On the final weekend in May we also went to Flinders Pier, home of the otherworldly Weedy Seadragon. As well as these magnificent creatures, we were also treated to a massive school of trevally, an inquisitive giant cuttle, colourful cowfish and more. The challenge of Flinders is seeing beyond the weeds and spotting the marine life hiding in plain sight… The extra challenge is holding your camera still while the surge tries to push you all over the place!
pier dive
Rye Pier Dives
Having to play a little catch up on my dive videos 🙂 These shots were taken over two days in late May, at the ever entertaining Rye Pier. First up was a fun dive where we didn’t see a whole heap, second was a cleanup dive where everyone came to play! Crabs, stingarees, seahorses and more.
My highlight? First time seeing big jellyfish under water, the video doesn’t show it well but they danced and changed colours under the lights 💃🏼💃🏼
Not so good was seeing 3 dead banjo (fiddler) rays – one missing a tail – probably left to their demise by fisherman 😓 It was intriguing to see a seastar working on one the following day though.
Rye Pier Diving
Rye Pier holds a special place in my heart – it’s where I took my first breath underwater in the ocean as part of my Open Water course, it’s where I returned to do part of my Advanced Open Water, and it’s been the host to many other magical dives.
This is the first time I’ve dived it in the daylight with my camera though, so welcome to Rye Pier! Highlight for sure was the rather large stingray – at the end it sweeps along directly underneath me. Slightly amusing because overseas we were chasing Mantas, attempting to catch even a glimpse, and here at Rye and the other piers, we’re often visited by these underwater giants!
Portsea Pier Sunrise Dive
Life has been hectic, so I thought I would spend some time today trying to catch up on my Dive Videos, all the way back from March, the Sunday prior to my Epic Africa Trip!
After 2 months of diving every weekend, I was concerned that it would be some time before I would get a chance to dive in Africa (it ended up being a full 18 days 😱), so I made the most of it and managed 4 dives in one day!
The first was a rather spiritual sunrise dive with the lovely Jane, underneath the Portsea Pier (first time for me!). An easy dive, with lots to see under the pier, and magical as the sun came up above the waters.
Blairgowrie Pier Reunion Dives
Dives 2 and 3 that Sunday were a set of Reunion Dives with my buddies from my Open Water course so many moons ago! It was nice to see how far we’ve all come since those nervous first breaths underwater.
Conditions at Blairgowrie started out fantastic, but turned sour by the end of our second dive, with barely 1m viz on the way back.
Highlight was the magnificent octopus showing off for me, first up in the video 🐙🐙 When we were still wading out into the water for our second dive, someone poked their head under the water and saw it… At only 1m deep, I quickly threw in my regs and dropped below the surface to film it, following it back to the shallows until my knees were dragging in the sand