Scuba diving with sharks at Julian Rocks – Byron Bay

After learning to scuba dive in Indonesia, diving has quickly become one of our absolute favourite things to do and we’ve tried to do it where possible along the East Coast. So when we heard you could see sharkies out at Julian Rocks we were super keen to get out there!

Julian Rocks are the big group of Rocks you can see from Byron Bay’s main beach and we booked up to do it with Byron Bay Dive centre. We booked it through the travel desk at our (amazing) hostel, Byron Beach Resort, and it cost $95 for the one dive. So it’s quite pricey, but it was SO worth it.

The Rocks are quite far out from shore so we had to get a boat there, and this trip was a bit hairy I must say ha! About 10 of us squeezed into a little RIB with all the gear and it was an extremely bumpy ride against the surf to get out there – I was so glad to get under those waves!

I was quite surprised at how small Julian Rocks actually are, they look huge from the beach but up close they’re less impressive. Also surprising was the temperature of the water, it was bloody cold! We had decent, thick wetsuits on, though, but just don’t expect warm, Barrier Reef type temperatures here ha!

Under the water, the Rocks were far more exciting. It was teaming with colourful fish and before long we were swimming alongside Wobbegong sharks, which are quite camouflaged and look like catfish. I very nearly lost my cool with excitement as a group of MASSIVE black bull rays appeared. My excitement was partly down to thinking they were Manta Rays at first, but these creatures were amazing in their own right. They looked so peaceful and threatening at the same time with their bulky bodies and graceful wing movements. We watched them for about 10 minutes before continuing our search for what we were all hoping to see – grey nurse sharks. The dive site is known for these sharks, which are around two metres long and quite scary, but harmless. Assuming you don’t poke them in the eye or something anyway!

We swam around with the fish for a long time and I was starting to think we weren’t going to see one when suddenly our divemaster gave us the shark signal! Then slowly and eerily the shark came gliding into sight amongst a shoal of bright yellow fishes. He was quite scary to look at with his sharp teeth and beady little, unblinking eyes. But it was so cool to swim alongside him and being at his level makes you feel surprisingly calm. I still kept a fair amount of distance though haha!

I say this most times but it was one of the best dives we have done. The marine life was incredible and it’s so special sharing the water with these giants!