Just an hour’s drive south of Adelaide is a dive location which evokes adventure, mystery, wonder, danger and awe!

Arguably the location of Australia’s most famous shark attack survived by Rodney Fox back in 1963 and the subsequent fatality of Jonathon Lee in 1991.

I have dived here many times and just a little anxious respect precedes each dive. However the rewarding moments I have had exploring this incredible reef structure will always be worth it and are experiences I treasure.

So it was with that same anxious respect we headed down to ‘The Dropoff’ a few weeks ago. After a while motoring back and forth over the reef precipice we finally chose to anchor on top in 6m of water allowing us to both get to the bottom quickly and to shape our dive profile for safety.

Wow, wow, wow! Bluethroat Wrasse and Herring Cale everywhere as well as Queen Snapper, Blue Devils, Longsnout Boarfish and Port Jackson sharks. Gorgornian corals adorned ledges and swim-throughs while huge sponges at 20m dwarfed the ones normally encountered on other local dive sites. Lush dense kelp smothered the entire top of the reef.

At one point in our dive the visibility opened out to more than 12m and the sight from the sand at 20m of the reef reaching up to near the surface face was breathtaking.

We spent over an hour underwater before retreating to the sanctuary of our little boat. Full of exhilaration from this incredible dive I’ll still admit to being just a little relieved being back in the bot again!