So… you have just completed your open water course. You can tick the “Learn to dive” box and move on to something else, right? Well, you could, but you could also use the skill you have just learned and explore the amazing underwater world.
Diving in Sydney might seem uninteresting, especially when compared to tropical diving but there is amazing number of animals to see around Sydney. Many of the animals we see you won’t ever see in the tropics, such as weedy seadragons, Port Jackson sharks at pineapplefish. Some other animals are much more abundant and accessible in Sydney, such as cuttlefish, octopus and seahorses.
There are so many great places to dive around Sydney and a lot are easily accessible for shore dives. Kurnell has three great sites: The Monument, The Steps and The Leap. There’s also Shiprock, Oak Park and Bare Island. That’s just the south side of Sydney.
The sooner you dive after finishing your course, the less you will have forgotten. The more often you dive, the more natural it will become, the less you have to concentrate on what you learned and the more you can relax and enjoy the sights.
After gaining a bit of experience, an advanced open water course would be a good idea. This will help reinforce the skills you’ve already learned, learn about night diving (which in itself is fantastic) and get you certified to dive to 30 metres. There’s a lot to be seen between 18 and 30 metres.
Night diving around Sydney is fabulous. On a night dive your attention is more focused on your torch beam so you can actually find more things to see. Additionally, a lot of animals only come out at night, such as pyjama and dumpling squid and many nudibranch species. Three great night dive sites around Sydney are Shiprock, Camp Cove and Clifton Gardens. You get to see some really cool stuff there at night.
Once you’ve done your advanced course and racked up a few more dives, there are a whole lot of specialty course you can do, or you can just keep diving and enjoying the experience. Underwater naturalist helps you identify what you see on your dives. Deep diver certifies you even deeper than 30 metres and equips you to do it safely.
In addition to diving in Sydney, there are trips not far from Sydney like Shellharbour in the south and Port Stephens in the north. There’s also a little bit further afield like Jervis Bay to the south and Seal Rocks to the north. There’s also the Great Barrier Reef and Ningaloo. Then you have the overseas trips, like Vanuatu, Philippines, Palau, Indonesia, Borneo, Tonga, Fiji, and so on. There’s just so much to do as a diver.
Join the St George Underwater Dive Club for discounts and information nights. If you’re on Facebook, keep track of things on the St George Underwater Centre page and the St George Underwater Centre Dive Club group.
There are club dives every weekend and you’re welcome to come along and join us.
Hope we see you in the water soon.