Dive HMAS Brisbane Dive Report 15th December - 22nd December 2009

Light winds and clearing water conditions are welcomed after some varying conditions over the past couple of weeks. In spite of the varying conditions over that time, some great diving has been done.

This week and into the weekend looks like being a great one to be out on the water and better still, under the water.

Visibility has picked up to 20metres+ with water temp up to 24C. I know we need the rain but while it stays dry the viz gets better so there is an up side to the dry weather during summer.

Life on the HMAS BRISBANE is still abundant. As the warmer water comes along there is a 'changing of the guard' in respect to the various species found on the wreck. Some of our residents stay on through all changes of season which is great to see.

It looks like being a busy Festive Season with heaps on interest in dive courses and dive trips. If this weather keeps up, all of us divers are going to be happy little 'vegemites'.

It would be wise to book well in advance for any dive trip you many be planning over the Christmas holiday break.

Dive Gear Sale; we have just replaced all of our hire equipment with brand new gear. This means that there is a lot of freshly serviced and well kept scuba packages available for $900 from our shop. This includes an Oceanic Alpha 8 reg, Alpha 8 occy, Oceanpro BCD and a Veo100 Nav Con Computer combo gauge. Get in quick as these packages are excellent value and a great starter set or pack up unit.

Dive Safe
Greg Riddell from Sunreef
HMAS Brisbane dive specialists Sunshine Coast Queensland Australia

Dive HMAS BRISBANE with Sunreef.

Dive HMAS Brisbane Report 10th November - 17th November 2009

Dive Report
Some good dive conditions have been experienced lately. While some sit and wait for a good day, others are out there diving and enjoying it. When they are diving they are discovering some great visibility and heaps of marine life as well.

15metres visibility at Mudjimba Island on the weekend is not to be sneezed at. The HMAS BRISBANE has had varied visibility as we so often see of late but the lucky ones have experienced 20 metres viz on some occasions. Water temp is up a bit also with some recording 23 and 24C.

At Sunreef, we endeavor to give the diver the 'best' experience which includes good service. We don't make promises and guarantees that we can't keep or that we don't have control over. e.g. the weather, but we do our utmost to see that you have a couple of great relaxed dives and are looked after while under our care with all comfort facilities a diver could wish for.

I love Melbourne divers. They are so easily pleased, the water is always warmer here than back at their home, it is usually always clearer, even when we have as little as 5 metres viz, they are happy. The seas are usually always calmer here than back in their home territory so this all goes together to make for some 'easy to be pleased' divers. Russell Robinson brought his group of 20 divers here on the weekend and they all seemed to have a great time. The comments in our guest book showed that they loved the Sunny Coast and the diving we had to offer. They'll be back again.

The sea conditions look like they will improve throughout this week and should hold for the weekend. The easterly wind quite often brings in some clear water too.

Always remember to phone in between 4-5pm the afternoon before the dive for an update on conditions for the next days diving.

As we have just replaced all of our hire equipment, there are 2 positives here......
1. all hire equipment, being new, is of the latest models and in excellent condition and.......
2. this means we now have 32 sets of hire equipment that is now being completely serviced and some sets are ready to be offered as cheap purchases for the budding diver wishing to get their own gear.
Enquire instore for availability and price.

Greg Riddell from Sunreef
HMAS Brisbane dive specialists Sunshine Coast Queensland Australia

Dive HMAS BRISBANE with Sunreef.

Dive HMAS Brisbane Report 16th October - 21st October 2009

Dive Report

Diving the HMAS BRISBANE today, Thursday 15.10.09, divers were treated to a great exhibition by a mother and baby whale on route to the dive site.
Surface conditions were great with visibility of 10-15 metres and water temp on 21C.
Conditions look like being good for the weekend with wind at approx.
10-15knots and sea conditions should be more than reasonable with very little swell, if any, from what we can see at this point.

Thanks to Wazza for looking after the troops on the Byron bay trip. Sounds like they got in some great diving and saw a host of Grey Nurse sharks.

Lisa did a great job in looking after the group who landed in Manila just as the floods hit. They ended up having to spend an extra night in Manila before transferring to Puerto Galera, track down some lost baggage and then go diving. It was all worth it from all reports.

Although details, dates and itenaries have just been released for our overseas trips next year, we have 9 bookings for the Borneo trip and 4 for the Solomon Islands trip and 0 for the Vanuatu trip, I'm getting a complex as that's the one I'm tour leader for.

Local diving has been everything from challenging to fantastic. Water temp has been on 22C and visibility on the Inner Gneerings and at Mudjimba Island midway through the week was a good 15 metres. Later in the week it dropped to 10 metres on the Gneerings with Viz on the HMAS BRISBANE varying between 5 and 15 metres. Glassy conditions one day and then some wind chop and swell another, what a mixed bag. In spite of the, sometimes, changing conditions, every dive is a good dive and if you are prepared to open your eyes, you'll find something new every time you dive. The coral life and marine life on that ship is simply outstanding.

What a treat it would be to have the HMAS Tobruk scuttled up here not far away from the HMAS BRISBANE.
Divers would be staying at least one extra night and hence injecting even more into the local economy. We already have proved that we can make wreck diving a success with one ship to dive on, what a mecca it would be for divers if we had that second one here too. As the HMAS Canberra has just been scuttled off the Victorian coast and the HMAS Adelaide is being prepared for scuttling off Terrigal on the NSW coast, we need to jump one step ahead again and secure the HMAS Tobruk for the Sunshine Coast. It would certainly keep the Sunshine Coast on top of the divers "to do" list.

Greg Riddell from Sunreef
HMAS Brisbane dive specialists Sunshine Coast Queensland Australia

Dive HMAS BRISBANE with Sunreef.

Dive HMAS Brisbane Report 14th September - 21st September 2009

Dive Report
We have enjoyed some great dive conditions with calm seas over the past week and it looks like they will continue to be very calm right through next weekend. The visibility varied between 5-8metres with it increasing to 10 metres during the week and then finishing up at 8 metres again. Water temp was on 19C. This didn't hamper the night dive at all with all divers returning really pumped after a great night dive on the ex HMAS Brisbane.

During the week Paul and I completed a number of dives to complete our TDI Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Diving Instructor program. We will be offering both of those courses through Sunreef very shortly. It was a great program, very challenging at times, however very rewarding. Special thanks to Richard Taylor for the very well conducted program.

Getting back in the water after a bit of a break, for me, was fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed the dives inspite of the slightly less than ideal conditions on one dive in particular. A very cold thermocline which brought with it some dirty water, coupled with a fairly strong current running north to south over the HMAS Brisbane wreck and then surge to deal with on top of that was less than ideal. However, as it happens on numerous dives, that was the dive we saw the 2 huge Queensland Grouper that came in so close to us, the big school of Kingies and then all of the hard and soft corals and nudibranchs are just stunning. Thankfully these conditions didn't persist throughout the week and conditions got back to being quite good by Friday.
The ABC TV program, Stateline, asked us to comment on the illegal fishing that goes on at the HMAS BRISBANE conservation park. This was aired on Friday night and again on Saturday. We have had some good positive feed back and a lot of encouraging comments from many who saw the program. At present the segment is available for viewing on the ABC TV website. Search for "Stateline" and go to Queensland archives. The story is titled "Ranger Row".
Have a great week and don't stay out of the water too long.

Greg Riddell from Sunreef
HMAS Brisbane dive specialists Sunshine Coast Queensland Australia

Dive HMAS BRISBANE with Sunreef.