For Muck's Sake

Michael Gallagher · Issue 48, May/Jun 2009 · pp. 60–63

Products mentioned: Canon 20D, 60mm macro lens, Ikelite Housing, DS-125 substrobes

Most visitors readily concede that Sydney is one of the world’s best cities. Fabulous beaches, trendy bars, great restaurants, a magnificent harbour, hot summers, the list goes on. But surely the list doesn’t include world class muck-diving? My day started early, my jet- lagged daze evaporating the instant I remembered why I had set such an offensively timed alarm call. Dive conditions in Chowder Bay - a small bay on the north side of Sydney’s inner harbour, not far from famous Taronga Park Zoo - were forecast to be at their best early morning. That was all the motivation I needed to spring out of bed with the sun barely above the horizon. I deliberately chose midweek to dive, betting that most Sydneysiders would be at work and that visitors rarely found their way to this particular part of Sydney. Not that I have anything against other divers, but it doesn’t take much for Chowder Bay’s …