Nice long shore dive out of Jervis Bay
Sat 9h15 am out of Woollongong with United Divers
boat dive out to Pig Island or Toothbrush Island
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(Bass Island)
Depth 15-30m
Visibility Usually Good
Also known as "Bass Island", Pig Island is one of the Five Islands in the Illawarra (Wollongong) region, south of Sydney. It is accessible only by boat departing from nearby Wollongong Harbor. Diving is possible all around Pig Island, but the southern side seems to offer the best all round diving. Depths here work down to about 18-25m, with a great sponge garden and a lot of rocky gullies and walls. This area is part of a reef running towards nearby Toothbrush Island. There is a good variety of fish life including snapper, tailor, bonito, bream, groper. In addition, you can often spot spotted rays and some large wobbegongs. The colors in the sponge garden are superb. This is a great first dive for a day, with nearby Toothbrush Island, with its shallower depths, interesting terrain and abundant fish life offering a fantastic second dive.
(Flinders Island)
Depth 5-15m
Visibility Usually Excellent
Toothbrush Island is one of the Five Islands off Wollongong, about an hour south of Sydney. Access is by boat, with a launching ramp at Wollongong. Alternatively, United Divers offers regular charters out to the Five Islands. On its day, Toothbrush Island would have some of the best visibility and fish life I've experienced. As it is quite a shallow dive, it is a perfect second dive to deeper, nearby sites, such as the wreck of the Bombo, and Pig and Martin Island. Toothbrush Island features lots of swim throughs and channels which offer a lot of interesting terrain, as well as three reasonably large caves. The deepest of these lies in 12-15m, and usually housing Port Jackson sharks. Other fish life includes HUGE schools of yellowtail, an enormous resident Blue Groper (Basil), Moray eels, kingfish, snapper, bream and trevally. Plenty of bottom time and great visibility make for an excellent dive.