Dive Review of Dive Lord Howe/Somerset Apartments in
Australia/Lord Howe Island

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Dive Lord Howe/Somerset Apartments: "Diving on the World's Most Southerly Coral Reef", Oct, 2023, by Philip M Carpenter, CA, USA ( Reviewer 6 reports with 4 Helpful votes). Report 12783 has 1 Helpful vote.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations	N/A	Food	N/A
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Lord Howe Island is a picturesque island off the coast of New South Wales. It has a very remote vibe, with about 400 residents and only 400 visitors allowed at any one time. My wife and I are both divers, and we stayed at the Somerset Apartments, about halfway between Ned's and Lagoon Beaches. Since transportation on the island is limited, this location was convenient for carrying our dive gear from our lodging to the boat. The diving there is weather-dependent, and the days we had originally booked were likely to be too windy, so we our first dives were a day earlier than we expected. The boat was just off the beach in Lagoon Beach in waist deep water. We are both in our 60s, so we appreciated that the crew carried our gear to the boat. The boat was comfortable but fairly small, holding about a dozen divers. Our first boat dives were at sites just off the coast near the island itself. The water was calm and visibility was about 50 ft. The water temperature was about 68 Fahrenheit, colder than most tropical diving, but not surprising because of the southern location. The bottom was rocky with moderate coral cover and algae. There are recognizable tropical reef fish, but also many endemic varieties. We saw slipper lobsters, spiny lobsters, kingfish and one Galapagos shark. We followed our guide for all dives, and the safety stops at the end were for 5 minutes, just to be safe since there are no nearby re-compression chambers. Our last day of diving was just as the wind and swell increased considerably, so our diving was limited to within the lagoon. There was more coral cover in the shallow, warmer water, and the unusual occurrence of beds of sea grass abutting the coral. Unfortunately, the visibility was less than 20 feet and the surge and tides resulted in a current that was was a challenge swimming against. The second dive of the day was canceled because of the conditions. We did not plan on a trip to Ball's Pyramid, and it is unlikely a trip there would have been possible due to the weather. Adrian, the owner, and the entire staff were phenomenal, always lending a hand in and out of the water. When diving is not possible, there are land based activities including bird watching, hiking through palm forests, to remote beaches or up to beautiful panoramic views of the island. There is a small museum with displays of island history and the island's natural wonders. In summary, Lord Howe is a beautiful and unique exotic island a little off beaten track. Weather there does not always cooperate but the dive operator proved to be flexible and able to make accommodations to make our experience very enjoyable.
Websites	Dive Lord Howe Somerset Apartments
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Cayman Islands, Cozumel, Bonaire, Hawaii, Red Sea, French Polynesia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Maldives
Closest Airport	Lord Howe Island	Getting There	Sydney to Lord Howe Island Airport, but there may be weight restrictions of 50 lb total and no more than 30 lb per bag
Dive Conditions
Weather	windy	Seas	choppy, surge
Water Temp	68-70°F / 20-21°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	20-50 Ft/ 6-15 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	5 minute safety stop
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	We did not take photographs

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Dive Lord Howe/Somerset Apartments in Australia/Lord Howe Island

Dive Lord Howe/Somerset Apartments: "Diving on the World's Most Southerly Coral Reef", Oct, 2023,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Dive Lord Howe/Somerset Apartments in
Australia/Lord Howe Island