Dive 050
| Date | Dec 28, 2001-04:20 PM |
| Location: | Jullian Rocks - Byron Bay, Australia |
| Dive Shop | Sundive Dive Center |
| Purpose | Recreation |
| Buddy | Mark Robinson |
| Exposure Suit | 3mm |
| Other Equipment | Video - wide angle lens |
| Weight | 15 |
| Viz | 15 |
| Max Depth | 52 |
| Start Air | 2870 |
| End Air | 800 |
| EAN | 0 |
| Minutes Under | 47 |
| Surface Interval | 1440 |
| Remarks |
First dive in Australia!!!
First dive with my video camera!!!
This dive was set up unlike any other dive I've done before. We signed up at the dive center when we got into town. They told us to meet at the dive center around 3:30. The dive center was not on the water, so what they end up doing is get everything together at the shop then drive out to the beach and launch the boat. When we got to the center we put all of our gear together. We ended up not taking our gear bags or any gear we weren't going to use. This is because the boat was kinda small and there wasn't a lot of extra room.
After we got all our gear set up and on the boat everyone jumped into the back of a little jeep/truck. It was cramped, but the trip was short so it wasn't bad. We got a chance to talk to the other divers going out. There were six of us in the back. Two were for snorkling, two were beginner divers (one from Virgin Islands I think, the other from New Zealand). The other two divers were Mark and me.
When we got to the beach the driver had to blow the horn a few times to get everyone out of the way. Everyone jumped out of the jeep and he backed the boat into the water. All the divers then ran into the water and grabbed the boat to keep it in the correect position. When everything was ready, we all jumped into the boat and headed out for the site.
The site we dove was a marine sanctuary out in the ocean. It was a big rock sticking out of the water. If you look out onto the ocean from Byron Bay's beaches you can easily see it. I think it took between ten and twenty minutes for us to get there. The seas were rough (maybe two feet), but no one got sick so it was all good.
When we got to the site everyone put their BCs and tanks on and we did a backwards roll into the water. We descended on the moring line and swam around the rock. There was a dive guide there for the four divers. She told Mark and me that we could stick with her our do our own thing, just as long as we stayed close to the rock. The currents could pick up and get dangerous away from the rock (and I doubt there was much to look at anyway). We stayed with her a little, but left part way through the dive.
The beginning of the dive was pretty boring. We went down to the base of the rock and swam around. There was nothing happening. I saw less than ten fish down there. It was also a bit cold and the viz was poor (particles in the water). Mark saw a turlte swimming shallower than us. We ascended a little to watch it. There were also a handful of big puffer fish (maybe a foot long). The water was a little warmer up there, so we swam around at that depth (arond 20 feet I think) for a little while.
We ended up seeing some big fish and some small fish. Mark pointed out what looked like a slug to me. He knew what it was, but I don't and forgot what he told me. It was really bright and colorfull. Probably deadly poisonous.
When the dive was over we all climbed back into the boat. Most of us divers were feeling a little sick from the seas. One guy ended up jumping back in the water to help.
The trip back to shore was a lot like the trip to the site. Only this time we were going the other way. Interesting how that works...
When we got back to shore everyone jumped out of the boat and walked up onto the beach. Someone got the boat onto the beach so it was lying sidways. I'm not sure if they drove it up or pulled it up. I was still not feeling great so I wasn't paying that much attention to what they were doing. When they put the boat back on the trailor they got all the divers to bablance it up straight. It was pretty light so we didn't have to do that much work.
Then we all jumped into the back of the trailor and headed back to the dive shop.
I enjoyed getting out and diving again. I wasn't really impressed with the conditions or the way the dive shop operated. The dive shop made up do more than I like doing. I walking out the peir and putting my bag into the boat. But this was a new experience and a new way of doing stuff. I'm glad I did it.
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