Tasmania and Bicheno

[kempster1]

Where is it that your diving with the seals??
that looks like a heap of fun

 

[Trickie Dickie 99]

Where is it that your diving with the seals??
that looks like a heap of fun

It certainly was; my most memorable dive in 25 years and I maxed at 18M!

The site is the Isle de Phoques, named by the early French explorer, Bruny D'Entrecastaux in the early 1790's, translated, it means Island of Seals (no sh_t Sherlock!!).

It's located off the East Coast of Tasmania (off the South East tip of Australia, where the Tassie Devils live), in Great Oyster Bay, roughly midway between Freycinet Peninsula/Schouten Island and Maria Island. It's out about 10 miles offshore, reputed to be Great White Shark country too, but I've never seen one.

We were there in Feb 2006 and saw maybe half a dozen very nervous seals; this time (Feb 2007) there would have been 200-300 and you could smell them from maybe 1500 metres downwind. It made scoffing our sandwiches in the surface interval a bit of a challenge, I can tell you. As you can see, they were pretty well fearless.

Also found myself finning through a couple of spreading seal sh!t-storms too. Trust me, you purse your lips when that happens.:huh:

The Isle, which is granite, also has several big tunnels/caves running right through the guts, so you've got a very exciting cavern dive too. There is no silt in these caves, the bottom is covered in pebbles and solid rock.

There is a free air surface above but you'd be pretty game to pop up into it, as it's like a washing machine as the swell crashes through and you'd be smashed up pretty badly. As the swell rolls through, it alternately compresses then releases (explosively) the trapped air, so you get this "crrrrash-booom" thing happening. It's quite disconcerting, actually makes your reg spurt and you feel the compression on your chest, and across your whole body surface if wearing, as I do, a drysuit.

The caves are full of sponges, soft corals, jewel anemones, yellow zooanthids etc, more reminiscent of a dive to 35M+, because of the lack of light and so nil competition from kelp and other marine algae, so it's like a deep dive but at maybe 10-15M.

The seals do swim through, you are looking at maybe 30-40M tunnel length; one of the most amazing sights was to be returning towards the light and seeing this 300KG seal, barreling down the tunnel towards you, quite effortless and just avoiding you at the last second.

A very very memorable dive for me. First time (just in the caves) was amazing, second visit, hundreds of seals + caves was mind blowing.

 

[MatWill]

mm i was just down there for a trip.. but i dint get to dive tas.. but i have opened the door to a base camp for diving near derby

so hopefully i'll get some tas diving in soon..

 

[Trickie Dickie 99]

mm i was just down there for a trip.. but i dint get to dive tas.. but i have opened the door to a base camp for diving near derby

so hopefully i'll get some tas diving in soon..

Derby is within striking distance (a bit over an hour) from St Helens, speak to Peter Paulsen at Bay of Fires Dive Centre, he operates a modified Haines Hunter, has air, gear for hire, takes 5 or 6 divers I think. There's some pretty good sites out that way. It's all rocky granite bottom, with a lot of really good swim-throughs. It's listed in the back of this.

There's some other stuff I could tell you but would prefer you to PM me if you want to hear more.

http://www.discovertasmania.com.au/pdf/divetrail_A4_web.pdf

You'd also be OK to access the far NE to dive the Lochinlass and General Picton, lying in Banks Strait, between Flinders Island and the Tas mainland.. Launch a boat at Little Musselroe Bay, you need to know what you are doing & where you are going out that way though. Serious tides too, you only have one dive a day there.

If you are looking for a "map of Tassie", go on here:

http://www.thelist.tas.gov.au/listm...116000.0&urx=712000.0&ury=5662000.0&layers=17

 

[MatWill]

yeah i was just down at St Helens and the bay of fire, my current desktop is a photo of my g/f and i at binalong beach

the water didnt seem too cold.. although its alot cooler then what i'm used too.. i might be down there again later this year. my mum lives in derby so i can base myself there

the water looked very inviting...

 

[Trickie Dickie 99]

yeah i was just down at St Helens and the bay of fire, my current desktop is a photo of my g/f and i at binalong beach

the water didnt seem too cold.. although its alot cooler then what i'm used too.. i might be down there again later this year. my mum lives in derby so i can base myself there

the water looked very inviting...

I'll be diving up there next on the Queens Birthday Long Weekend (June, whenever)