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Situated on
Shiprock Rd is the Shiprock marine reserve. To get to this site you need to
follow Port Hacking Road into Lilli Pilli and make a right hand turn onto
Shiprock road. This dive site can only be done on a slack tide and the best
option is slack high tide. Keeping this in mind it is always a good idea to
arrive a fair bit before high tide to gain the best parking, this is a very
popular dive site and parking is limited.
Once geared up
you can locate the entrance into the water by walking down through the
reserve situated at the end of Shiprock road. Be warned that the track can
become slippery when wet and care must be taken when walking to and from the
dive site.
The entrance is
sheltered by a big rock which looks like a ship (hence the name ‘Shiprock’).
Placing your fins on in this little gutter, slowly swim out towards the
channel, drop your dive flag on the sand and descend. Keep swimming into the
boat channel and you will see the wall appear. Drop over the edge and you
will hit around 12m at the bottom. Take note that the bottom composition is
silty so it is a good idea to practice your buoyancy before trying this
dive.
Following the
wall (keeping it on your right) you will come across a large over hang,
inside this overhang is a bubble cave (a small pocket of air ).
It is worth examining, even though you can only
fit your head into the cave. Breathing the air in the bubble cave is not
recommended as it can be toxic.
As this is a
marine reserve heaps of fish hang out here so the marine life is abundant in
this area. Keep an eye out for some cute little Pineapple Fish as well as
the Numb Rays that sit in the silt giving the weary diver a bit of a
electrical shock.
Finish the dive
before the tide begins to run again. Once out of the water be careful when
heading up the hill and use the ropes and hand rails to assist you.
If you plan to dive this site for the first time, our friendly instructors & dive masters would welcome the opportunity to fully brief you on this site prior to your dive.
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