Forster since October 2017 this was very pleasant, and rates 4 stars.

Fourth Element dry suit, Oceanic Chute 2, 12 litre tank. 29lbs

566

30 Dec 2020

For the second dive we remained moored at the same spot, but visited a different part of the site. Here there was a rock amphitheatre, where the grey nurse sharks swam against a black cliff, with a shoal of mado above for visual effect. Pity I left my GoPro at home. One female swam out of the amphitheatre to the left and continued anticlockwise while I turned to watch. As for the first dive, she seemed close enough to touch, and I could see the texture of her skin, the small eyes (which were fixed in me) and the rows of teeth. She continued off into the distance, but before she disappeared I was witness to her gulping down a small fish, which I haven't seen before. The rest of the dive was also interesting, with a couple of wobbegongs, the usual other fish and two different types of nudibranchs; one pale blue with purple spots and the other creamy white with a dark brown of black frill. As for the previous dive this rates 4 stars because of the sharks and good conditions. Good to have Forster back in play. Cost for the two dives was $130, and I filled my two tanks afterwards for $24.

Fourth Element dry suit, Oceanic Chute 2, 10 litre tank. 29lbs

572

30 Dec 2021

Started with a spot at the end of a gully with grey nurse sharks. Ended by following Keith through a soup of grey weed looking for a turtle, then back to the line (which was well done).

Fourth Element dry suit, Oceanic Chute 2, 12 litre tank. 29lbs

574

2 Jan 2023