How does a weekend away camping and diving sound?!?! Awesome we hope. 

Located approx 2 and a half hours north of Sydney, Nelson Bay is renowned for its shore dives. The dive sites we're planning on doing are Fly Point, which has heaps of fish and is super easy, and Halifax Point, which has a lot of large barrel sponges, eels, eastern blue grouper, and much more! Both are done at high tide, or as drift dives from here into the bay. Both of these sites are located near the mouth of the river, which means it is more than likely that they'll be diveable, even after heavy rain. 

More information can be found at: https://www.letsgoadventures.com.au/en/fly-point

If that isn't enough to convince you, we'll also be taking our boat up there and running it to Broughton Island. Weather permitting we'll be diving Looking Glass, which is a grey nurse shark sanctuary, and then maybe elephant rock.

Broughton Island is weather dependant, but there are plenty of places to go to if the island is unsuitable.

ITINERARY

The Divers are going to be broken into 2 groups of 5. This is due to the limited capacity of our boat (5 divers). That means that each group is going to have 1 day shore dives and 1 day boat dives.

Friday: Driving up to Nelson Bay

Saturday: Group 1 dives off the boat. Group 2 Shore dives. Approx all divers back by 2 o'clock. Arvo BBQ for dinner. Night Dive weather/tide permitting and tank logistics also permitting (i.e Night dive TBD).

Sunday: Group 2 diving off the boat. Group 1 shore dives. Finish around 2 o'clock. Head back to Sydney

REQUIREMENTS

Most of the dives are shallower than 20m so an Open Water ticket is all that is required for this trip. However, more than 10 dives is required. Boat diving experience would be ideal. If you haven't been off a boat before stay tuned, we'll be running some boat dives around easter.

COST

There is a $50 deposit to be paid for when you book. At the moment we're expecting the full amount to come in at around $200 including all boat fees/fuel, accomodation and meals. Club hire gear will be extra, as will anything extra you'll require (wetsuit, mask, fins).

MEALS

We'll be organising breaky for everyone in the morning. We will be taking dietary requirements into account. We'll be doing a BBQ Saturday night. Friday night is going to be a pub feed. For lunch it's organise yourself. We recommend bringing up some hearty snacks or finding some on the way as you'll be at sea on the boat for a while and may not be able to have lunch until after 2.

FACILITIES & CAMPING

We'll be staying at a caravan park in the town. There is a BBQ and undercover area. There'll also be showers and powerpoints nearby. We'll be staying in a tent pitching area so you will need to bring some camping gear, including:

• Small Tent / Swag
• Sleeping mat
• Sleeping bag
• Camp Chair (not required, but recommended)
• Head Torch (not required, but recommended)

If you do not have any of this gear, please contact us prior to registering and we will do our best to help you out.

SCUBA GEAR

Standard club gear will be available for this trip and will be organised after you register. We'll be getting fills from one of the local dive shops in Nelson Bay. We'll be organising fills from a local dive shop who can cater for any additional hire gear that you may need that the club is unable to supply.

TRANSPORTATION

We will be taking the club ute, however there are limited seats in there, so we would greatly appreciate it if some other noble club members would offer to drive up and take some people as well.

Given our limited time and boat capacity there are only 10 spots available for this trip. However, if you are still keen to come and are will to only go for the shore dives or snorkel you are more than welcome.

If you have any questions, contact Rob at equipment@douts.org