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

[Nomad-Diver]

Magic point has been bereft of Grey Nurse Sharks for quite a while. I've never seen a Weedy there (not to say others haven't)
Kurnell shore dive is a much better option for Weedy Sea Dragons
Announce your dates closer to the time and you can be pretty sure of getting a free shore dive (tank and gear hire excluded obviously) with hopefully some seasoned eyes to help spot the weedies. The dive (Leap to Steps) is tide dependent, and can be conditions dependent too

 

[CaptainCalamari]

I've only dived Magic Point once last April. No Grey Nurses but bucket loads of Port Jacksons. Then did Dee's Ditch off Randwick Golf course on the same dive. Lots of fish life.

$300 for a guided dive to The Steps is a bit steep. I'm sure there are others here who would take you for a case of beer and gear hire money (I would have if I was in town that weekend).

 

[Thrawn7]

I've seen weedies at Magic Point once or twice... but the odds aren't good. Odds of seeing a grey nurse lately hasn't been good either.

 

[clownfishsydney]

If weather is okay I will be diving Magic Point on 24 February. If this is not too late, I can post here if we find any sharks.

 

[Peter Perkins]

That will be a good week in advance from the time I will be there so that would be great!

 

[Peter Perkins]

So any luck with Grey Nurse Sharks?

From my side... I would say my trip was succesful.

I am just back in Europe after an enjoyable but tiring 3 weeks that included the liveaboard in GBR and a few dives in Sydney.

As far as the GBR goes it was very nice but... somehow due to the pictures I expected... more. Still amazing and it was my first live aboard, first night dive (Oh my god I am in love with night diving and Giant Travaly... its like your own personal hounds... you point your light and they exterminate!) so have very fond memories. Apart from the Travaly I saw some white-tips, turtles, leopard morays, hunting barracudas, cuttlefish, lots of pretty reef fish, some gorgeous coral (including bubble coral!) and groupers/gropers (sp?).

For the dives in Sydney... I failed and succeeded at the same time. I didnt see Weedys but the day we dived conditions were pretty rough. Strong wind, low vis and 21 degrees water.

BUT... I did see a port jackson shark, a wobbygong, a cute ray, some nice local colorful fish AND 2 huge cuttlefish... bigger than a baby...

So all in all, fun dive, fun time!

Thank you all for the advise you provided!

 

[tarponchik]

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.

Magnetic Island diveshop advertises the shortest trip to Yongala. Have you ever tried this option? Also, how is the island itself? Reportedly, there is some shore diving there but I suspect it is of low quality.

 

[WetPup]

Magnetic Island diveshop advertises the shortest trip to Yongala. Have you ever tried this option? Also, how is the island itself? Reportedly, there is some shore diving there but I suspect it is of low quality.

1. Yes I've done it. It's the same boat that departs from Townsville, just stops at Magnetic Island on the way through. This trip only runs 2 days a week in general, and on top of that it is regularly cancelled due to the weather (I have literally seen it cancelled for 6 weeks straight due to both numbers and weather). It's a just under 3 hours from Magnetic Island to Yongala. It is not the shortest trip, it is the shortest trip if you're in Townsville. By far, the shortest trip is from Alva Beach, which is under an hour, and far more reliable.

2. Magnetic Island is a fun family beach destination, and is popular with the backpacker crowd (full moon parties there are something to experience if that's your kind of thing). Ok for snorkelling, but diving is a bit meh. There's a couple of very small fishing boat wrecks and some rocky reefs where you might see a couple of nudis or a scorpionfish. Not much to write home about. I used to live in Townsville, and I can count on one hand the number of times I dived on Maggie. Topside you can go koala and wallaby spotting, which tends to be what attracts most people, aside from sitting on a tropical beach.

 

[tarponchik]

1. Yes I've done it. It's the same boat that departs from Townsville, just stops at Magnetic Island on the way through. This trip only runs 2 days a week in general, and on top of that it is regularly cancelled due to the weather (I have literally seen it cancelled for 6 weeks straight due to both numbers and weather). It's a just under 3 hours from Magnetic Island to Yongala. It is not the shortest trip, it is the shortest trip if you're in Townsville. By far, the shortest trip is from Alva Beach, which is under an hour, and far more reliable.

2. Magnetic Island is a fun family beach destination, and is popular with the backpacker crowd (full moon parties there are something to experience if that's your kind of thing). Ok for snorkelling, but diving is a bit meh. There's a couple of very small fishing boat wrecks and some rocky reefs where you might see a couple of nudis or a scorpionfish. Not much to write home about. I used to live in Townsville, and I can count on one hand the number of times I dived on Maggie. Topside you can go koala and wallaby spotting, which tends to be what attracts most people, aside from sitting on a tropical beach.

OK, thank you very much for clarifications!