It seems that each year my wife and I discuss “perhaps going somewhere different this year” and year after year some unseen force brings us back to Lord Howe Island for our month’s annual leave.

For us, Lord Howe offers that perfect balance between diving and surface interval activities and provides plenty for the diving widow(er) to do while you are out exploring the undersea environment.

There are a large number of local dive sites and operators try to give you a variety during your stay. For example this year we did 46 dives each and only did a repeat visit to a site on one occasion (and that was because we asked to go back). So let’s give you a taste of some of the sites.

Caves

Most of the divable caves on the island are volcanic dykes that have weathered away leaving cave sized holes in the cliff face for divers to explore. The names of the caves are as evocative as the caves are exciting to dive. Sheer Black, Disco, The Dungeon and Malabar to name but a few. One of our favourites is Portholes cave. You enter a triple-garage sized cave at 20 metres and follow the cave 70 metres as it ascends a gentle slope. At the rear of the cave is a passage that curves around inside the cave wall. In a few places the wall has holes looking for all the world like portholes. These give fantastic views back into the main cave.

The bubble cave is an easy dive with the added thrill of being able to take a breather in the bubble at 15m and discuss the second part of your dive with your buddy before continuing the dive.

Gutters, swim throughs and reef

Lord Howe has a rich collection of reef life. No two sites are the same with an incredible range of topography and communities of living things. Favourite sites include The Gutters, Malabar, Pitt Street and Roach Island Wall. No diving trip would be complete without a dive at Ruperts Reef. A large bommie with a 4m deep crack running north-south. The crack is wide enough for a diver and provides excellent wall life with plenty of crannies for lobster, fish and other critters. Priacanthus hamrur – Bigeyes are common at many Lord Howe dive sites

“Ultimate” dives

Divers hang in crystal blue water at Balls Pyramid

So you would like to dive something a bit different and you have a sense of adventure. A dive at Balls Pyramid is a must with only a handful of divers getting onto this site each year. The dives are in around 30 metres of some of the clearest blue water you could imagine. The fish life is prolific and LARGE. Perhaps the most amazing sight is when you surface just a few hundred metres from the Pyramid and can look almost straight up as this half kilometre high rock exits vertically from the ocean. A sight never forgotten. This is also the only place you can see the Ballina Angelfish in diveable depths. Nutrient upwellings bring these animals up to just 30m (they usually live below 300m).

If you are still on for a rare and outstanding dive then North Rock is the place to go. Abundant soft corals, large schools of fish and interesting terrain make this a site that will appeal to most divers.

Who do we dive with?

There are two dive operators on the island, Howea Divers and Pro Dive. We always dive with Howea Divers. Now do not be mistaken, both run slick operations and offer friendly staff and good hire equipment. However, if you are keen for Balls Pyramid or some of those little dived spots then Howea has a distinct edge. 

When you arrive on the island all you need do is pop down to see Brian at Howea Divers and show him your C-card. Brian checks out your experience and will quiz you on the type of diving you like (if you are into photography he can show you some mind-blowing locations). Then each day Brian will pop around to your unit in the morning and give you a diving forecast and make suggestions as to which of the day’s dives are likely to suit you best. You always get a great dive because your experience and diving passions are linked to the most suitable site for you on the day by Howea.

I guess I should also point out that although my wife and I are both instructors that we have not worked for either operator on the island and have no commercial involvement with either business. This is the place we go for our relaxation dives and our recommendations are based on personal experience.

Travel tips

Lord Howe is serviced by Dash 8 aircraft with a personal luggage limit of just 14kg. If you are only going for a week then you are best-off just taking a mask and snorkel and hiring the remainder of the gear when you are there. You can hire well serviced quality gear from both dive operators on the island.

If you intend a longer stay then you will probably want to pack your own reg and dive computer and fins. If you have a trick back then packing your weight integrated travel BC is also recommended. As regulars we tend to post the heaver gear across a few weeks early so it gets there by ship and is awaiting our arrival. This saves a small fortune in excess baggage.

The mode of transport on the island is predominantly by bike or foot. Some accommodation includes the use of a bike. If not, then hire is around $25 for a week from the local bike hire and well worth the investment.