Scuba Diving on the Tasman Peninsula
About 70 minutes drive from the Tasmanian capital city of Hobart is the Tasman Peninsula. European settlement on the peninsula commenced with the establishment of a convict timber station in 1830. By 1840 over 2,000 prisoners and staff were accommodated at various locations on the peninsula with the main prison complex at Port Arthur.
More than 12,000 unfortunate souls were incarcerated in sometimes-brutal conditions until the cessation of transportation from England and the closure of Port Arthur as a prison in 1877. Tourism, farming, forestry and fishing support today’s inhabitants, many of whom proudly claim convict ancestry.
The area offers fabulous scenery; Eucalypt forests hug the massive cliffs and the few protected bays. These spectacular towering cliffs, up to 300 metres (1,000ft) above sea level, continue underwater and combined with the rich invertebrate life give spectacular diving attracting divers from throughout the world.
(right: Fromia-polypora)
The geology of the region is primarily mudstone / sandstone / dolerite / granite that has, in some areas, been eroded to a very large degree offering huge caves, caverns and passageways.
The Tasman Peninsula by nature of its topography is mainly only dived by boat. Eaglehawk Dive Centre runs tours of the east coast of peninsula from their catamaran dive boat. Waterfall Bay is considered one of best diving areas as it is only eight minutes by boat from the jetty in Pirates Bay and offers a range of sites depending on the level of experience of the diver. One of the most popular dives for open water certified divers and above is Cathedral Cave.
(right: Jewel Anemones)
Of the numerous caves that are dived Cathedral is one of the most spectacular it consisting of a massive entrance tunnelling back into smaller caverns with many narrow tunnels and cross passages. The walls are covered with an incredible diversity of colourful invertebrates many of which are typical of deeper temperate waters. The Dive Centre provides a guide for the tour of the Cathedral Cave system.
The boat can be moored off the walls under Cathedral Dome allowing easy access to the start of the system. The tour leaves the surface and descends to the bottom below the magnificent Cathedral Arch. The maximum depth during the dive is 21 metres. From the arch the group is lead down the Aisles to the entrance of the Catacombs. This is an area of tunnels that are just big enough for one diver at time, once inside the main chamber, the guide then leads you through the labyrinth to what is commonly called The Back Door.
(right: A seadragon hangs suspended among towerng fronds of griant kelp.)
Retracing the passage to the exit point of the Catacombs and sunlight streams down into the entrance of the passage to Revelation Bend. This is one of the most awesome underwater views that most divers will ever see. Known as the Skull Cave this view featured with other photos in David Doubilet’s article “Beneath the Tasman Sea” in National Geographic Magazine in January 1997. The narrow passage up to the bend is dark and barren with a gravel bottom. When the guide stops at the bend and signals to turn off your light and swim past. The cavern, with two huge eye holes looking out into the light beyond with clouds of bullseyes dart to and fro, take most divers breath away.
(right: Rays of sun pierce a narrow chamber of the Bay Caves.)
At this stage of the dive we turn away from the light and head into the Devils Tonsils, which is a tight passage with an upward curve at its end that requires careful negotiation. This usually ends the tour of the cave system but the dive is not over.
The walls below Cathedral Dome have some of the most spectacular displays of jewel anemones and goldern zoanthids found anywhere, giving the impression of an underwater garden in full bloom. Karen Gowlett-Holmes, a local marine biologist and international award winning photographer has been studying and photographing these impressive walls of endemic sponges, asidians, anemones and bryzoans for many years, and she is still discovering species new to science. Even if exploring caves holds little attraction for a diver, the colour and diversity of the marine life in the caves and on the walls is a naturalists and photographers paradise.Two of the main diving areas in Waterfall Bay including the caves, are listed for consideration in a Marine Reserve and they have already been zoned as net free areas. This has helped the fish life in the area increase in both size and numbers over the last few years. Hopefully they will be completely protected in a marine park in the not too distant future.
