Dive Number: 155 27/04/11 11.33, Shortlands Bluff
Wind: 15 knot NE’s
Tide: 30min before 0.49 low tide at the Heads.
Conditions: Visible current running out to the heads, but generally calm conditions. In the water the current got pretty crazy in certain parts. You’ve gotta be cautious diving here.
Visibilty: 6-8m
Water Temp: 16c
Bottom Time: 44minutes
Max Depth: 12.2m
Air usage: 105bar/1500psi
SAC: ???? litres/min
Details: Crazy, crazy diving here. Low tide is close to maximum outflowing streams, but being a low rate of knots today, i decided just to play around to try to get a feel for what this area does at different tide levels. I jumped in off the far edge of the exposed reef and was soon in 12m of water. The current flows fast through channels bordering the edge of the reefs with different rates of flow at different parts of the reef, so you have to play it by feel and if the current is getting too strong, just head higher up the reef. I envisage the currents never really stop here, even on slack so its about feeling out how the height of the tide affects the direction and speed of the current. I’m thinking that a higher tide might help to diffuse the strong directional currents that exist around low tide. Anyway, i only poked around the high current areas for about 20minutes, finding a nice intact bottle from 1918. A “Geelong water” bottle. There were lots of grey sponges in this area loving the strong current. Fish and weed were flying past furiously, and i decided to play it safe in some shallower water for the rest of the dive. Even then i ended up a long way down the coast on exit. Exciting diving, the kind of place you feel like you might come across sharks riding the currents making suprise ambushes.
Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm , dual SS200 strobes
Dive Report:
