South West Rocks - Third Time Lucky

by Miguel Garrido

They say that third time is a charm and funny enough, they were right. Originally scheduled in April, our group of very, very determined divers finally managed to get a weekend down at South West Rocks early September.

Three cancellations due to weather, six months of anticipation, a ten degree drop in water temperature and we were there, almost to our disbelief but boy was it was worth the wait. The dives, (while on the colder end of the scale,) were fantastic. At 120 metres long, Fish Rock Cave is well known as one of the largest ocean caverns in the southern hemisphere, and home to some of the last endangered Grey Nurse Shark populations worldwide. Shaaaaarks! Plenty of sharks! So much so that Damien and Tim spent entire dives perched on rocks in the gutters as the sharks would swim past to have their photos taken. Good things apparently do come to those who wait as Tim Nguyen placed in the top 100 for his photo of grey nurse sharks(shown in this article) in the Australasia Underwater Festival Shootout 2011. Congratulations Timmy!

The fun and excitement didn’t stop with the sharks. Fish Rock Cave itself is a stunning underwater swim through which is perfectly accessible to Advanced Adventure divers and above, no cave certification necessary. For those that have done the HMAS Brisbane, Fish Rock Cave is about as long as the wreck is from bow to stern.

Overall, as most dive trips are, it was a blast. The sheer amount of fish life that gathers around the rock is spectacular and the cave is amazing. South West Rocks definitely deserves its place among the top 10 dive spots in Australia, a must-do for any diver.

Nauti Cat -- Snorkel Safari Gold Coast

by Guy Vincent

Snorkel Safari Gold Coast (formerly Cooly Dive) in Coolangatta is joining the Snorkel Safari Team and have a new 9m catamaran called Nauti Cat. We headed down on Sunday the 18th of August to conduct one of our first exploration dives off this new and shiny dive platform. For those who don’t know, the reefs surrounding Cook Island extend as a submerged ridge all the way from the island to 9 Mile reef off the Gold Coast. With such a huge area to explore we thought it a shame to limit our diving to just the North Wall of Cook Island. So we chose to make it a drift dive. We entered the water near the wreck of the Bonza. As we were entering a Humpback whale surfaced nearby to investigate what all the splashing was about. As we descended and began our drift over the ridge, where we found schools of surgeon fish, hawksbill turtles, and a Tawny Nurse Shark. We had “virgin” drift divers in the group and everyone just loved it. Drift diving is also known as “the Lazy Mans Dive” and are always popular, not having to exert any energy with finning or the pressure to navigate back to the boat, makes diving too easy. It is defiantly a dive you don’t want to miss!

Snorkel Safari Brisbane

Hello Everyone,

I would like to take this opportunity to firstly thank you all for your support over what has been a tumultuous year so far with the weather gods conspiring against us at every opportunity to foil our attempts to get out there diving (just ask those on the Fish Rock trip). Secondly I would like to bring you all up to date with the changes that have occurred within the store over the last couple of months.

The business we find ourselves immersed in has been at the forefront of the dive industry for over 20 years. So in following that lead we have taken the step in joining a few select, like-minded operators in developing a new brand to move forward with. The brand is Snorkel Safari. The concept behind Snorkel Safari is that through combining the experience, passion, expertise and commitment to customer service of these leading operators under one banner we will be able to provide you with a one stop solution for all your needs. Whether it is professionally delivered accredited training from novice to instructor across Snorkelling, Free diving, Scuba Diving or First Aid, expert advice and service for all your equipment needs or specialized guidance on local, interstate and overseas travel, Snorkel Safari will be able to take care of it for you efficiently and without hassle.

We are working on developing state-of-the-art best practice systems to help streamline and make your experience with us effortless. We will have up to 10 locations operating across Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Sydney and Melbourne by Christmas and you will be able to take advantage of the same service across all locations. At a local level we have started identifying new dive locations that will be on offer over the next weeks and months so keep an eye on your email, follow us on our new facebook page or check out the new look website for details. The store in Milton is also undergoing a facelift so be sure to drop in when you are next in the area (Corner Milton & Baroona Road) you won't be able to miss us.

The Snorkel Safari concept is the first of its kind, where everyone is welcome whether its a family looking to go snorkelling on their next holiday or a diver wanting to pursue a career in the industry, we are here to offer advice, educate, guide or assist you whatever your needs. As an introduction to Snorkel Safari we invite you to take advantage of the Try Scuba and Rusty diver specials offered in this newsletter, you can use them yourself or pass them on to family or friends.

Regards,
The Snorkel Safari Team