Australia - Limited time so what to choose between Sydney and GBR

[Peter Perkins]

Hello,

I am going to Australia for the first time and will be spending a couple of weeks in Sydney.with the family. Unfortunately my daughter is too small and my wife doesnt really dive/snorkel (or even swim).

I have managed to... secure a couple of day just for myself and have been breaking my head how to make the best of it. The problem is... Australia is too big... so all my ideas about seeing Sea Dragons, the GBR and Great Whites have been dashed since I cant do all of those (or even most!)

So my current idea was to maybe fly out on my own to Cairns or Townsville and do some dives there and and then maybe do some dive in Sydney.

But I dont know what to choose as there are so many options and I dont know what is really feasible... practically I would be looking at two 1-day excursions in Queensland as that would still mean I need to spend 3 days there (i.e. arrive at night, go out on day 1, go out on day 2, wait until afternoon of day 3 to be able to fly back). I was thinking of either doing SS Yongala 1 day and then 1 day on the reefs or just biting the bullet and not seeing the actual reefs and doing 2 days at SS Yongala. Is it worth it though? I mean given costs and all that what is a better plan? Any recommendations of shops/tours I could try? There are so many reefs and every shop says that the one they visit are the best but given what I am reading much of the reef might be bleached anyway...

Unfortunately I didnt see any '2 day live-aboard' (I did see 3 day ones) at the start of March (we are there from 24th of Feb till 6th of March) which would be the simplest option...

That said, what nice sites are there near Sydney? I read something about Seals and nursing sharks but I dont know if those are 'close' for someone without a car etc.

Apologies for the long (and convoluted post) - any help/recommendation is more than welcome! Thanks in advance

 

[WetPup]

Ok, so if you want to dive the SS Yongala, you would need to fly into Townsville, hire a car, and drive down to Alva Beach (it's about 80 minutes drive south). There is a Greyhound bus, but given your proposed schedule, it won't be viable. You would then need to drive back to Townsville that night after diving, and you could potentially get out to the reef the next day with a local Townsville dive operator (assuming there's a trip running - they don't go every day), or you could continue driving north to Cairns that night (which is 4 hours north of Townsville, so about 5.5 hours north of Alva Beach), and dive the reef there the following day instead. There are flights from Townsville to Cairns, but if you wanted to dive in Cairns, you couldn't fly. The dive shop that runs trips to the SS Yongala does not run trips to the reef, you have to head back north.

It'd be full on, a lot of driving involved, and given that you would have spent the previous day travelling, then all day out on a boat in the sun, you're likely to be tired. People do it (I've done it), but I am also familiar with the road conditions. It's not the best stretch of highway north of Townsville and you need to have your eyes peeled at all times - especially since you would be driving at night if you wanted to go to Cairns.

My suggestion would be to pick either the SS Yongala or the GBR, don't try to do both in the timeframe you've indicated.

 

[Peter Perkins]

Thanks for the prompt response.

Would you say 2 days at SS Yongala to maximise dive time is worth it?

Meaning if I fly from Sydney to Townsville, I might as well do 2 days rather than 1?

So program would look like this - Arrive to Townsville in the evening and go to Alva. Do first day at the wreck. Do 2nd day at the wreck, early afternoon of the next day go to Townsville and fly back to Sydney. I saw that the operator for SS Yongala has a hostel so that would work to reduce accommodation cost.

 

[WetPup]

Yeah, that could work. You may need to fly back via Brisbane though, because the direct TSV-SYD flights leave around lunch time. You'd be under the 24 hour no fly time if you wanted to fly back direct. Something to weigh up.

 

[Oz Chris]

Lots of diving off Sydney both boat and shore dives. Don’t expect crystal clear blue waters and masses of colourful coral, but we have some great diving.

Grey Nurse Sharks not far off the beach in one of the southern suburbs of the city (although this is a boat dive).

Sea Dragons are apparently as reliable as they get at the sites off Kurnell (also in the south of the city - look for sites like The Steps & The Leap - all shore dives).

Seals would be a day trip down to Wollongong (about an hours drive), but very dependent upon scheduling I imagine.

Another day trip would be the HMAS Adelaide - about 90 minutes north.

Operators to look at:
Pro Dive
Abyss
Sydney Dive Safari

 

[Fibonacci]

Hmm... with limited time that's a pretty tight schedule with a LOT of travel vs dive time.

If you need to be based in Sydney for family reasons have you considered a third option... Lord Howe Island?
Still a part of NSW roughly opposite the North coast and direct flight connections from Sydney.

Lord Howe Island | Just Paradise
Pro Dive Lord Howe Island. A unique diving experience..

Spectacular scenery and by a quirk of warm ocean currents has several sub-tropical marine species normally only found much further north. I dived it a few years ago... very clear water and often large pelagics at certain sites... plus Spanish Dancers and nudibranchs galore!

 

[MA]

Another consideration - drive up from Sydney and dive south west rocks with the grey nurse sharks. It’s awesome.

 

[Shortdive]

Given your time frame I would go to South west rocks. Look at South west rocks dive centre facebook page and you will get a good look at the type of dives. On its day, one of the best spots I have dived. About a 6 hour drive from sydney, so could drive up the night before, dive two days have a sleep and drive back. They have accommodation at the dive shop.

 

[outofofficebrb]

I vote as @WetPup suggested. Do 2 days on Yongala. Come back and do the GBR by doing a liveaboard for the outer GBR/Coral Sea when you have more time.

 

[Aussie Bubbles]

Hey mate, I live in Sydney and you are welcome to give me a call when you get here and come dive with me. I work during the week but often sneak in a dive before or after work and always up for a dive on weekends.

If you want to see grey nurse sharks - Nelson Bay is closer to Sydney and is awesome. There is a dive lodge there which is self catering with a pool, kitchen and BBQ and very cheap (AUS $40 per night). I dive with Let's Go Adventure when I head up for a weekend. You could drive up early one morning from Sydney and get back by evening - I've done this before.

We actually seeing grey nurse sharks at the moment in Bondi (where I live - although they are hit and miss)

In Sydney there are a number of sites to see the weedy sea dragons but mainly Kurnell is the spot where I've never not seen one on a dive.

Duncan