It was an early start for the eight BSAC divers assembled at Lighthouse Parade, Fingal Head last Saturday

A 0615 NSW time was quoted and seven out of the eight divers were there by 0600. Bernie and Russell stayed overnight locally to avoid a really early morning departure. Greta, fool that she is, departed Noosa at 0200 to get there on time! It was therefore a shock to find that there had been a misunderstanding and the timing quoted was actually Queensland time. We therefore had plenty of time to assemble our kit and listen to the dive briefing. Wally rocked up at 0700 having had a lovely lie in. He quickly kitted up and we departed for the Cook Island Aquatic Reserve.

The weather was overcast and dull, expectations were not high. The skipper stated that last week the visibility has been 15m and the water temperature 23°C. Everyone was in their summer dive suits, not a dry suit in sight. Bad decision.

The first dive was called The Sling Shot, entering the water on the north wall and drifting west and round the corner of the island. The current wasn’t very strong, we descended the shot line and gently drifted. Even as we hit the water Bernie and I knew it was nowhere near 23 degrees. Luckily I cannot see the temperature on may dive computer as I may have got straight back on the boat. The slow drift dive allowed us to potter and explore the nooks and crannies along the wall. The visibility wasn’t too bad at 5 - 8m. We spotted some massive crayfish, a number of greet turtles, a large grey nurse shark surrounded by remora’s, as well as a large bull ray. We finished our dive on the south side of the island and the boat picked us up.

When we returned to the boat we were all a little chilly. Shocked to find the water temperature was a frigid 18° degrees!

The second dive was at the Coral Garden on the south side of Cook Island. Again large crayfish were in abundance, two spectacular Spanish dancers one large and a smaller version in residence and some egg cowries, with the most iridescent mantles. More turtles and wobbegongs and a strange shark which we could not identify holed up head first in a crevice. The soft corals were stunning as the sun eventually came out.

Bernie and myself ascended the shot line after our chilly 50 mins. We surfaced to find a fishing boat setting up for the day. However to the the fishermen’s horror a Coast Guard vessel was pulling up along side to reprimand them.

All in all a great day’s diving, rounded off by lunch at the Sheoak Cafe opposite the jetty. Thanks to Will for organising the day and Bernie, Russell, Wally, Tim, Jenny and Jordan for being great diving compadres.

Greta

(Photos courtesy of Tim Wong.)