Dive Details

Location

Date

Tuesday 28 March 2017

Time

8:44am - 10:11am

Details

After all the rain and rough weather we've had since I got back from Mexico it was nice to see The Steps so calm. The water looked clean, too.

I jumped in around 30 minutes before high tide and was amazed how clean the surface water was. Last week it had been a bit murky from all the rain but now it was crystal clean. I descended and the good visibility persisted. It was at least 10 metres at the sand and probably 15. It was so nice to be able to see so far. The water temperature was around 21°C, there was no surge or noticeable current.

I set off towards The Leap and immediately found the weedy seadragon that's missing the end of its tail. I then found a large juvenile shortly after. I hung just above the sand line hoping to see the sea moth that Noel and Di had seen over the last 2 days. I didn't find it.

At Little Big Rock I looked in the Carijoa colonies for the pygmy pipehorses I'd seen on previous dives. I found the whiteish male but could not find the female.

I continued on to Diversity Rock. I looked on Diversity Rock for pygmies but found none. I looked around the surrounding rocks for seahorses but also found none.

I then headed away from the sand line in hopes of finding the seahorse that Noel and Di found on Sunday. I had low expectations as they weren't able to find it again on Monday. I swam up to Miamira Rock and found a Miamira magnifica on a rock below it. The basket star was on its usual sponge.

I checked out all the rocks with sponges on the flat reef area above the sand line looking for seahorses. I found High Pygmy Rock but found no pygmies on it. I then swam down the reef closer to the sand line and looked for pygmies on the rocks towards Big Rock. I was disappointed to not find any.

I came back just up from the sand line again looking for pygmies. At the rock where Roney's pygmies were I found a cryptic male pygmy pipehorse and then a female close by. I was relieved to finally find some. I came back past Miamara Rock but couldn't find the M. magnifica again. I then swam past Diversity Rock and stayed high to look for seahorses. I swam down to Little Big Rock to have another look for pygmies but found only the whiteish male before heading towards the boulders. On the way I found a Nembrotha purpureolineata.

At the boulders I started my safety stop while swimming to Split Rock. I finished my safety stop and got out at The Steps. It was still calm and my exit was easy.

Seas

Calm

Visibility

10 to 15 metres

Duration

86 minutes

Maximum depth

15.9 m

Average depth

11.9 m

Water temperature

20.7°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides at Botany Bay AEDT

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

Low

3:02am

0.33m

High

9:16am

1.80m

Low

3:33pm

0.25m

High

9:44pm

1.76m