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DIVING IN TASMANIA by Andrew Falconer

 

As part of a road trip on a motorcycle round Tasmania, I did a couple of dives off the Tasman Peninsula on the East Coast with http://eaglehawkdive.com.au

I have never dived in Tasmania before, and now that the dive shop at Bicheno has closed Eaglehawk Nek seemed the best alternative.

 

Location of the dive sites

The Candlestick

 

 

I stayed at the bunk bed accommodation provided at the dive centre ($30 per night) and had dinner at the local pub. Seafood in Tasmania is very good. Travelling on a bike I had to hire all the gear except my dive computer and camera set up. The dive centre only hires wet suits (7mm two piece with hood, gloves and boots) but at 15 degrees sea temperature I would have preferred a dry suit.
As it turned out after about 30 minutes into both dives I started to feel cold, which affected my enjoyment of the dives.
The dive boat was a shark cat and the harbour where we got on board was about 5 km from the dive centre. The weather and sea conditions were as good as it gets with sunshine, no wind and a flat sea.
We made the short trip along the spectacular coastline to “the Candlestick” and saw some seals on the rocks and in the water.


My diving companions were a young inexperienced Belgian girl and an older experienced Tasmanian man (he had a dry suit). Because of the inexperienced diver, the first dive was meant to be very easy and we jumped in not far from fur seals, with the intention of interacting with them. With no guide, the Tasmanian diver was the de facto leader. However after 45 minutes underwater, we failed to see a single seal, only seaweed, rocks a few fish.

 

Plenty of seaweed and rocks, no seals.

The view above the water better than under

 

I came out of the dive feeling really cold, and turned down the offer of snorkeling with the seals (who were not far away) during the surface interval. The young Belgian girl was more adventurous and literally jumped at the opportunity and had a great time.

 

Entrance to the Cathedral caves

Looking out from the caves

 

 

As we had all passed the buoyancy test of the first dive, we did the second dive at a large and complex cave / cavern system called Cathedral Caves not far where we started the trip. This was quite spectacular, with many openings and passages, and arch like rock formations. We didn’t go into all the caves however, including a section called “the Catacombs” My enjoyment of the dive was tempered by feeling cold again after 30 minutes.

 

 

A narrower section of the caves.

Exiting the caves

 

 

Sadly the kelp forests that once grew along this part of the Tasmanian coast, have now all gone, apparently a victim of rising sea temperatures and nutrient deficiency. According to Mick the skipper of the boat, the forests had been diminishing since the turn of the century, finally vanishing in 2017 when the sea temperature peaked at 18/19 degrees. Also the species of fish have been steadily changing in recent years to more northerly temperate ones.

 

April 2021