Planula Bed and Breakfast Retreat, Byron Bay

Tuesday was the top day with great conditions and the sighting of the very first Leopard Shark. On the same day there was also an almost completely black Manta Ray sighted at Julian Rocks. Another Manta Ray came past on Friday (normal colouring). Grey Nurse Sharks at Hugo’s Trench. They’ll be leaving soon as the water warms up even more.

Black Cod in the Cod Hole, 10 different Bullrays spotted on a single dive on Friday. Lots of different nudibranch around, including a very large species (~35 cm) called Dendrodoris tuberculosa (see photo on the left). Blue Gropers, moray eels, Shovelnose Rays, a great big fat octopus and the usual suspects: Blue Gropers, turtles, anemonefish and much, much more.

Weather

More sun, some hotter days at the end of the week, but generally there was a nice breeze to cool things down. Nights were cool. Mostly southerly winds.

Sea

Bit of a swell coming through to begin with and some surface chop. Tuesday the Bay was very calm. Friday the northerly came in and Saturday was rough: some diving was cancelled.

Water temperature

Up and down a bit 20 – 24 °C, some thermoclines. Tuesday topped the week with 26 °C!

Visibility

Around the 12 – 15 meters most days. We had 20 meters on Tuesday.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 25th, 2005 at 4:42 pm and is filed under Diving Conditions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.