Dive Review of
Seasports in
Australia/Jervis Bay

Monterey, St. John, Fiji, Cozumel, Florida, Great Barrier Reef, Channel
Islands

Dive Conditions

None  

[None]  

Overall Rating

Jervis Bay lies about 2 ½ hours by car south of Sydney along the
Princes Highway, Australia’s main coastal route that links Sydney and
Melbourne. The bay is large and provides several beautiful, sheltered,
white-sand beaches. It is enclosed by two headlands: diving sites are found
just within the heads and outside on the open-ocean side of the coastline.
The choice of site depends on the weather conditions. Jervis Bay is claimed
to offer outstanding temperate water diving. The main towns around the bay
are Huskisson and Vincentia. Both are small with a limited number of shops
and restaurants but with a large variety of accommodations.

We stayed at Claudi’s beach Retreat in Vincentia. The web site is
www.jervisbaybeachhouse.com.au and the email address for Kerrie Curac who
manages the property is leighc@shoal.net.au The house is about 20 yards
from the beach with a view of the bay from the main bedroom. The second
bedroom has a bunk bed with a double bed on the bottom and single on top.
The house can accommodate 5 people. The kitchen is fully equipped and you
can save money by cooking at home. The house if very nicely appointed with
furniture and is an excellent choice. It cost us $140AUD (Australian
dollars) per night. The house is about 5 minutes drive from the dive shop
and wharf in Huskisson.

Seasports is located on the  main road in Huskisson. I made arrangements
for 2 days of two-tank diving by email and web prior to leaving the US.
There were no problems with my reservation. I carried most of my own gear
but needed to rent a two piece wet suit off them. Their boat leaves from
the wharf in Huskisson. During winter they run dives only on weekends.
Their boat carries up to 20 people although on the days I was on-board
there were no more than 12 with enough room for everyone. The boat is
rather slow (known affectionately as the sea slug). NITROX is available.
The boat does not have a table or rinse bucket for cameras. The crew
provide a lunch of hot dogs between dives and cakes on the way home. A dive
master is in the water on all the dives.

Saturday was wet and windy thanks to a southerly wind that blew up. Normal
winds in winter are westerly that help to keep the seas flat. The south
wind brought up a 2 meter swell outside the heads that prevented us from
accessing the best sites. We were limited to one site inside the heads that
was more protected; the site is called the Nursery. The first dive was in
about 50 feet on a sand bottom with rock ledges towards shore. The surge
closer in was very strong, making photography challenging. In addition, the
visibility was limited by the churning of material off the bottom.
Nevertheless, we did see a good selection of the local wild life. Upon
descent on the mooring line, we almost ran into a wobbegong, a toothless
shark that inhabits the southeastern coastal waters of Australia. Later on
I came across a pair of the sharks that were mating. The dive master,
Brett, disappeared in pursuit of a shark and was not seen for the rest of
the first dive so I teamed up with a brother and sister down from Sydney
for the day. I spotted an eagle ray in the distance. An octopus was lurking
under a bottle. The second dive was in slightly deeper water with less
surge but not with significantly better visibility. 

On Sunday, we were forced to return to the Nursery due to the weather and
swell. However, the visibility was much better than on Saturday, at about
60 feet - the locals report visibility up to 100 feet in good conditions. A
large group of Japanese divers were on the boat and they needed most of
Brett’s attention so I teamed up with Ian from the dive shop for my dives.
We spotted several nudibranchs on the rocks. A large cuttlefish swam by and
hid under a rock ledge. Many colorful semi tropical fish were evident, such
as Moorish idols etc. The second dive was closer to the inlet to the bay,
near the southern headland. Conditions on the surface were rough but the
surge below was not a problem. Visibility was also good at this site. There
was a rock wall along the southern edge of the site that was covered in
colorful sponges. More nudibranchs, seals, and fish were in evidence. The
quality of the wild life was very good. Jervis Bay is a marine sanctuary.

Jervis Bay would be an excellent dive when conditions are perfect.
Unfortunately, the weather is not as predictable as the Caribbean, for
example (hurricanes excepted). The operation run by SeaSport is very good
and the accommodations were first rate. This would be an excellent choice
for visitors to Australia who have seen the Great Barrier Reef and who
would like to have a glimpse of the rest of the temperate-water life on the
East coast.

Images of the dives and town can be seen at 
http://homepage.mac.com/kennedyim/PhotoAlbum25.html
 

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