gutter
we just touched bottom at 24m when a large grey shape appeared
from the shadows, a 2m long grey nurse shark. As we settled on the rocky bottom
we looked around and suddenly realised that we were surrounded by a dozen grey
nurse sharks that were slowly patrolling the walls of this gutter. We could have
easily spent the whole dive watching these majestic predators, but the real dive
was yet to start, as we were about to enter Fish Rock is one of the most legendary dive sites in
Leaving the grey nurse sharks behind, we followed Larry, our guide from local dive shop Fish Rock Dive Centre, towards the end of the gutter where a dark hole was almost obscured by a swarm of thousands of bullseyes. Torches on, we parted this curtain of fish to enter
In the darkness we shone our torches around to reveal a wealth of marine life residing in the cave; crayfish packed into crevasses, shrimps, hermit crabs, squirrelfish, glasseyes,
cardinalfish
and several ornate and spotted wobbegong sharks. The visibility in the cave is
nearly always good, generally around 15m or more, even if the outside visibility
is less. Today we were enjoying 20m plus visibility, the only limit was the
strength of our torch beams.As we passed through the darker sections of the cave, we could see the dim light of the shallow cave entrance ahead. Searching the boulders on the bottom we spotted several green moray eels and a large black cod. Getting closer to the shallow entrance the cave gets larger, around 8m high by 4m wide. We swam over several more wobbegong sharks lazing on the bottom; these large ambush predators are the watchdogs of the cave and will bite if a hand is placed carelessly on them. We also passed a large black-blotched stingray and a hawksbill turtle that comes into the cave to feast on sponges.
By now we could clearly see the shallow entrance, but it was almost completely blocked by thousands of bullseyes, yellowtail and stripey. Before exiting the cave, we stopped to photograph the fixed growth in the cave. All the rocks in the cave are a lovely pinky-purple colour, covered in coralline algae, however the most impressive colours in the cave is a wall covered in gorgonians and tubastra corals. But this fixed life was quickly forgotten, as swimming amongst the fish soup at the entrance were a dozen grey nurse sharks.
In twenty years, and dozens of dives in
There are other brilliant dive sites arou
nd
Fish Rock include the ‘Shark Gutters’ on the southern side of the rock,
where grey nurse sharks can be seen year round. These gutters are also a good
spot to see turtles, wobbegongs, blue gropers, kingfish, morays eels and a range
of invertebrate species. The other sides of Fish Rock are nearly always swept by
currents, but if you get a calm day, or don’t mind a very fast drift dive,
there are a number of sites to explore. One of these being ‘The Pinnacle’,
where you will encounter giant Queensland gropers, spotted eagle rays, batfish,
stingrays, blue gropers, pelagic fish and grey nurse sharks. Fish Rock is a very
important habitat for the endangered grey nurse shark and is protected as such,
unfortunately this protection is in name only, as fishermen can still fish here,
as long as they don’t anchor!Grey nurse sharks are also found nearby at
Another rocky outcrop nearby is Black Rock, which has some of the best coral gardens in the area. In depths from 8m to 12m are plate corals and soft corals that are home to many invertebrate species, including giant cuttlefish and Spanish dancer nudibranchs.
Dive conditions can be good at South West Rocks at anytime of the year, with visibility varying from 10m to 30m and the water temperature from 16C to 24C degrees. When not diving there are plenty of other attractions in the area, including bushwalks along the rugged rocky shoreline, wonderful beaches to swim and surf at and a historic lighthouse and gaol.
You could spend a weekend or week exploring the wonders of South West Rocks and one dive site you will want to do again and again will be the fabulous Fish Rock.