Ulladulla Weekend Weekend

On the weekend of the 8th and 9th of March a group of six very keen and enthusiastic Abyss divers travelled south to the township of Ulladulla. Leaving from the Abyss shop on Friday night around 7 o’clock, a two and a half hour drive south saw us arrive at our accommodation “Quiet Garden Motel “ with enough time to unpack our gear, relax and get ready for a weekend of diving. Since this is the first time that all are to dive this location, there is a sense of anticipation and eagerness to discover and explore a totally new and exquisite underwater marine environment.

Saturday saw us all up bright and early and at the dive shop “Ulladulla Dive & Adventure Centre” to meet Stephen Williams, Jacki Gillan, Marc Cox and Saxon the dog who sings to the harmonica being played. All gear is assembled on the back verandah and loaded straight onto the dive boat “MV Duckunder”. After donning wetsuits at the ramp a 10 minute boat ride saw us moored at the first dive site “Burill Rocks”. A detailed dive description was given and we all descended down the anchor line to 25.2m, only to be mesmerised by the colourful sponge gardens, nudibranchs, sea ferns, fish life, swimthroughs and inquisitive gropers topped off with crystal clear water visibility of at least 25-30m and temperature of 22 degrees.

Surface interval was back at the boat ramp under a gazebo relaxing with soup, nibblies, tea and coffee. Being refreshed we change tanks and off to our second site called “North Bommie” – 5 minutes away. This is a shallower dive of maximum depth 18 meters consisting of many huge boulders running in a north south direction and home to a vast quantity of schools of fish.

Arriving back at the dive shop at 2 o’clock we had time to spare until our night dive at 6:30. Joining us and being our guide for the night dive Marc showed us another location only 15 minutes drive south to a town “Burill Lakes”. Gearing up quickly as the thunder and lightning was upon us we jumped in and started to explore this area under torchlight. Little groups of curious squid emerged to greet us. A large Bull Ray (2.5 m wing span) glided past in the distance. Nosey octopi with beady little eyes pondered what we were doing.

A BBQ for dinner at Ulladulla Dive & Adventure shop was enjoyed with stories recounting the exciting experiences of the day’s adventures and encounters.

Sunday and again up early and at our first dive site “Home Bommie” by 8:30. Here a system of tunnels, boulder networks and swimthroughs makes for an exciting dive. An old ships anchor lies upright against a wall encrusted with macro growth and colourful sponges guaranteed to entice the experienced photographer. Second dive was back at “North Bommie”. Buddy teams explored and were still amazed with the abundance of Old Wives, yellow tail, cuttlefish, Wobbegongs and PJ’s.

We were more than satisfied with the variety and diversity of diving that Ulladulla has to offer for all levels of experience. A great weekend of diving.

Comments from those in attendance.
Salomon Galante “The Ulladulla trip was awesome! The group managed to have a very good time together and the dives where great. Visibility was fantastic on all of our dives, and so was the marine life. Accommodation was also comfortable and nice. The whole weekend was just great. See you next time.”
Peter “A very enjoyable and fun weekend as everyone was helpful towards each other, and true friendship developed. Great dive briefings from Steve to search for Seals balancing balls and wobbegongs with raybands. Every dive was rewarding. Thanks to Blake for his 100% effort throughout the trip and his professional approach to detail.”
Alistair Merrifield “I hated the early morning wake-ups, the coffee and soup was ordinary, the local pub was one of the worst I have been in and it wouldn't stop raining outside. But the diving was absolutely fantastic and made the weekend very well worthwhile, not to mention highly enjoyable!”
Alison Muir “ A magical and mystical experience on my first night dive of being able to see the torch lights of other divers, encounter a beautiful Bull Ray floating past and numerous groups of squid while hearing the relaxing sounds of rain hitting the surface.”
Roger Rossi "It was a perfect weekend. Great diving, posh accommodation, good comradeship. On top of that: terrific night life. Definitely the place you want to be on a Friday or Saturday night underwater at Ulladulla. "
Blake Trudgeon “An enthusiastic group, helpful dive service & great diving conditions. I would definitely come down again to explore the fantastic dive sites of Ulladulla.”

Thanks to Ulladulla Dive & Adventure for making our weekend enjoyable and exciting through your friendly and thorough service that started from the organisation beforehand to our departure back to Sydney.