Dive 847 – Rapid Bay

By pfuller

Jan

31

Date: 31st January 2017

Conditions:

Visibilty: 8m

Water Temp: 20c

Bottom Time: 80minutes

Max Depth: 11m

Details: Before the dive, we ran into a couple of dive tour operators that gave us some tip off’s on where the Leafy Seadragons had been seen. So we entered with confidence that we would see some Leafies on this dive. However after about 30mins of swimming around and still not finding any, our confidence was flailing. Luckily, a group of divers turned up and their guide pointed out to the divers two Leafy Seadragon’s tucked away behind some structure. These little fellas seemed like they were hiding away from the constant stream of divers, and even had some algae on them attempting to add additional camouflage to their armory. It made me appreciate my dive at Victor Harbour even more now, seeing Leafies in a more natural, less harassed environment.

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm, 2 X YS-D1 Strobes

Photos:

Dive 845 – Rapid Bay

By pfuller

Jan

30

Date: 30th January 2017

Conditions: Overcast, getting dark and plenty of current

Visibilty: 10m+

Water Temp: 20c

Bottom Time: 60minutes

Max Depth: 11m

Details: After arriving at Rapid Bay, and setting up camp it was straight into our first dive. Conditions weren’t great with onshore winds earlier in the day. A strong current moved through the site making it fairly uncomfortable. No Leafy Seadragons were found on this dive, so we just explored the jetty and enjoyed the fishlife. A couple of Kingfish were an interesting sighting. Apart from that it was the usual suspects….Western Talma, Spiny-tailed Leatherjackets, Dusky Morwong and old wives in the ‘cathedral’.

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm, 2 X YS-D1 Strobes

Photos:

Dive 695 – Rapid Bay

By pfuller

Apr

5

Conditions:

Visibility: 10m

Water Temp: ??c

Bottom Time: 80minutes

Max Depth: 10m

Details: The last dive at Rapid Bay and we had another crack at the juvenile Leafy Seadragon. This time we were straight onto it by observing a patch that another group of divers were checking out. I quickly realized that my dome port had two large drops of water in it…that appeared right in the middle of the frame for every photo! Buggar…i swum back in and got a tourist to assist me with taking apart the housing and wiping out the dome. Risky business, but some times these things have to be done. Back in the water and straight to the seadragon. We looked for another Adult, but had no luck. I was a happy diver finding an adult and juvenile over the 4 dives here, so i could return home content.

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X Inon z240 Strobes

Photos:

Dive 694 – Rapid Bay Night Dive

By pfuller

Apr

4

Conditions:

Visibility: Night Dive

Water Temp: ??c

Bottom Time: 80minutes

Max Depth: 5m

Details: I couldn’t resist a night dive at Rapid Bay even though conditions were less than ideal. I didn’t go far so didn’t get the full show, but saw cuttlefish, scorpionfish, a couple of nudibranchs, a wavy volute and a strange worm thing. A cowfish posed nicely for some photos too.

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X Inon z240 Strobes

Photos:

Dive 693 – Rapid Bay

By pfuller

Apr

4

Conditions:

Visibility: 10m

Water Temp: ??c

Bottom Time: 80minutes

Max Depth: 10m

Details: Talking to a number of local divers, they suggested trying the eel grass beds straight out from the steps for some juvenile Leafy Seadragons. The current was starting to run hard again and as we searched around the eel grass, we spotted an Eagle Ray…apparently a rare sighting in this area. That exhausted our luck and we missed out on the juvenile seadragons, but still nice to poke around under the cathedral of pylons on the way back. Lots of Cuttlefish around on this dive.

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X Inon z240 Strobes

Photos:

Dive 691 – Rapid Bay

By pfuller

Apr

4

Conditions:

Visibility: 10m+

Water Temp: ??c

Bottom Time: 70minutes

Max Depth: 10m

Details: We headed down to Rapid Bay over the Easter Long Weekend in a hope to get some Leafy Seadragon photos. My last dives here, i failed to see a single Leafy, so i’d hoped to have better luck this time. I didn’t waste any time and did the first dive on dusk the night we arrived. It wasn’t that well planned, as it was very dark and overcast and there was a strong current running. My search for a Leafy Seadragon was unsuccessful, but the trip was young and i had another couple of days to continue the search in better conditions, so i made do with just getting familiar with the site. The cathedral of pylons is a great place to hang out and theres always a fair share of Old wives around. An odd sighting on return to shore was a mid-water weedfish, just floating down from atop a pylon.

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X Inon z240 Strobes

Photos:

Dive 692 – Rapid Bay

By pfuller

Apr

3

Conditions:

Visibility: 10m

Water Temp: ??c

Bottom Time: 80minutes

Max Depth: 10m

Details: After the first dive i got some tips offs on where to search to find Leafy Seadragons. I headed out to the right and searched for a good 30 minutes exploring the structures that scattered the area. With no sightings, i headed back over to the left arm. In the distance next to a pylon i saw a magnificent Adult Leafy Seadragon in all its frondy glory. A sense of relief went through my body…i’d finally found one!!!

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm 2 X Inon z240 Strobes

Photos:

Dive 115 – Rapid Bay

By pfuller

Jan

10

Dive Number: 115 22/12/10 11.02  Rapid Bay Jetty

Wind:   10knot  SE’s

Tide: 1.25hrs after 0.14 low tide at Port Lincoln.

Conditions:   A bit of offshore wind early in the morning, turning to onshore later in the day, but the point in between turned the water perfectly clear. Some surface chop on entry, but generally great conditions. 

Visibilty: Awesome…20m+

Water Temp: 18c

Bottom Time: 104 minutes

Max Depth: 8.9m

Air usage: 175bar/2500psi ????

SAC: ???? litres/min

Details: Wow..what a dive site. Sometimes you hear a good wrap about a site and you just dont see it. But Rapid Bay blew me away…almost seemed like a tropical pier dive with the great vis and amount of marine life.  It seemed to have all the same fish species we have in Port Phillip Bay but in much greater numbers, and  with its own unique mix of other temperate species.  The main reason i visited though, was for the Leafy Seadragon, which i unfortunately dipped on.  There was just too many other distractions to do a thorough search.  Anyway, another trip is on the cards for the future. 

Camera Details: Tokina 10-17mm , dual SS200 strobes

Dive Report: