Phillip Island Sat 12th April Sun, 13 Apr 2008 03:39 AM Posted by Shadow Phillip Island is always an interesting place to dive and Sat 12th April was no exception. A mixed weather report and with 2 of our boat owners in hospital made for an interesting logistical exercise for our Dive Captain Mick K. Undeterred he assembled a crack team of hardened commandos and set down 9.30 am as the start time from Newhaven. As the dive crew rounded Cape Woolamai with the intention of diving the Pinnacles it was soon apparent that the afternoon south-westerley wind change had come a few hours early. The seas were sloppy and uncomfortable and the decision was quickly made to dive the front of Cape Woolamai itself. With a backdrop of the magnificent towering columns of granite and the sounder showing good territory underneath the divers, the 1st team entered the water. The terrain was awesome with massive boulders and swim throughs. Some of the biggest blacklip abalone seen for many a day were seen, but alas, it was a "no take day". The fish life was pretty good and some crays were seen, but proved too elusive. One sand patch in between the massive boulders had 10 Port Jackson sharks resting in an area no bigger than a large car. Very impressive. The 2nd dive was conducted on the more sheltered Eastern side of Cape Woolamai and after the divers surfaced from the dive they requested to be towed to the 3rd dive spot at Bird Rock (Gull Island). They seemed to enjoy the experience - of being towed 500m to the next dive spot, whilst the rest of the crew (i.e./ wimps) considered it more like torture and looked on bemused. Although only shallow, Bird Rock has sponge life and yellow Zooanthids that one would normally associate with much deeper dive spots and the final dive was very relaxing and enjoyable. The crack precision team of VSAG commando's then headed to the boat ramp and enjoyed a relaxed de-brief at the San Remo De-briefing centre ( AKA the Pub). Content received from: Victorian Sub-Aqua Group (VSAG), http://www.vsag.org.au