If cave diving isn’t of interest there are several wrecks. The “SS NORD” which sunk in 1915 with out loss of life after the officer of the watch failed to follow the captain’s orders to stay outside the Hippolyte Rocks. The charts had not been upgraded since the needle rock that lies hidden beneath the surface between the two rocks had claimed the “SS TASMAN” in 1883. The “TASMAN” was only rediscovered in 1998 lying in 72 metres of water. The “TASMAN” has only been dived successfully on four occasions as the site is exposed and subject to fierce currents and mixed gas diver certification is required.
| Visit the Break Loose Marketplace for the latest second hand scuba diving gear. |
The “NORD” is a popular dive for holders of Deep Diver certification as she sits upright on a coarse sandy bottom in 41 metres of water. Some of the stern section is still intact and the boilers and triple expansion steam engine are accessible in the midship section. The fish life on the wreck is quite spectacular with large schools of endemic Mendesoma darting and weaving about the divers bubbles. Sections of the hull and the rudder offer colourful displays of goldern zoanthids and sponges. It is not uncommon to see opened basketstars at this depth. Divers have had regular encounters with a resident Sunfish Artefacts such as brass fittings and china crockery can still be seen about the site and as it is protected under Australian Historic Ship Wreck Legislation divers are encouraged to look not touch.
(right: Pink Jelly-fish.)
Nearby in the back of Fortescue Bay is the small wreck of the “WILLIAM PITT” which is suitable for divers with limited experience. Fortescue Bay also boast substantial Kelp forests Macrocystis pyrifera which are home to Seadragons and Seahorses. Seadragons are only found in southern Australia and are remarkable animals that are usually only found after careful searching. Their colour and shape have them mistaken for a piece of floating kelp and it is only when the beam of a light hits them that the spectacular colours bring the piece of flotsam to life as a fish. Macrocystis is the second fastest growing plant in the world and in winter when it is at its’ healthiest, it grows at an incredible 40cm per day. It was once found the full length of the east coast of Tasmania growing from as deep as 25 metres but it is now only found in the quiet bays of the southeast. It is assumed that its disappearance is due to global warming.
There are many more sites to challenge divers of all levels. World famous underwater photographer David Doubilet with over 60 articles published in National Geographic Magazine rates Tasmania as his No. 2 favourite dive destination. David has visited Tasmania four times and hopes to return again in the not to distant future.
The Tasman Peninsula offers something for everybody. It is the prime tourist destination in Tasmania with the Port Arthur Historic site, Tasmanian Devil Park, Bush Mill and Pioneer village, Golf courses, bushwalking tracks, sea kayaking, float plane flights, game fishing, horse riding, restaurants, and kilometres and kilometres of natural beauty. Additional information about the region can be found on Port Arthur Regional Marketing web site www.portarthur-region.com.au
All Photography is copyright © Karen Gowlett-Holmes.
‘Forests of the Sea’
“There is one marine production, which from its importance is worthy of a particular history. It is the kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera. This plant grows on every rock, from low-water mark to a great depth, both on the outer coast and within the channels…The number of living creatures of all Orders, whose existence intimately depends on the kelp is wonderful. A great volume might be written, describing the inhabitants of one of these beds of seaweed….I can only compare these great aquatic forests of the southern hemisphere, with the terrestrial ones in the inter-tropical regions.” (Charles Darwin 1845)
| Article by Gary Myors Gary is Operations and Marketing Manager and co-owner of the Eaglehawk Dive Centre. Gary is also a part time video camera man, journalist and photographer, and an active diver since 1967. He is holder of the Australian Sports Medal 2000 for work in safety and instruction in skydiving. Ex-Commercial Diver and Naval Shipwright.Photography by Karen Gowlett-Holmes Karen is a Marine Biologist CSIRO, Member of the Australian Institute of Professional Photographers, TDI gas blender, Divemaster, commercial diver, DAN Oxygen Provider. Recently, Karen was highly commended in the British Gas Wildlife Photographic Competition for her photographic work and was runner up in the biomedical and scientific division of the Australian Photographer of the Year Competition 2000. She was nominated for Eureka Award for scientific journalism in 2001. Click here for some examples of Karen’s photos. This article has been provided for publication by Gary Myors. Unauthorised use or reproduction is strictly prohibited. This article is copyright © Gary Myors and may not be used without his express permission. All photography is copyright © Karen Gowlett-Holmes and may not be used or reproduced without her written permission. |
Discuss this article below. What are your experiences?