Malcolm Nobbs

South West Rocks is situated halfway between Sydney and Brisbane, a short distance off the Pacific Highway, north of Kempsey. It is home to a world class dive site, Fish Rock.

I had first learnt of Fish Rock when reading the Atlas Of Australian Dive Sites by Keith Hockton. In his book, Keith lists his five favourite Australian dive sites one of which is Fish Rock. I had already dived two others, Magic Point, Sydney and Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia and these had been excellent. But my fifth and final dive at Fish Rock (my dive 1365) was to be my best dive todate, never mind my best Australian dive todate. The craggy island of Fish Rock, which lies just only 4.5 kilometres from the Continental Shelf, gives no indication of the spectacular diving below. It reminds me very much of the underwater scenery of Cocos Island, Costa Rica and like Cocos Island it can have strong currents and gives the diver the impression that any large creature might suddenly make an appearance. It offers the only true ocean cave dive in Australia, the cave being a 120 metres long and has 3 metre long resident Grey Nurse Sharks as well as huge Wobbegong Sharks.

In November 2006, I spent two nights at the South West Rocks Dive Centre’s Divers Lodge with Jon Shaw of Pro Dive (Manly), James Stanton, Guy Mason and Dave Murrell. Having checked in at the dive centre, our dive equipment was loaded aboard Sea Wolf which was then taken on a trailer to nearby Trial Bay, and duly launched. We enjoyed a 20 to 30 minute boat ride down the Macleay River into the Pacific Ocean over a shallow sand bar and then south to Fish Rock.

Dropping off Sea Wolf, our dive guide Nick Hitchins led the five of us into the cave where we ascended the first chimney into the main cave chamber. I had to hire some equipment and as a consequence was significantly over-weighted for this dive. What with trying to protect my fisheye lens in the tightest parts of the cave, my buoyancy left a lot to be desired. After a further 10 metres, we turned a corner, passing a Wobbegong Shark and Painted Crayfish and continued finning until we could see the exit, the deep blue of the ocean outside the cave contrasting with the darkness inside. The exit was partly obscured by thousands of Bullseyes and behind them I could make out the silhouette of a Grey Nurse Shark. To my delight the shark came into the cave while outside more large Grey Nurse Sharks waited for us. Unfortunately there was a lot of plankton in the water which together with the overcast weather, occasional strong currents and the 20 metre depth made photography difficult. But the sight of these 3 metre long Grey Nurse Sharks was an exhilarating experience. After having been so badly over-weighted on the first dive I removed two 3 lb. weights which made a huge difference on our second dive. This began at Fish and Chips and concluded at Fish Rock Cave. Again we saw large Wobbegongs and Grey Nurse Sharks and this time turtles as well but the highlight for Nick was an Eastern Blue Devil. To me it seemed nothing exceptional particularly as we were surrounded by ten 3-metre Grey Nurse Sharks but I guess it must have been a rare fish in these waters. Out third and final dive of the day was at The Aquarium, a twenty metre area situated outside the exit to Fish Rock Cave. Fish highlights were a massive Ray, two Wobbegongs and numerous large Grey Nurse Sharks. The poor light and plankton in the water combined with the occasional strong currents had made photography challenging on our first day and I hoped that conditions would be better the next day.

And as luck would have it the next day brought a blue sky, minimum plankton and 20 metres visibility. This time our dive guide was Peter Hitchins. Once again we made our way through the cave system, seeing a large Scorpionfish, many big Wobbegongs and of course the Grey Nurse Sharks. To give myself more bottom time I was on a 32% Nitrox mix and as this was supplied in a steel tank I was able to drop a further 6 lbs. Although my photographs were much better than the previous day, I seemed to have knack of being in the wrong place throughout the dive and as a consequence missed many opportunities for close-ups with the Grey Nurse Sharks. Discussing this afterwards with Peter, he kindly suggested that I stick closely to him on our final dive so that he could show me the ideal position to photograph the Grey Nurse Sharks. Once again we made our way through the cave system. We chose one of the smallest chimneys to ascend through which I found a little concerning as I had a Subal dome port to protect! As Peter and I reached the exit the rest of our group deliberately held back, ascending up into a bubble cave so that I could concentrate on photographing the Grey Nurse Sharks. Peter indicated that we should stay within the cave and keep still. I was amazed just how far the Grey Nurse Sharks came into the cave before turning. Peter borrowed my camera to show me the perfect position to take shots and if he had known how to adjust the flashgun settings would have immediately taken better photos than me! I took some more photographs of the Grey Nurse Sharks and we then moved out of the cave to The Aquarium. For a joke I had brought with me a small black and white plastic sea snake to scare Guy with. Jon concealed it in his BCD then suddenly produced it, waving it in front of Guy. Fortunately we did not have to stop him bolting to the surface as Guy reacted very calmly to this “snake attack”. Peter continued to show me the best positions for photographs and then once by one the group was forced to ascend as breathing air, they approached “Deco”. However I had a Nitrox mix of 33% and so eventually was alone on the sea bed with five 3 metre Grey Nurse Sharks. Bliss! They passed within arms’ reach of me. High above me Peter and Jon watched while they carried out a Safety Stop. I would have liked to have stayed on the sea bed for hours but all too soon my pressure gauge indicated it was time to ascend and I reluctantly made my way to a buoyed line and slowly ascended to join Peter and Jon. What a fantastic final dive to conclude our stay at this awesome dive site. And what great company Jo, James, Guy and Dave were on this memorable trip.