reef dive

Port Noarlunga Jetty & Reef Diving

The final dive on our self-guided SA dive trip was on the Port Noarlunga reef, only half an hour from Adelaide. This was a somewhat last minute decision to dive, but we’re certainly glad we did!

The water was amongst the warmest we experienced on our trip, and we saw a host of fish amongst the nooks of the reef, some willing to hang around and show off. The leatherjackets, with their colourful patterns, were magnificent to see and the sharpnose weed whiting was a first. Watch out for the cray too!

The reef is a natural breakwater accessed by walking down the 400m long jetty, with a flight of stairs making entry to the water super easy. Very popular for both snorkelling and diving, there were plenty of people in the water with us. A series of signs make navigation underwater somewhat simple, although we did turn the dive when we couldn’t find the next sign as we went through the ‘gap’ to the open ocean side of the reef. Touristy area, so parking can be troublesome, but toilets nearby. Decent trek from carpark, so consider a trolley.

Location: Port Noarlunga, SA
Water Temperature: 21°C
Average Depth: 4.0m
Maximum Depth: 9.1m

Second Valley Diving

One of our last dives in SA was at Second Valley, around the corner from Rapid Bay. Just before jumping in, we had a guy on the pier look over at us and asked “Bobbi?”. Famous! Turns out that he was who we were headed to get our airfills from later, and he recognised us from my posts on the local facebook page. Pays to have your name on your tank (and pink hair!)

He was lovely, and gave us some pointers on the dive site before sending us on our way. Highlight of the dive was definitely the massive wobbegong shark we saw near the point – whilst not a particularly aggressive shark, they have been known to clamp down on people who inadvertently get too close, so makes sense to stay socially distanced from them! We also spotted cuttlefish, blue devils and more.

This dive site starts at a short sandy pier, but the interesting stuff it to be seen by following the coastline around to the rocky point. Next time we’ll go beyond, but this time we only just made it to the point as we were taking our time. Parking not too far away, with toilets accessible closeby also. Busy and popular beach spot on a hot day, imagine parking can be an issue.

Location: Second Valley, SA
Water Temperature: 21°C
Average Depth: 3.5m
Maximum Depth: 8.3m