| Site Type: | Sponge Garden Drift Dive |
| Depth: | Top: 6M Median: 9M Bottom: 14M |
| Location: | Just north of Nelson Bay Lighthouse Reserve |
Halifax dive site, named after Halifax Park was probably the best sponge garden in New South Wales until it was devastated by a big storm that literally buried the whole site in sand. Slowly the sand is retreating and sponges – in some places quite large clusters – are recovering. It is nothing like its former glory, but full of surprises and certainly worth the minuscule effort required of a drift dive!
One such surprise was a Dwarf Ornate Wobbegong, and this one must have been a juvenile as his head was not much bigger than my thumb.
If it had not been for his cute little tail hanging out from under the sponges he would not have been seen at all.
As well as the wide variety of soft corals, there is bubble coral and all kinds of other colourful stuff that you’d need a couple of degrees in marine biology to label.
There is plenty of fish life both swimming about, including a big blue groper, and lots of bottom dwellers just resting on the sand.
Nudis are a given on any dive site around Nelson Bay and the Halifax dive site is no exception. The prettiest on the day was this Dark Margined Glossodoris.
Halifax dive site is usually dived as a planned drift dive an hour or so before high water slack. Walk as far along the coastline to the east as is practical, and hop in! The current will bring you back to the beach.
