As in 2012, I enjoyed ten Seal Rocks dives in 2013. Again Avanti motored down from Forster to then ferry divers out for two dives on the local dive sites and from the second trip onwards I was invited to join the Avanti crew for each boat ride down from Forster. And fortunately, back! We dived Big Rock, Bird Shit Rock (three times) Little Rock, Skeleton Rock and The Grotto (four times) and as the previous year, conditions varied enormously.
The first pair of dives weren’t great but then the next pair, when I dived with Howard Womersley and Janine Woodside, were fabulous with 20 to 25 visibility at The Grotto and Little Rock and heaps of Grey Nurse sharks around us.
Conditions were more challenging for the next two dives, a rough sea and a quite strong current. We jumped from Avanti and immediately descended down to the by now familiar, Grotto. Thanks to Geoff from Ron’s dive centre, I had a 36% Nitrox mix. So was able to sit on ledges between 15 and 20 metres conserving air and minimising bubbles without having to worry about going into Deco. The first down I was able to be the last up. However while I was underwater, the sea had turned quite nasty. Surfacing I fretted about getting my camera safely back aboard Avanti as the boat lurched up and down. But crew member Keith made the process look easy. As the trough of a wave brought Avanti downwards, I extended my camera as close to Keith on the boat as I could. In one swift movement he grabbed it and had it safely aboard. Phew! Avanti then headed for the shore to shelter from the conditions and our second dive was at Bird Shit Rock.
The next day Avanti returned for another two dives at The Grotto but this time I was on a 32% Nitrox mix so had to be more careful with my bottom time.
When Avanti next headed south from Forster, a rough sea forced us to abandon Big Rock and instead head back up the coast to the more sheltered Skeleton Rock. Many of the divers aboard Avanti would have been disappointed at this change of plans but I was delighted as Skeleton Rock offers different photographic opportunities and indeed I enjoyed some superb close encounters with Port Jackson and Wobbegong sharks. Our second dive at Bird Shit rock was very enjoyable but not so photographically productive.