Bass Point Island South

Meet the site

The southern side of Bass Point Island is the deeper and more dramatic partner to the northern Lou's Reef site. From the anchorage in about 20 m the reef drops as a steeply sloping series of rocks, broken by large boulders and short vertical walls, to sand at around 28 m; further offshore the bottom continues below 32 m. The standout feature is a very large vertical wall where the base is only about 24 m – a sheer face that is covered in sponges and gorgonians and is the best place for photographs on the dive.

North of the anchorage the reef climbs to 15–20 m and then shallower still towards the island. These upper areas hold huge schools of yellowtail, ladder-finned pomfret and silver drummer, with one-spot pullers, old wife, black and six-spined leatherjackets, big bream and schools of drummer around the rocks. Cuttlefish, moray eels and red rock cod are found in the boulders.

The profile invites a long dive from deep to shallow, but the shallow section needs millpond seas because the southern face of the island takes the full force of any southerly swell. Because much of the interest lies at 24–30 m, this is a site for Advanced divers comfortable with depth, and nitrox is useful. The combination of colourful fixed growth, a real wall and heavy fish life makes it one of the better deep dives close to Sydney, and it pairs naturally with the island's northern side or the nearby bommie for the second dive.

What you might see

Yellowtail, ladder-finned pomfret, silver drummer, one-spot pullers, old wife, black and six-spined leatherjackets, bream, drummer, cuttlefish, moray eels, red rock cod, sponges, gorgonians

Location

Steep boulder slope and big vertical wall off the southern side of Bass Point Island, with sand at 28 m dropping beyond 32 m further out.

Facilities nearby

Shellharbour Marina: modern boat ramp, trailer parking, toilets, cafés. Air and nitrox at Shellharbour Scuba and Photography Centre (Shellharbour Village).