Fairy Bower

• Fairy Bower, Manly, Sydney
• 7m max for 50mins, in at 10:30ish
• 44% nitrox (because thats what was in the 63cu ft ali)
• JCJ and Chad
• 23 degrees, rising tide, dropping nth wind
• 10m vis, less where churned

With an approaching southerly we'd decided to hide at Fairy Bower and got there to find the wind blowing from the north and it looking a bit lumpy. But the southerly was coming so it was going to get no worse and it looked OK so Fairy Bower it was. It was a hot morning, temp on its way to a high of 32degrees so it was good to get in the water. The water itself was warm, and despite the surface slop the visibility was good, some sand churning but that was no big deal. We'd been told that there were some blue bottles about - they drift in on NE winds - but covered head to toe in neoprene we'd be fine, just don't hang about on the surface.

We wandered out a few metres, put fins on, dropped to the bottom and headed out over the mixed patchy kelp, low rocks and sand. We had the site to ourselves - odd, until I thought about the blue bottle report. I was glad to be diving the Bower as the dusky whalers the same one a second and third time - on the way back, in that had arrived 4 years ago were still here and I had high hopes of spotting one or two. As it happens I spotted one on three occasions, though as JCJ and Chad saw none they don't believe me. Pah! I was surprised at how small they were, not much larger than when I had seen them 4 years ago, so maybe these ones are new? Lets hope so. The dive profile/plan was a simple out, head north, turn back the way we came. I saw the first shark on the way north and the second and third - or the same one a second and third time - on the way back, all in midwater over sand. They really are a fantastic looking fish. Click the link above - those pics are of Bower residents.

As with Fairlight I was impressed with the general amount of fishlife. Big schools hanging about, lots of juveniles and a lot more fixed life than I recall. Last time I dived here the rocks were fairly bare, now there was a lot more growth over most of them. Most of the usual suspects were there, the various silver things I cannot recall the nemes of, leatherjackets and wrasse (blue grouper, crimson and a couple of others i'll look up in the book later.) Towards the end of the dive JCJ and I became seperated from Chad. We looked a round for a short while and then decided to head for the surface - just like in the books.

We saw someone in the near-distance that probably was not Chad and decided to head over that way and it was then that I felt the sting on my top lip. Then on my right wrist. I'd swam into a blue bottle and it's tentacles were draped over my arm, my reg hose and compass. JCJ made sure I was OK, got a glove and helped wipe the worst of the tentacles from me and we descended again. I was stinging a bit in both wrists and the top lip, but had gooten away lightly most of the tentacles came off of me and my gear. The tentacles up close are quite pretty, small blue dots on what looks a little like thick spider silk.

The rest of the dive was more a case of getting back to shore than sightseeing, though on the way back I did see a lovely cuttlefish that was flashing from near white to near black as it moved over sand then weed. Damned impressive. And that was that, a nice bimble with lots of fish and shark sightings.

The Chad got to shore about 5minutes after we did. We are so not DIR, despite the gear.