Diving Fish Rock - South West Rocks

Posted on December 09 2015 by admin

Since our arrival in South West Rocks, we had been niggled by some very strong onshore winds. I noticed a potential break in the weather so I called Pete at South West Rocks Dive Centre. He was planning to take the opportunity and guide a group out to Fish Rock, so I booked in. For me it was a rare opportunity to dive with Grey Nurse Sharks which this dive site is famous for. I was a little tentative about the visibility due to the preceding conditions but was excited to be heading out for a dive.

In line with expectations, the trip out was a little rough but the crew did their best to make the steam out as comfortable as possible. I suspect the majority of divers were wondering if the conditions would spoil the visibility and make diving uncomfortable.

But as soon as I dropped into the water, I knew the under-water conditions were favourable. The bottom was about 15 meters under the boat and easily visible from the surface. Not long after our decent into the "gutter" adjacent to Fish Rock we spotted the first of many Grey Nurse Sharks. Being an October dive, we were hardly entitled to see a lot of Grey Nurse Sharks, but we were lucky. In the structure around the "exit" to Fish Rock cave, we enjoyed close encounters with big black sting rays, Grey Nurse Sharks, turtles and big schools of fish.

By the time we had our safety stop, many of us were thinking of the boat and a warm soup, as we were being harassed by some cold currents at times. But not long after we'd stripped off the diving gear, sure enough Pete and the crew were offering an array of flavoured soups.

All the hire gear was satisfactory. No one in the group had any issues.

The second dive was to be the finale - Fish Rock cave. After all Fish Rock cave is one of Australia's most renowned dive sites. Just in case the point needs to be reinforced, I have friends that have travelled from overseas solely to dive this site. And they have raved about it - to the point I was embarrassed to be an Australian diver that had not dived Fish Rock cave. But that point of discomfort exists no longer - I've dived Fish Rock cave - and they were right - it is a fantastic dive never to be forgotten.

The entry to Fish Rock cave is 24 metres under, and is a rather large entry point. In no time we were in single file ascending "The Chimneys". The dive plan did detail risks around dead ends and wrong turns, but the actual navigation was easy. The danger spots were easily spotted, in fact they contained gems like massive wobbygongs and huge crayfish.

The natural history of the cave becomes evident once you leave the chimneys and enter the main chamber. The 120 metre long cave is a result of a fault line through Fish Rock. This very tall cave's structure supports crayfish, and I mean massive crayfish. These guys seem to prefer the darkest part of the cave. When we switched off our torches, we enjoyed total and utter darkness. Not long after that section, an amazing blue haze hints at the caves exit point. From this point, an increasing array of sea life makes itself known. This is the point were we may have seen nudibrachs, but we did not which is the only (and minor) disappointment of the dive.

At the exit point I was overwhelmed by Grey Nurse Sharks, massive black bull rays, turtles and big schools of fish. At one point I was unable to locate my dive buddy due to the immense numbers of "bigeye" fish. Their inquisitiveness did not help my cause! I looked for my dive buddy, his shadow, his bubbles, etc, but it was a fruitless exercise as this huge school of fish severed all contact with the human world. It was pretty cool - I enjoyed my momentary isolation with nothing but sealife :)

All good things must come to an end. We navigated back to the boat via Fish Rock "gutter". We were soon reminded how the cave protected us from the colder currents during our safety stop. But the cooler water was a small price to pay for the amazing wildlife encounters.

As we returned to the dive shop, my young kids greeted me with cries of "dad, did you see a shark, did you see a shark?". Soon after responding with the good news, Pete further engaged the kids with offers of some special diving mementos. This blew the kids minds and I'm sure implanted a desire for them to join their old man on dive trips when they are of age.

Fish Rock is one of Australia's ultimate dive sites, and I recommend you explore it with South West Rocks Dive Centre. The crew are awesome and Fish Rock gutter and Fish Rock cave are fantastic dive sites. Even if you only see Grey Nurse Sharks - it's awesome - but the reality is that you'll see a lot more!