Nelson Bay is approximately 60 kilometres north of Newcastle and was named after Major Nelson of the New South Wales Rum Corps who discovered the Bay. At one stage Nelson Bay was one of the contestants in the nationwide competition to decide the capital of Australia.
In November 2009 I dived Nelson Bay for the first time with Mick Todd and Nicci “Scubasquirrel” Johnson. Our first dive was at Sea Horse Gardens, west of Fly Point and our second dive was at Fly Point itself where Mick was “electrocuted” by a Numb Ray. He did not get any sympathy. We followed this up with dives at Halifax Park and Halifax Wall.
Diving conditions were far from ideal but I really enjoyed our four dives.