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Montague Island

Montague Island is one of the top 10 dive sites on the NSW coast.

7 km off the coast, its rocky sides plunge into the surrounding waters producing some of the best underwater topography in our region.
Montague is known for a range of dive sites from shallow to deep (15 to 40+ meters) and a bit of current if you move away from the island.
Montague is also one of the recently declared Grey Nurse shark critical habitats, and is a known aggregation site for these magnificent creatures. (An aggregation is considered to be five or more Grey Nurse Sharks present at the same site).
The shark gutters are at depths of about 25-35 metres, although Grey Nurses are often found at around 20 metres, too.

If you just want to play with seals then you don't need to go deeper than 15 metres, or go far from the coast line. Two types of seal (the NZ and the Australian fur seal) are attracted by the abundance of fish and have colonies on the north western edges of the Island.

When the Blue Water current is running from the north in the months from January through to about May there is warm clear water (up to 30 m vis) full of massive schools of fish.
The largest number of seals can be found during September - October, though seals are present all year round, and if we're lucky we will even run into some Grey Nurse Sharks.

Dive Sites

• Montague Island - always has a sheltered spot somewhere, so we can dive in most weather.
  - The GNS aggregation site.
  - There is a sheltered spot usually inhabited by seals to the north west of the island.
  - There's also a bubble cave somewhere (though I have not dived that yet)
• Aughinish Rock - the club has several marks around Aughinish rock. It is rather exposed, can have strong currents, but if the weather is good we may dive there. This area is definitely limited by weather and diver experience.
• Shore dives - are limited but there are some spots close to the camp site.

Mystery Bay Camp site

We'll be staying at the Mystery Bay "primitive" campground , which is a lovely spot on the coast between Narooma and Tilba Tilba.
It is large and rambling and full of trees, and we're normally able to secure some great spots at the northern end.
There are enclosed cold showers, some centrally placed taps, and NP&WS drop dunnies (bring your own paper just in case).
Here is a written description of how to get there from our ANUSC Campsite Section.

If you're interested email Tom Magill and include whether you:

• what are your travelling days (like, coming down Friday evening and leaving Sunday morning, for example)
• need a lift, or can offer one (I really need to know when people are travelling to plan the lifts [see line above])
• need to borrow any club gear (tank, bc, or regs/gauges)
• are a student
• can tow a boat
• have a boat license
• have a 4 wheel drive suitable for launching boats at Mystery Bay

Safety

Gear issue

Cheers,
Tom Magill

More information on the web:   Mystery Bay   How club trips work   General info on club trips   Safety Information and Dive Tips   Michael McFadyen

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