Grey Nurse Charters

Grey Nurse Charters is a charter operation working the offshore sites around Port Stephens, and the name states the priority clearly enough.

Broughton Island is the principal destination. It lies offshore from Port Stephens with noticeably clearer water than the inshore shore-diving sites, and Looking Glass — a narrow gutter cutting right through the island — is a recognised grey nurse shark aggregation area and one of the best dives in New South Wales.

Grey nurse sharks are the draw, and the east coast population is critically endangered, which gives sites like this genuine conservation significance. The sharks are harmless to divers; the encounter is a matter of settling low and not blocking the gutter, letting them continue their patrol.

Beyond the sharks, Broughton offers sponge gardens, blue gropers, wobbegongs, kingfish schools and occasional seals, with terrain that includes gutters, boulder fields and walls. It is a considerably more dramatic site than the Nelson Bay shore dives, and a different kind of diving.

Charter operations differ from dive centres in what they provide. The boat, the local knowledge and the site access are the product; training, retail and workshop services generally are not. For a certified diver who has their own equipment, that is exactly what is needed.

Worth confirming: certification and experience requirements per site, since current through the gutters can be significant; whether guiding is included in the water or whether divers are self-sufficient; equipment hire availability if you are not bringing your own; Nitrox availability; and the weather cancellation policy, which matters because offshore Port Stephens trips are called off regularly and the good days are worth waiting for.

Broughton Island trips are weather-dependent in a way the Nelson Bay shore dives are not, which makes them worth treating as an opportunity rather than a plan. Divers staying several days in Port Stephens can dive the shore sites whenever and take the boat when conditions allow.