February 2026- Lord Howe Island and Sydney
- theurbanshark
- Feb 24
- 7 min read
Updated: Mar 9
1/2/26- Rupert's Reef
Max Depth: 22 metres
Time: 56 minutes
Temp: 23 degrees
Another Lord Howe Island trip, and what a great way to start it. Rupert's Reef is next to Roach Island. It is a large submerged reef rising from 22 metres up to about 14 metres, with a large crack running from the edge of the reef to the centre of it. The reef is excellent, with lots of hard and soft corals, and large gorgonian fans at the entrance to the crack. Lots of marine life around the site. We descended near Roach Island (I could see the side of Roach Island from the reef, as the vis was close to 30 metres), where huge schools of drummer, kahawai and fusiliers were feeding. On the reef itself, there was a Gloomy Nudibranch, as well as all of the usual LHI fish life. Within the crack, there were huge schools of Glassfish, with a few Lionfish at the entry and exit feeding upon them. There was also a small Lord Howe Island moray eel. Once we exited the crack, we emerged upon the reef top. About 10 metres away from the exit of the crack, there was a small 'bowl' in the reef top. There were a couple of Galapagos Sharks swimming around in the bowl, which was cool. Once a few of the group had ascended due to being on 70 bar, more sharks appeared on the reef top. We swam back over to the anchor line, and another shark came over and gave me a very close inspection. The only issue was that the super clear water kind of gave me vertigo on the safety stop. Beautiful dive site.
1/2/2026- Sugarloaf Island
Max Depth: 17 metres
Time: 52 minutes
Temp: 23 degrees
Have done this site before, but never with the current hitting it. Makes an already pretty decent dive site excellent. The current was coming from the west of the island and splitting around the island. Upon descending, we immediately saw a Galapagos Shark coming around the island against the current. It was a lot bigger than the ones I saw on the previous dives, about six feet long, and had a large swelling on the left side of its jaw. It was quite curious and circled around us a few times. At the point where the current was hitting the island, huge schools of drummers and surgeonfish were schooling. A large Kingfish was also marauding through the fish. Additionally, a Tyrannodoris luteolineata was sighted, such a metal name for a nudibranch. When we started rounding the island, we really had the current behind us, and we swept around the island, passing schools of fish and another Galapagos Shark fighting their way against the current. Was a very fun and fast drift. Once we got into the lee of the island, we encountered two very large Blue Angelfish, which were cool to see this far south. The Shark with the swelling reappeared on the other side of the island briefly. After I ascended and was taking my fins off, a school of 20 Galapagos Sharks appeared below me, a very good dive.
5/2/2026- Observatory Rock
Max Depth: 25.3 metres
Time: 40 minutes
Temp: 23 degrees
Despite having visited Lord Howe Island several times, I had never made it to Balls Pyramid for a dive until now. Observatory Rock is a dive located on one of the small rocks that surround the pyramid. Beneath the waves, there is a huge cave at about 18 metres in the face of the rock, and the dive starts near the entrance to the cave. The current was absolutely ripping on the way down before I tucked in behind the reef structure, so I pulled myself down the line instead of fighting in vain against the current. Upon reaching the bottom, I saw huge schools of silver trevally, amberjack and black trevally. There were tons of lionfish and a few big painted crays at the entrance to the cave. It was very eerie once I went inside, but kind of peaceful, a very contemplative space. Made it in a fair way, but neither my buddy nor I had torches, so we turned around about 20 metres inside, don't think it went back much further than that anyway. Once we left the cave, we started drifting with the current. There were some big kingfish, amberjack and sharks cruising around through the plentiful schools of one-spot pullers. One of the things that struck me about Balls Pyramid was the strange mixture of fish species, even more strange than the usual Lord Howe Island sites. At this site, I saw very tropical species such as Clown Triggerfish, but also more temperate species, including some known mostly from New Zealand, such as the Blue Maomao. On the safety stop, I got pretty bad vertigo, but there were a couple of Galapagos Sharks cruising around, which was cool.
5/2/2026- South East Rock
Max Depth: 26.4 metres
Time: 42 minutes
Temp: 23 degrees
South East Rock is an isolated rock, maybe 2 kilometres southeast of Balls Pyramid. It is crazy isolated; there is absolutely nothing past it. Whilst only a small peak breaks the surface, the rock itself is absolutely massive underwater, with huge monolithic boulders and sheer walls. The site itself is pretty deep, since the sides of where it breaks the surface are so steep, basically the shallowest you can stay is 20 metres. The site was swarming with sharks the day I did, there were tons investigating us as we descended and when we hit the bottom. The fish life at this site was prolific, with plenty of the usual Lord Howe Island reef fish, some big Kingfish and Black Trevally, and even some big Emperor Angelfish. I also saw a couple of Ballina Angelfish, which can only be found at recreational diving depths in the waters surrounding Balls Pyramid; unfortunately, they were down at 35 metres in the distance. Unfortunately, I got some bad vertigo again, this time at the bottom. Still an amazing dive, it was super cool cruising over the massive structures with all of the sharks.
