Dive Details

Location

Date

Saturday 13 December 2014

Time

12:16pm - 1:16pm

Details

The forecast was for a 2.6m ESE swell and the way the waves were smashing The Leap and The Steps I didn't doubt the forecast at all. It was even rough at The Monument. My first attempt at getting in at The Monument was at the little bay around the corner from the flagpoles. There were a few sets of waves coming through but nothing too large.

I waded out holding my camera and fins and made it out and all was good. As I was about to put my fins on I was hit by a wave which ripped one of my fins out of my hand and I almost lost the camera. The fin got dragged off towards the rocks and then I was in the poo. In order to retrieve the fin I had to head to where the waves were breaking. I got totally smashed and went under a number of times. I eventually got out onto the rocks battered and bruised with a sea urchin spine in my foot and maybe a broken toe. The camera made it fine even though it hit the rocks a few times.

After I caught my breath, I headed out into a calmer part of the reef, submerged and headed north until I hit the wall. I descended the wall and followed it around and over to the north eastern corner of The Monument. There was some surge and the visibility was only around 3 metres but it was diveable.

I headed south east along reef edge and came to the spot I'd last seen "Oliver", the orange form red-fingered angler. I was surprised to spot "Oliver" almost immediately on the side of one of the rocks. This made the dive worth all the effort and troubles.

I continued on as far as split rock and then turned and retraced my steps. Once around back around the corner I found the wall again and followed it at the base until I came to the area I used to see "Angus", the orange painted angler. I then headed to the top of the wall, followed it along to the break in the kelp and headed south to the beach. I did my safety stop along the way and exited at the beach.

Seas

Rough

Visibility

1-3 metres

Duration

60 minutes

Maximum depth

14.3 m

Average depth

9.7 m

Water temperature

19.9°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides at Botany Bay AEDT

Note that tides at dive site may vary from above location.

High

1:44am

1.25m

Low

7:19am

0.70m

High

1:32pm

1.47m

Low

8:16pm

0.51m

Camera gear

Camera

Nikon D7000

Lens

Nikon AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8D

Housing

Ikelite 6801.70

Lens port

Ikelite Flat Port 5502.41

Strobe

2 x Ikelite SubStrobe DS161

Photographs

Depth information, where present, indicates the depth of the camera when the photograph was taken and can be used to approximate the depth of the subject.

Sydney cardinalfish, Apogon limenus. 10 m.
 

Sydney cardinalfish, Apogon limenus. 9.8 m.
 

Red-fingered angler, Porophryne erythrodactylus, ("Oliver"). 11.9 m.
 

Pygmy leatherjacket, Brachaluteres jacksonianus. 11 m.
 

Nudibranch, Ceratosoma amoenum. 5.7 m.