Christmas Dive

Wanting to get into the Christmas spirit but you have left your shopping to the last minute! Don’t make that mistake with your diving needs. Book on for our Christmas dive on the 19^th December at Oak Park nice and early.

We will be having a fancy-dress dive, so don’t forget to don your Santa Hats. If you want to get a complete costume together and have your diving team be Santa’s reindeer.

The day will be a wonderful event with our Abyss staff and customers alike to get into the Christmas spirit at Oak Park. Where you will be able to join us for a single dive with all your Christmas cheer, followed by a BBQ in the park.

First things first, head to the shop and grab any of the gear that you may require for the dive. Then head on out to Jibbon Street, Cronulla where a staff member will be waiting to dive with you and our beautiful local site, Oak Park.

Oak Park is known as a wonderful location to explore due to its range of sea creatures and ease of diving. This site has 2 entry and exit points depending on the conditions on the day as to whether you jump in off the back of the pool and swim out. Or you decide to swim out alongside the pool. Once you are out, you want to be able to line yourself up with the back corner of the pool and Bundeena point. Below you, there will be a collection of boulders. This is your drop down point, it is so simple! Then once you’re all under the water you can look to your left and the rock wall should be following along beside you. But don’t go past the kelp on your right, if you want to stick to the main path. This way you will have a nice little road to swim along that will lead you straight out to the school of Old Wives.

On your way, remember to look under all the ledges and try your luck at finding some Gloomy Octopus, they may have camouflaged themselves. So, look closely. You may even spot some cuttlefish. Once you get to the first sand bed look out to the right and see if you can spot the rocking horse. Around that area, you can find wandering anemone, senator wrasse, leatherjackets and sometimes Southern Pygmy leatherjackets. However, our resident friend is our big blue, Gus the Grouper. Known for his friendly spirit, he will hear you and come ‘running’ over. Please remember though, that as much as you may want to pat him. We never want to stress these creatures out. It is always recommended to photograph them and enjoy that memory. We do not want to cause any unintentional stress that may in turn affect their behaviours. This applies to all creatures down there.

Make sure you look closely at the sea tulips and surrounding coral beds to try and spot some Nudibranchs. These little creatures will entrance you with their different colour combinations to ward off any predators. As you make your way over the sea tulips you will know you’re going the right way if you are suddenly surrounded by the school of Old Wives. A fun little fact about these fish is that they mate for life. Alongside the Old Wives you can also find the Bullseye schools hiding under the rock ledge. This section of the dive makes for great photography opportunities.

Head over some larger rocks and turn left to continue the dive. Grab some photos in your Santa hat along the way to commemorate the day. Before continuing on the dive out towards the cave and fish soup. Keep your eyes peeled and you might spot some resident turtles and bull rays.

We have recently seen 4 bull rays on one dive, just around the corner at Bass and Flinders! So, it is always a dive site full of surprises. Once you have finished your dive head on out and get dry. We would love to celebrate with all of our customers for the BBQ after the dive to bring this year to a finish. We have been through a lot as a community through the lockdowns and would like to show our appreciation to our customers.

By Samantha Patterson Ross