Episode: 1
Broadcast: 21st March
Presenter: Chrissy Morrissy

More than 70 percent of WA is coastline and the best way to see it is from beneath the waves.
I love any opportunity to dive in our waters and just recently pristine conditions meant an offer from Perth Dive Academy to come and discover one of Rottnest Island’s most unique dive sites.

• This dive is often referred as ‘the Opera House’. It’s a quick descent to a fairly nondescript cave opening but once you get inside.. this place earns its standing ovation! I f you don’t have a guide I would hazard a guess it is almost impossible to find this dive site as our boat wasn’t able to anchor due to the reef.

• The cave at its deepest is 38 metres so this is not a long dive and what you encounter will make you hungry for more so take that into consideration when booking your dives for the day.

• Bulls eyes school in their thousands and soft corals form eerie backdrops for the main act of this dive.

• Grey Nurse Sharks use the cave as their nursery.. now we only saw a few on our dive but I have heard of dives where they have encountered up to a dozen of these graceful creatures gliding around in ‘the Opera House’.

• The great news is Grey Nurses are commonly known for their docile nature and I never once felt threatened even when they glanced past me.

• If you have any concerns about the grey nurses more voracious cousins grab a shark shield it certainly makes the experience of diving far more relaxing knowing you have one of these things strapped to your leg. They are simple to use and very very effective. For this dive I turned my shark shield off as I entered the cave and back on for our ascent, it makes me feel a lot safer and I can focus on enjoying the dive.

Perth Dive Academy www.perthdiving.com.au

Shark Shield https://www.sharkshield.com