A Dive Duathlon

After Mike’s first dive at Clifton Gardens he was itching to get back into the water. And so, early on Sunday morning,I picked him up at the Manly Ferry terminal and we headed down to Shelly Beach. Much to our dismay, they were setting up for some form of event, and we were unable to find parking. Finally giving up, I left Mike at the benches with our dive gear, and drove into Manly hoping to find parking. This left me with a 1km run, in thongs, to get back to the dive site.

When I finally got back, huffing, red faced and ready to jump into the water, Mike was waiting patiently, partially kitted up. We finished setting up the gear, and headed out on the right hand side, as Mike had done the left hand side on his open water course.

The bay was calm, with 6 to 8 meters of visibility, and decently blue water. We were spoiled with eagle rays, fiddler rays, and the usual wobbegong sharks. We also did the touristy things and spent some time circling the motorbike, taking photos of one another.

We eventually turned the dive in 10 meters of water, before heading to the shore for my second thong jog back to fetch the car. Shelly Beach remains one of my favourite dive sites in Sydney, despite the parking issues. You never know what you’re going to see, it’s family friendly, and close to bars and coffee shops for some post dive fun.