DIVING AT ROTTNEST ISLAND, by Andrew Falcone

DIVING AT ROTTNEST ISLAND by Andrew Falconer

As part of a sailing trip from Bunbury where I live, to Rottnest island, I fitted in a double dive while on the island.

I organised the trip with Blue Destiny www.bluedestiny.com.au who operate a large catamaran out of Fremantle, where all the other (46) divers except for me got on board. The boat made a special pick up for me from the jetty at Thompson Bay on the island.

Yes, with me that made 47 divers on the boat, more than I have ever experienced in my diving lifetime! However, I was specially paired with a young guide and we bade our time entering the water after most of the crowd, and spreading out so we did not really encounter much traffic during the dive.

Bullseyes silhouetted in swim through

Sunlight shafting down to swim through

It is probably at least 20 years since I last dived on Roe reef and I was expecting to see plenty of fish and lots of limestone swim throughs / caverns, but didn’t end up with much of either until right at the end of the dive, as neither my guide or I knew where to go. We finally found a very nice overhanging cavern with plenty of swim through possibilities and lots of schooling fish inside. We were definitely last out as our dive lasted over 60 minutes, and were told that our second dive would have to be shorter. This dive was on Geordie reef just out from Geordie Bay and was generally unevental except for a large stingray that took my buddy by surprise towards the end. Much of the reefs on both dives were covered in green seaweed. We did spot several crayfish hiding in holes, something that Rotto is famous for.

One of the crays that Rotto is famous for

A large stingray gliding past

After the last dive the boat took off for home, and I had to gulp down a very nice smorgasbord lunch in record time as I was dropped off first at Thompson Bay.
Total cost for the double dives was $170 (I had my own gear)

March 2020