Diving Archives - Baha Adventures

03Mar 2024 by Warren Prior No Comments

Shelly Beach Showing Off

Diving

Every now and then, we're blessed with a magical day under the water, either because we see something unique, or because conditions are just that perfect. Sunday was one such day at Shelly Beach. I arrived at Shelly Beach bright an early to take a couple out on guided shore dive. Watching the sun rise over the ocean from the Shelly Head lookout, I could already tell we were in for a cracker of a day. There were the faintest wisps of cloud in the bright blue sky, and the surface of the ocean was completely glassed out and looking relatively blue and clear. Sunrise at Shelly Head Lookout Early morning at Shelly Beach, Manly Sunrise at Shelly Head Lookout I met the couple on the grassy area behind the…

25Feb 2024 by Warren Prior No Comments

When We Surfaced The Boat Was Gone!

Diving

Every now and again, a simple day trip turns into an unexpected adventure. Whether this particular adventure was a good one, well, I'll leave that up to you. Early on Saturday morning, I met a group of divers at the boat ramp for a double dive just outside the Sydney Harbour heads. Our first stop was Colours Reef; a beautiful site which got it's name from the abundance and variety of coloured sponges populating the area. It's a relatively easy site to navigate, thanks to a distinct wall which drops from 22 meters down to 30 meters at the sand. The skipper dropped a shot line with a buoy on the top of the wall, and my group and I descended down the line to 22 meters. There was another…

02Sep 2023 by Warren Prior No Comments

Freediving at Shelly Beach

Diving

On Saturday morning I headed down to Shelly Beach to take a mate freediving. Generally I scuba Shelly Beach, so I'm always excited to get into the water without a tank and experience the bay in a different way. And it different certainly is! You can stay in the water for as long as you want, and you tend to focus on different areas of the site, areas that you would generally miss or ignore while scuba diving. We got into the water at around 9:30am, and headed out on the left hand side. The left is is generally more popular with snorkellers since it's shallower and has a higher abundance of both fauna and flora. There were a few things on our bucket list; Port Jackson sharks, turtles, giant…

19Aug 2023 by Warren Prior No Comments

Blue-ringed Octopus at Clifton Gardens

Diving

Saturday morning got off to an early start as I headed down to Clifton Gardens to lead one of Frog Dive's shore dives. It was a beautiful morning, with an orange glow coming off the sun, not a cloud in the sky, and absolutely no wind to speak of. The sea was dead flat, and judging from the surface, visibility looked good for Clifton Gardens. I was expecting 7 divers, but the group grew to 9 when the shop's boat dive was cancelled due to poor conditions. Thankfully Cec had offered to help out, and arrived shortly after me. The group group geared up in the parking lot, and once everyone was ready, I gave the dive briefing around one of the many tables scattered around the field. I opted…

30Jul 2023 by Warren Prior No Comments

Diving Forster – Sharks, Whales, and the Biggest Turtle in the World!

Diving

In the spirit of making the most of our downtime, Sharon and I found ourselves on a boat with the crew from Forster Dive Centre for our first ever dive in Forster. As luck would have it, Sharon and I were the only customers for the day and so we had the boat to ourselves, along with the skipper, instructor, and 2 divemasters in training who were keen to brush up their deep dive skills, including working on the lift bag and knots. We hit the jackpot with the weather. There was not a breath of wind and the water was like glass. There were a scattering of clouds in the sky, otherwise the sun was out in full force. Looking south from Forster, NSW On our journey out to…

22Jul 2023 by Warren Prior No Comments

Diving With Dolphins at the Monument

Diving

Every so often something magical happens on a dive that lodges it into your memory forever. This was one of those dives. It started on less positive notes, as a friend was leaving Sydney, so the dive was planned as a farewell of sorts. Visibility had also been amazing all week, but due to large swells overnight had taken a turn for the worse. We therefore weren't expecting much from the dive. Things got off to a rocky start...thanks mostly to the rocks. The swell from the evening before was still present, although it had gotten a fair amount smaller. That said, we still needed to wade across the rocks, and then do a rock entry into a small swell. One of the divers with us had some balance issues,…

08Jul 2023 by Warren Prior No Comments

A Glorious Morning Guiding a Dive at Shelly Beach

Diving

A glorious sunrise from the Shelly Headland I arrived at Shelly beach just as the sun started to creep up over the horizon. Despite the lack of cloud cover, the sky above the Pacific Ocean was painted a mesmerising combination of reds, oranges, and blues, which was well worth the few moments I spent admiring it. There was a chilly breeze blowing off the water, so I headed back to the car and climbed into my wetsuit, and then went about setting up the rest of my gear in the parking lot. Ready to go, I climbed down the stairs to the grassy area behind Shelly Beach, where I waited for my group of divers. Slowly they rolled in, and we chatted away on the lawn as we waited for…

11Jun 2023 by Warren Prior No Comments

Guiding at Blue Fish Point and Chapel Steps

Diving

On a crisp Saturday morning, I headed down to the Mosman Rowing Club to guide a double boat dive for Frog Dive. We launched at the usual 8am, and headed straight for North Head, where we planned to dive Blue Fish Point. After the safety briefing, we chatted away for the short 15 minute boat ride out to the heads. The weather was perfect, blue skies, no wind, and limited swell, with temperatures eventually rising to 18 degrees. There were even whales to be seen in the distance, although we didn't get close enough to truly enjoy them. At Blue Fish Point I did the dive briefing and weight checks, and then we dropped down to a rocky bottom in 15 meters of water. Visibility was incredible, as it usually…

02Jun 2023 by Warren Prior No Comments

Underwater Statues at Chowder Bay

Diving

Clifton Gardens (also known as Chowder Bay) is a polarising dive site located in Sydney Harbour. Talking to divers, they tend to either love it, or hate it. Regardless, all Sydney-based divers have dived it at least one (well, almost all). So why is it so polarising? Well, for a variety of reasons. To get the negatives out of the way first: visibility is generally poor (especially if your buoyancy is poor and you kick up the bottom), there's definite friction between the fishermen and divers, and it can be dirty due to people throwing all sorts of objects off the wharf. Another reason people may not enjoy it is that you don't see much if you move too quickly. On the plus side, if you have good buoyancy and…

16Apr 2023 by Warren Prior No Comments

Exploring Fairlight Underwater…

Diving

Not every day goes according to plan...but generally it all works out in the end... Early on Sunday morning, Sharon and I snuck off for a quick dive at Fairlight. It's not the most popular dive site in Sydney, but it's definitely worth a visit every now and then. Our day got off to a bad start when we discovered a leak in Sharon's regulator's first stage. While I was trying to repair it, a lady walked by with a King Charles Cavalier puppy. Sharon got talking to her, told her we also had a King Charles Cavalier puppy, and explained our situation. Eventually, the lady continued on her walk, and we started packing the dive gear back into the car to go and try hire a regulator from Dive…

Category: Diving