>Of course, the locals know better, which is why many of their favorite in-country dive destinations go beyond the familiar. Local knowledge is how our attention was first drawn to the details of the "Boomerang Coast," the curved, populous expanse of coastline extending from Brisbane to Adelaide. Along this shoreline are innumerable renowned dives, including several sites that make it onto Australian Top 10 lists year after year. A full exploration of the region would take months, so we narrow in on a 350-mile stretch of northern New South Wales. This area, where warm water meets cold and the marine life lineup reads like a bucket list, is worthy of our focused attention.
>Well, they normally swarm and fill these places anyway. The water has been unusually warm (79°F when we arrived), and for the first time in more than a decade the gray nurses have disappeared from the area altogether, with no sightings of them for two weeks. Reports of a single shark the previous afternoon has prompted a mood of cautious optimism. Our dive guide briefs us on their behavior: Gray nurse sharks have a disconcerting, snaggletoothed appearance, but because they exert low levels of energy during daylight hours, their movement is sluggish. Rapid movement, bubbles and bright light may startle them. We consider these tips and hatch a cunning plan: When we happen upon a shark, we will stay perfectly still, keep our lights off and try not to exhale. Seems easy enough.
>Over the next two days, the temperature below 30 feet drops, resulting in cruel, 10°F-plus thermoclines. We're baited by warm, clear water at the surface, which switches to ice-cream-headache-inducing, cold, murky water at depth. We suck it up. This chilly, nutrient-rich water is frustrating for photographers, but it's happy news for zombie sharks. In an attempt to appear well-rounded, we gamely revisit the wobbegongs and traverse the cave, but it's the gray nurse sharks that have our devotion. By our final dive day, their numbers are finally swelling, and as we glumly pack our gear into the car, we promise our dive guide that we'll be back soon.
>"Yep," he replies. He sees me warily inspecting the kelp and says, "There's colder water right off the beach. But not out at the islands. They're in the East Australian Current."
>That seems like quite a temperature differential, but it's what this place is known for. The colder, inshore current comes from the temperate environs of Tasmania, while the East Australian Current transports warm water from the Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef. The two collide at the Solitary Islands, producing a unique environment with features and marine life from both regions, key to why this marine park is so fiercely protected.
>Sure enough, 24 miles offshore the water is as warm and blue as any emblematic tropical destination, with not a shred of kelp in sight. Conditions prevent us from mooring at North West Rocks (the location of legendary site Fish Soup), but we're able to moor at the northern tip of North Solitary Island to explore equally famous Anemone Bay, a sloping, boulder-strewn reef with a maximum depth of 80 feet. Two large shovelnose guitarfish are patrolling the area, so I spend most of the dive hoping to come face-to-face (or better yet, camera-to-face) with one of these bizarre sharklike rays. When I finally throw in the towel on that endeavor, I begin to truly appreciate the beauty of the site's namesake invertebrates. Overlapping anemones carpet the seafloor, forming a veritable field of McMansions for the exceedingly prosperous local clownfish.
>The next morning the boat heads for Northwest Solitary Island, a tiny spit of land only 18 miles from the mainland. We moor in a shallow bay called Lion's Den, where mantas were sighted the day before our arrival. Our first dive is manta-free, though certainly pretty enough. The site is an easy 40-foot depth with lots of hard and soft coral, busy schools of bullseye and butterflyfish, and some truly beautiful green turtles. Still — and I know it sounds petulant — I feel a little ripped off: only a few gray nurse sharks up north and weather-limited dive sites here. We want some mantas.
>Thankfully, the universe agrees. We are halfway through our second dive when the first manta shows up; before long, we have seen five different ones. The next three hours are total bedlam. A manta (or two or three) is within sight at any given time. Soon we've memorized them by size and coloration, and I have chosen a favorite — a large melanistic beauty, with a fractured wingtip, that follows me around like a puppy. We make good use of all the extra air in the hold, only calling it a day when the sun is low in the sky and every tank on board has been emptied. The boat heads back to the mainland, and we watch wistfully as Lion's Den disappears on the horizon.
>I dismiss an urge to discuss the "other" leopard sharks, the ones that inhabit the waters off our home state of California. Fact is, we are here to see (apologies to our guide) zebra sharks. Aside from the fact that leopard sharks appear more stereotypically sharklike while zebra sharks' faces resemble that of the Pillsbury Doughboy, it's easy to see how a misunderstanding could arise: True leopard sharks are spotted throughout life, and the stripes that adorn juvenile zebra sharks fade to become spots as the animals mature. The end result is the same: spotted sharks that can be reliably seen at certain times of the year, though in different locations.
>Shortly thereafter other marine life is also passing us, including various rays, hunting octopuses and jellyfishes, the latter occasionally pursued by a hungry turtle. Between the cartoonish faces of the zebra sharks and the near-constant trigger-pulling motion of depressing a camera shutter button, the whole setup has a bit of a video game vibe: zebra shark, zebra shark, bonus eagle ray, zebra shark, zebra shark, triple bonus loggerhead. This is a lazy, entitled shooter's delight: The zebra sharks seem to operate on a circuit, so there is little need to move other than to slightly adjust one's shooting angle. As we climb back on board, another boat has called to tell us about a manta sighted on the other side of the rocks. We look at one other with amusement, smiling benevolently. (ONE manta? And we'd have to move?)
>The ridiculousness of our reaction is not lost on me. In just two weeks we have become so utterly spoiled that the prospect of a single manta is unexceptional, less than a dozen zombie sharks per dive is thoroughly inadequate, I forget to appreciate wobbegongs, and I compare dozens of zebra sharks to a game of Space Invaders. The Boomerang Coast warrants its name for several reasons; one is that my return is absolutely guaranteed. And next time, no matter how much New South Wales spoils me, I will make it a point to photograph every wobbegong I see.
>Seasons, Exposure Protection and Marine Life: Water temperatures fluctuate greatly with the seasons in this part of New South Wales, with winter (May-August) low temperatures dipping to the low 60s°F and late summer temperatures getting into the upper 70s°F; a 5 mm wetsuit is adequate in summer, but a 7 mm wetsuit with a hood is a better choice during the winter. Because of the wide differences in water temperatures, the marine life also varies by season. Divers who visit during the winter months are more likely to interact with gray nurse sharks as well as giant cuttlefish at all sites. Summer months may yield manta ray and zebra shark sightings. Wobbegong sharks, black cod and many types of rays can be viewed year-round. The waters around Fish Rock (which can have cool thermoclines year-round) are a good place to view gray nurse sharks regardless of season. (Note: We visited in March.)
>Skill Level and Conditions: Sites in this area can vary widely in terms of depth, current and surge, so be sure to inform the dive operation about your skill level to ensure your dives are enjoyable. The closest hyperbaric chambers are in Sydney and Brisbane.
>© Alert Diver — Q4 Fall 2016