Photo: Chris Miller Photo: Chris Miller Shore Diving The more popular sites include Shelly Beach and Fairlight in the northern beaches. Camp Cove and Gordon’s Bay are on the eastern harbour foreshores. Bare Island – a small island on the northern foreshore of Botany Bay – and Shiprock, in Port Hacking. Shelly Beach occupies a scenic corner of Manly’s ocean beachfront. A horse-shoe shaped cove surrounded by flame-trees, tea-trees, wattles and gums, the white sandy beach and natural reef of tumbled boulders and rocks descending to a maximum depth of 14 metres have made this one of Sydney’s premiere shore diving sites. The marine life includes regular sightings of the Wobbegong, Port Jackson, Cat and Angel sharks, with the occasional Grey Nurse, turtles, fiddler rays, huge Eastern Blue grouper that allow themselves to be petted by divers, wrasse, painted shrimps, octopus, giant cuttlefish, squid, lionfish, gobies, blennies, bright blue damsel fish, huge schools of pomfrets and sleek sea-pike. It’s also a place where, among scattered beds of kelp, known to local divers as, ‘Dragon Patches’, that the weedy or Common seadragon (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus) can be found. Shiprock located near Dolan’s Bay at Lilli Pilli, is a marine reserve with excellent diving for novices through to advanced divers. Shiprock is extremely tidal, and you can only dive it safely on a slack tide - about 20 minutes either side of high or low tide. Generally, high tide is suggested, as visibility is best at this time. The key feature of this site is the bubble cave, a small crevice that two divers can surface into at about 12 metres, and actually talk to each other. Apart from the bubble cave marine life here is wonderful, with some of the largest ranges of anemones and soft corals found around Sydney. There is also lots of small stuff - angler fish, nudibranchs and sand eels. Bare Island is one of the most scenic shore dives. It can be dived in most conditions but is spectacular on a calm day. The walk is well worth it. Red Indian fish, blue groupers, Port Jackson and Wobbegong sharks, sea horses, weedy sea dragons and sponge gardens with so much colour and life. The area is just a mass of colourful underwater gardens. After the dive, explore the history La Perouse has to offer. Wrecks Photo: <strong>Jayne</strong> <strong>Jenkins</strong> As the oldest settled city in Australia, the Sydney coastline and waterways are littered with wrecks of every description; some the result of maritime misfortune and others that have been purposely scuttled. In Sydney Harbour alone there are more than twenty-five known wrecks in water depths that range between 8 and 29-metres. Offshore there are an even greater number. Although many of these vessels lie in water depths only accessible to technical divers, others are in shallower waters just metres from shore. “Coolooli”, my personal favourite is one of the largest wrecks scuttled off Long Reef is an old bucket dredge. She now lies on her side on a sand bed in 48 metres off Long Reef. This dive has something for everyone and begins at 36 metres. The wrecks superstructure is intact and it is possible to penetrate various areas. For the more adventurous - you can swim through the funnel and come out through a hole in its side. The buckets are still there and are covered with fish and anemones. Other areas to explore are the bridge but do not forget the fish life; red morwong, sergeant baker, trevally, sometimes if you’re lucky huge jewfish and giant cuttlefish. ScubaDiver A U S T R A L A S I A 79 The walk is well worth it. Red Indian fish, blue groupers, Port Jackson and wobbegong sharks, sea horses, weedy sea dragons and sponge gardens with so much colour and life... Photo: Aengus Moran