Second dive on The Pinnacle at Fish Rock. Nitrox certainly helped in terms of the reduction in surface interval between dives. The swell had picked up since we started the first dive, and Kirsty still didn't feel up to diving. There was great visibility for most of the dive, but there was quite a bit of muck in the water around the front of the pinnacle, due to surge. More Grey Nurses than on the first dive, and also saw Wobbegong sharks, a turtle, Butterfly Cod, a crayfish, and fantastic schools of Yellowtail.

Lots of firsts on this dive: first dive on Nitrox, first dive at Fish Rock, first time I've seen Grey Nurses in the wild...

We were on a guided dive with Brooke, a Divemaster from South West Rocks Dive Centre. We were diving on "The Pinnacle", on the northern side of Fish Rock, which rises 30 metres from the sea floor to within 7 metres of the surface. The swell was in excess of 2.5m, with quite a short period, so Kirsty didn't feel up to diving, but once we were in the water we didn't notice the swell at all. We had a great dive, and saw an amazing amount of life, including Grey Nurse sharks, lots of Wobbengong sharks, Lion Fish, Blue Grouper, and Moray Eels.

We stayed in the South West Rocks Dive Centre guest accommodation, which was great. We were literally only seconds away from the shop, so getting ready in the morning was very easy. We had planned on doing four days of diving, but the conditions weren't really conducive to relaxed diving, so we decided to cancel after only one day of diving. Kevin, at the dive shop, was very understanding about this, and only charged us for the dives we had done, and the two nights that we stayed there. I'm looking forward to getting back up there when the conditions are better, and getting more photos...

First dive at Blairgowrie for several months. The erosion protection measures (blanket-like bladders probably filled by pumping a slurry of sand through them) made it look quite desolate in some spots, although this will no doubt change over time. We did see a Large Bellied Seahorse, a couple of small rays, some hermit crabs, and several good-sized leatherjackets, and William and Kirsty saw a Bull Ray as well. Nowhere near as much fish life as we have seen here on previous dives! Still some work taking place on the new pier, but it looks like it is pretty much finished now, which will make it a bit quieter underwater...

First dive for the season for Kirsty and Amelia. Visibility not too bad, but a bit murky in patches. We saw quite a few Sweep, a good-sized flathead, and some Schnapper and a couple of rays. Also saw a few different species of leatherjackets, and a beautiful purple nudibranch in the shallows.

Diving with William under Rye Pier. Lots of small fry Leather Jackets, some quite large Leather Jackets, a Blue Gurnard, and some small Rays.

Diving with Kirsty to find the Spider Crabs, which we found out to the North East of the end of the pier. Good sized aggregation of the crabs, a couple of Banjo Sharks, and a cute little Rough Gurnard.

First dive with Will since the operation on his leg. Not as much life under the pier, but lots around the wreck, including young Rays, Horseshoe Leatherjackets, and a Cuttlefish. Lots of worms around today, but no Spider Crabs. Swam out to the West of the pier, but not much there today.

Cloudy water, but lots of Sweep, Zebrafish, Southern Hulafish, Blue Globe Fish, Moonlighters, Old Wives, Dusky Morwong,
Scaly Fin, Red Mullet, Snapper, King George Whiting, Horseshoe Leatherjackets, and Toadfish.

Seemed cooler than 14° C, probably because it was overcast. Found a great reef about 200 metres straight out from the foot ramp onto the beach, with lots of overhangs and small caves. Great to see so many fish around - particularly when there are so many fishing boats anchored just outside the protected area.

Swam out past the end of the pier but still no Spider Crabs, but we did get to swim with a massive school of Australian Salmon, roughly 40 metres to the West of the pier. They kept circling us, never getting too close, but always keeping us in sight. Eventually we headed back to the pier and swam further out to the remains of the boat on the East of the pier. The water temperature is slowly dropping, but with a hood and gloves it is still quite comfortable.

We came down to look for the Spider Crabs, but they're not there yet.

We went off to the East of the pier and explored the remains of an old wooden-hulled boat that lies in a couple of metres of water. Lots of life there, including a Cuttlefish hiding under the hull. We came across a flat worm that looks a bit like a string of eggs. We watched it disappear into a tube in the sand.

Slight Ebb tide, more noticeable under the pier. Lot of encounters with Bull Rays - hunting around in the sea grass on each side of the pier. Lots of Juvenile Leatherjackets, quite a few young Squid as well. Kirsty found a Pygmi Leatherjacket. Another day of great visibility. The piles for the new pier have reached the shore, so I guess this site will be closed soon. A few Spider Crabs were found hiding in an old tyre. They're pretty lethargic so far - nowhere near as active as they will get once they start aggregating at Rye.

I'm trying out a new mount I've made for the camera. I can now use two hands to keep it steady, and also use lights. I'm currently using Kirsty and Amelia's Intovatec wide angle zoom torches, which work well for my needs. Taking the zoom lense off the torch turns them into an extremely wide angle light source, although it does make the light less bright. The new mount will take a bit of getting used to, but I hope it will result in better images...

Before the dive, we met up with Phil, who I know from Astronomy. He dives with the BSAC club.

Suprisingly good dive at Rye! We thought the wind might have affected the visibility, but it was great. A couple of sightings of a large Bull Ray, lots of juvenile Leatherjackets, some Spiny Leatherjackets, and quite a few young Rays.

This was a short dive, as Zach developed a headache, but we did finally manage to see a Port Jackson Shark here. Lots of Zebrafish, Sweep, a couple of Flatheads, and a Rough Leather jacket. Visibiity wasn't anywhere near as good as last week, probably because of the low tide.

Great visibility and lots of life! Dusky Morwong, Old Wives, Sweeps, Zebrafish, Flatheads, and a Blue Devil. Not many Banjo Sharks this time.

Good dive with Kirsty and Zach in fairly murky conditions. Reasonable surge reduced the visibility but it improved as we went further out. Shore entry and exit via steps from carpark, say lots of large schools of juvenile fish, and also saw the Octopus in the engine block.

Dive with Zach. Big school of Juvenile Whiting, a few old wives, a couple of Rays, and lots of Goatfish. Saw the SCUBA Culture club gearing up for the same dive, but didn't see any of them in the water - they went in via the steps further along the breakwater.

Dive with Kirsty and William. Lots of very inquisitive Sweep seen during this dive, and 4 or 5 Banjo Sharks. Much easier entrance by using the Northern carpark near Beaumaris Yacht Club - no need to walk out over the rock platform as you do when you park in the Southern carpark.

During January 2015 we spent a couple of weeks in a house at Rye, on the Mornington Peninsula. We were able to dive most days, and a couple of nights, with dives at Rye, Blairgowrie, Portsea, and Flinders.