Image of Dave Harasti, UW photographer extraordinaire diving on rebreather in Brisbane, 2005

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Diving the Illawarra: Toothbrush Island

The closest of the Five Islands to Wollongong, Toothbrush Island offers good, all-round diving for every diver. With a maximum depth of about 17m, Toothbrush Island is, in the right conditions, perfect for the novice diver, as well as offering lots of interest for the more experienced.

Main features of this site are a large wall dropping from 5m down to about 16m at the deepest point, with a large cavern at one end. This cavern is home to a resident Bleekers devilfish with several wobbegong sharks also known to call this cavern home. Due north from the cavern is a narrow channel, one of a series of channels providing interesting terrain, and home to a variety of fish life.

Most famous of the local fish is “Basil” a large eastern blue groper that has been adopted by local divers. Quite enjoying a feed from divers, Basil is quite comfortable with divers patting him, and tickling him under the chin like a contented pet. Spending ten minutes or more with Basil can be the highlight of a dive. I’m pretty sure that Basil knows me by now, he always seems to make a beeline for me, and I never have to seek him out on a visit to Toothbrush Island.

Other features are two other (smaller) caverns and a variety of overhangs, as well as the channels. There is a good variety of fish life, and with a reasonable depth, Toothbrush Island gives plenty of bottom time. It is also a perfect second dive following a splash at the nearby wreck of the SS Bombo, or one of the deeper reefs at Martin Island, Pig Island or Wollongong Reef.

For nudibranch fans, Toothbrush Island is one of the few places where I find the chromodorid C. tasmaniensis on a regular basis. I find these critters here regularly, but have yet to spot them elsewhere.