Lord Howe Island: Paradise in the Pacific
I descended through clear water to the white sand below a fast-moving Galapagos shark flashed across my field of vision, followed by a second and then a third.
As I reached the sand they raced around me in expanding circles across the bottom, totally focused and obviously hunting something I still couldn’t see. Suddenly there was a puff of sand and a large flounder shot away with all three sharks converging on it. Another flurry of movement drew my eye and I turned to see a large Bull ray gliding toward me. If this was how good the diving was in the lagoon, I could only imagine how good it was going to be around the outside of the island!
Relatively close to New Zealand, Lord Howe Island is a place I had been itching to visit and dive for years so when I finally got an opportunity to go there a few months ago I was rapt. This stunningly beautiful little island has it all: incredible scenery, spectacular bushwalks, unique bird life, character accommodation, amazing food, and most importantly, outstanding diving.
Ocean speck
Lord Howe is 600km off the NSW coast, a two hour flight from Sydney straight out to sea, and when the island finally comes into view you realise it really is just a tiny speck in the middle of a very big blue ocean. Which helps explain why it is such a special dive location!
As we drop lower we see the towering, emerald green peaks of Mt Gower and Lidgbird contrasting with the clear, turquoise and shallow water of the lagoon. Landing here on the tarmac ringed by green-clad hills feels a bit like arriving at Jurassic Park.
The first striking thing about Lord Howe is the lush vegetation walling the quiet narrow roads and how few cars there are. There are probably more bikes than cars. Lord Howe is only 11km by 2km with less than 400 residents and only 400 visitors allowed on the island at any one time. The place has a quiet and personal vibe. Houses and accommodation are set in small clearings carved out amongst the trees. There are no street lights ...at night just a ceiling of stars
Southernmost coral reefs
From a divers perspective Lord Howe is unique. Home to the southernmost coral reefs in the world and rising out of very deep water (over 3000m) it lies in the path of the East Australian current, the same warm current that brings those interesting tropical visitors down to New Zealand waters in summer. The water temperature is a balmy 25°C in summer and a comfortable 18°C in winter and, as there are no rivers there is also no runoff, which means great year-round visibility.
"…The island’s waters are home to nearly 500 fish species, with
an interesting mix of tropical
and temperate species…"
Rare fish common
Being surrounded by deep oceanic water Lord Howe is visited by many pelagic species, from marlin, yellowfin tuna and Wahoo to Galapagos sharks and turtles. The island’s waters are home to nearly 500 fish species, 10% of which are endemic, and there is an interesting mix of tropical and temperate species, from familiar species like kingfish and trevally to Lionfish, Butterflyfish and Double header wrasse. Fish rare in New Zealand like Yellow Banded Perch and Painted Moki are extremely common around Lord Howe Island; every dive delivers something special.
Getting around
During my stay I dived with Pro Dive owned by Aaron and Lisa Ralph, a friendly and enthusiastic couple passionate about diving and running a very professional operation with great staff, good quality equipment, nitrox fills and a nice 9.5M dive boat. Aaron goes exploring for new dive sites on a regular basis and he took me to some great places, with my favourites around The Admiralty Islands. Offering a combination of coral reef, rock walls and canyons these small offshore islands have some truly beautiful dive sites teeming with colourful life. The 6km long lagoon has a lot of good dive sites on offer too, with much of the same marine life you see diving offshore, including Galapagos sharks, stingrays, Lionfish, turtles and numerous wrasse species and, if you are lucky, Pygmy seahorses and snake eels
High on my bucket list to dive was the awe-inspiring Ball’s Pyramid, but unfortunately the weather wasn’t good enough to get to it in the week I was there. This spectacular offshore rock stack requires calm conditions, and it offers deeper diving and the chance of seeing large pelagic species… I guess I will just have to go back
Spectacular bush walks
If you do have a ‘bad weather day’ on Lord Howe there are some awesome bush walks up through the rainforest to the peaks of Mount Gower and Mount Lidgbird with spectacular views of the island’s coastline and lagoon. At the other end of the island are equally beautiful views from Malabar Hill and Kim’s Lookout. Seabirds are common everywhere with colonies of shearwaters, terns, Noddies, Boobies and Red-tailed tropic birds offering nearly as much life above the water as below.
The old saying ‘big things come in small packages’ applies especially to Lord Howe Island and if you are thinking about a Pacific island dive trip put it at the top of your list. You won’t be disappointed.