6/2/2026- Noddy Island
Max Depth: 16.6 metres
Time: 55 minutes
Temp: 23 degrees
This dive was conducted between No Name Rock and Noddy Island. The site was pretty simple, just a jumble of coral and rubble on the bottom leading to a sandy channel between the two islands. There was plenty of the usual Lord Howe marine life around the site, and a few small Galapagos Sharks hanging around. In the channel between the two islands, the current was really ripping, and it was quite hard to swim against it unless you used rocks and bommies to shelter. Within the channel, I found a White Eyed Moray and a Day Octopus, only the second Occy I have ever seen on Lord Howe Island. Whilst hanging around the rubble at the end of the dive, I also found a Mosaic Moray. A pretty good dive.
6/2/2026- Malabar Landslide
Max Depth: 13.4 metres
Time: 60 minutes
Temp: 23 degrees
This is a very relaxing and good dive site that I have done a few times before. The site is located along a section of reef that runs parallel to the shoreline. A network of caverns and tunnels is found within the reef at this site, a lot of which are big enough for divers to enter. A small Galapagos Shark was hanging around as I descended. Unfortunately, my snorkel came off as I was washing my mask, so I had to find it as I was descending. Thankfully, I found it pretty easily. The first swim through we did was a double-decker one, with two levels you could swim through. I went through the top one, as I have always gone through the lower level when diving this site in the past. There were some Banded Coral Shrimp in the tunnel, which was cool. A bit further along the reef, there are some long networks of lava tubes. Within these, there were thousands of baby cardinalfish, with lionfish and black rockcod hunting them. As well as this, there were some really large lobsters. Outside of the caves, there was a large school of Barracuda. Once we exited the tunnels, we moved over to a small patch of reef on the sand called the oasis, which had a ton of juvenile fish around it, as well as some nudibranchs on it. When we were returning to the anchor from this reef, I saw a Green Turtle. Funnily enough, I have seen tons of turtles whilst snorkelling at Lord Howe, but never on a dive. The Galapagos Shark, from the start of the dive, came back during our safety stop. An excellent dive.
13/2/2026- The Steps
Max Depth: 12.7 metres
Time: 68 minutes
Temp: 22 degrees
Returned to Sydney and went for a dive as soon as I could. Did the normal Steps dive, going right from the entry. My buddy Ryan was trying to find Pygmy Pipehorses, so I was trying to find them too, but I am absolutely hopeless at finding them. We found three weedies at the start of the dive. Whilst looking at them, I also saw an Octopus. I tried to do the thing where you get an Octopus to shake your pinky, by offering up your pinky to the Octopus and inviting it to touch it with its tentacles. Unfortunately, I got more than I bargained for, and before I knew it, the bloody thing had latched onto my hand and wouldn't let go. What followed was a two-minute-long tussle with the Octopus, trying to get it off my hand. Very embarrassing. Following my humiliation at the hands (or tentacles) of the octopus, I kept well off the bottom. My buddy found a few Pygmy Pipehorses. As well as that found a few nudis and moray eels. A nice dive aside from the incident with the Octopus.
15/2/2026- Clifton Gardens
Max Depth: 8.8 metres
Time: 95 minutes
Temp: 23 degrees
Did a sunset and night dive at Clifton Gardens. Was very apprehensive given the one-day conflict the Sydney populace recently had with the visiting Bull Sharks, but still hopped in. There were plenty of critters around. There were a few octopuses out and about, sparring with one another. I kept my distance, considering what happened a few days earlier. There was a Black Anglerfish under one of the pylons, a few seahorses around, a large pleurobranch slug at least the length of my forearm, and quite a few pancake nudis around. At the end of the jetty, my buddies found a Blue Ringed Octopus, which was cool. When we were making my way back up to the nets, I was looking at a Blue Swimmer Crab. When I looked up my buddy signalled shark at me. Safe to say that made me very scared, but turns out that they had seen a huge White Spotted Guitarfish, which are just as big as a Bull Shark, and look a lot like them from certain angles. At the nets we found another Black Anglerfish, a Striped Dumpling Squid, some huge Striated Anglers inside the seahorse hotels (which, by the way, are apparently the same species as the Black Anglers), a sea hare and some squid. A very good night dive.
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