November and December 2025- Sydney
- theurbanshark
- Feb 2
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 9
13/11/2025- Clifton Gardens
Max Depth: 7.7 metres
Time: 80 minutes
Temp: 19 degrees
This was my first night dive in Sydney for ages. Saw a lot of things I have never seen before. Striped Dumpling Squids, a couple of species of Pleurobranch slugs, a prawn (yes, not all that exciting, but I have eaten many but never seen one on a dive before) and an Eastern Gobbleguts. Also lots of the usual Clifton critters like Seahorses, Tiger Pipefish, bubble snails, a decorator crab, a Blue Swimmer Crab and Sea Hares. The highlight (or equally the lowlight) was the large Smooth Stingray, which sometimes appears at Clifton Gardens, marauding around us.
19/11/2025- Watsons Bay Baths
Max Depth: 6.3 metres
Time: 60 minutes
Temp: 20 degrees
Not a place I would have immediately considered a dive site. You basically just go along the inside of the nets that enclose the swimming baths. Within the baths, there is a low wall about a metre high running across the baths towards the deepest section. Did this as a night dive, don't think it would be entirely practical to do it during the day. Not a whole lot, the site is kind of a worse version of Clifton Gardens. Saw an octopus, some sea hares and some mourning cuttlefish. Highlight was a clump of snowflake coral growing on the bottom of one of the pontoons.
23/11/2025- Shelly Beach
Max Depth: 11.6 metres
Time: 63 minutes
Temp: 19 degrees
Decided to try and find some weedy seadragons at Shelly. Did the long surface swim out to Weedyland and descended. No Weedy Seadragons unfortunately. Plenty around, have never seen so many One Spot Pullers. Found an Elysias slug, which was a first for me, as well as a Black Margined Nudibranch. We went a long way, ended up at the edge of the colony of Pocillopora Aliciae. On the elasmobranch front saw a few wobbegongs and a couple of eagle rays.
23/11/2025- Clifton Gardens
Max Depth: 7.9 metres
Time: 70 minutes
Temp: 20 degrees
Decided to do a night dive after the dive at Shelly. Another really good Clifton Gardens night dive. Saw a couple of new nudibranch species, my favourite of which is Plocamopherus imperialis, very cool name. Also saw a Blue Lined Octopus for the first time ever on a dive. Saw a tiny yellow baby striated angler, some seahorses, both southern and striped bobtail squids, a blue swimmer crab, some pleurobranchs and lots of Octopus and Mourning Cuttlefish. Had to retrieve a fishing rod from under the jetty, got a very unenthusiastic thanks from the fishos because we had to cut all the line from it to extract it, the idiots shouldn't have dropped it in the first place. Also had another run in with the Smooth Ray, its becoming quite the nuisance for me.
1/12/2025- Clifton Gardens
Max Depth: 7.2 metres
Time: 62 minutes
Temp: 21 degrees
Did a day dive here. Probably the fishiest I have ever seen on the site, some really big (70 cm) Silver Trevally, which are huge for Sydney. Saw all of the usual Clifton critters, a couple of anglerfish, lots of seahorses, octopus and pipefish. There were two smooth rays, the huge one which has become somewhat of a nemesis for me, and a smaller one with its tail cut off ): . The larger ray swam in super close as I was photographing some seahorses, even brushing its wing on my shoulder, a slightly terrifying experience.
31/12/2025- Fairy Bower
Max Depth: 6.9 metres
Time: 81 minutes
Temp: 22 degrees
Very average dive. Vis was absolute rubbish, very overstimulating at times due to the suspended particulate, wave action, and a Blue Groper which wouldn't leave me alone. All the usual critters, but due to the conditions cannot believe I lasted 80 minutes.
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