The best recreational dive site in Sydney, Australia
Several factors align to make The Apartments Sydney’s best dive site. Firstly, its location and depth range is perfect for sea life and recreational divers. The depth starts at 8m and has a maximum of 21m, ideal for the first certification divers obtain such as Open Water certification. The dive site is located at the edge of a rocky plateau with a drop off or wall that features many caves and swim through’s, which give small and large sea life safe areas to live or retreat to when large predators cruise through looking for lunch.
A rich underwater valley to explore
The valley is a must to explore for Sydney divers as it is usually one of three places near Sydney Harbour where the grey nurse sharks congregate. The valley is usually shrouded and filled with thousands of southern promfrets and divers must swim though them. When the fish part, divers typically encounter dozens of grey nurse sharks in a very small area – a magnificent sight to behold.
A unique dive with sharks in Sydney
Divers will often swim into the valley from the shallow top of the reef, either side of the valley rim considering the wind and sea conditions or opt to enter the valley from the boulder field just east of the wall. Once in the valley divers will head in a north western direction where they’ll find large schools of southern pomfrets. This is the area where grey nurse sharks will be encountered.
Divers can continue to the sand patch to find the main body of sharks then kneel and hold the edges of the reef keeping out of the way of the sharks. Eventually the sharks will move off either over the valley rim heading for the big rock in the east or they may opt to move west into the 12m avg depth area of the reef plateau (an area composed of rock, kelp and sand.)
When divers return from this shallower area looking for their boat it is quite easy to miss the valley entrance and enter a false valley which heads more to the north east. If divers do this, they will need to turn right at the smallest part of the wall and head south until they reach the boulder field and the entrance of the valley proper.
Entering the Cathedral
On the far side of the big rock is the area that divers will reach around 21m. The entrance to the cathedral is located to the northern side of the big rock and is often shrouded by schools of southern promfrets. The big rock is located in the Apartments, approximately 30m east of the valley entrance or the wall/drop off which runs north-south through the area know as the Apartments.
All the surfaces in cathedral are covered by colourful hard corals and divers must ensure their buoyancy is good so as not to damage these fragile coral polyps (which are basically a jellyfish sitting upside down in a limestone cup.)
Close encounters with sharks
Large sharks are often seen in and around the boulders surrounding the shallower (northwestern) side of the cathedral entrance and grey nurse sharks and giant cuttlefish can be encountered in the cathedral tunnel proper.
Once divers leave the tunnel via the eastern end, they ascend over a large rock turning right to drop down into the area of the big rock. Often divers will stop prior to going into this area as this is a prime location for grey nurse sharks to congregate. It’s a great place to watch while using the rock as cover to watch the sharks discreetly.
