Dive Details
Location
Date
Friday 2 December 2016
Time
9:34am - 11:11am
Details
Another hot day in Sydney and conditions looked great at The Leap. There was only a gentle swell and the water looked clear. After 2 dives in 20° water in the last week I donned my wetsuit.
I slid down the wall as the water was over the low platform. On the surface the water was at least 20°C but cool compared to the air temperature. Visibility was over 5 metres. I descended and swam at around 45° to the sand line. I hit a thermocline at around 10 metres and the temperature dropped noticeably. By the time I got to the sand line it was 16°C. Visibility was over 10 metres and probably around 15 metres. There as almost no surge and no current. I turned left and headed towards The Steps.
I found my first weedy seadragon in kelp just below Bent Stick Rock. It was one of the males with eggs. I swam on to Seadragon Alley where I saw a small (~20cm) giant cuttlefish. A little farther along I saw another weedy seadragon. I saw no more weedy seadragons for the dive.
After Big Rock I started to look for pygmy pipehorses. It has been a few weeks since I have seen any between The Leap and The Steps. Despite my search I found none.
At Old Basket Star Rock I swam up the reef to the basket star. I looked around the rocks for the Miamira magnifica nudibranchs but could not find them. I swam back to the sand line and then on to Diversity Rock. I looked for pygmy pipehorses there but found none. While looking around the area I spotted the small Miamira magnifica nudibranch.
I followed the sand line past Little Big Rock and on to The Steps. I ascended to Split Rock where I did my safety stop before exiting at The Steps.
Seas
Slight
Visibility
10 to 15 metres
Duration
97 minutes
Maximum depth
21.8 m
Average depth
14.5 m
Water temperature
16.2°C
Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand
Tides at Botany Bay AEDT
Note that tides at dive site may vary from above location.
Low
4:14am
0.53m
High
10:45am
1.74m
Low
5:23pm
0.39m
High
11:20pm
1.31m