On 4^th January of this year, one of the largest privately owned super yachts made their way to little ol’ Lord Howe Island. The Octopus spent their New Year celebration moored at the Sydney Harbour and then decided on a short visit to our little island paradise for as much scuba diving as they could fit in.

Having sent one of their live aboard dive instructors to the island a week before to check out the island and diving, they asked us to be their local dive guides during their stay!

The Octopus arrived early morning and Divemaster Ivana excitedly hopped aboard the Octopus just after sunrise to guide them 20km south of island to Ball’s Pyramid.

By 9am the group were in for their first dive of the day at Observatory Rock. As per usual the dive did not disappoint. Upon entering the water the group were greeted by schools of Kingfish, Amberjack, and Violet sweep.

After a short surface interval back aboard the Octopus they jumped back in at the second dive site Wheatsheaf. The group dived through a forest of large black coral trees, observed Decorator Crabs, Sting rays, Half-banded Angelfish and, well the list goes on!

Elated with their experience at Balls Pyramid, the divers were keen to explore more of what Lord Howe Island’s waters had to offer. Aaron swapped places with Ivana as their guide and took the group on several more dives around the Admiralty Islands. One of the members of the group stated at the end of the dive that it was ‘like something out of a Maharaja’s palace’.  

All in all we can safely say that this was a pretty exciting experience for us. Being given the opportunity to showcase the world class diving that the Lord Howe Island Marine Park has to offer onboard such an impressive vessel was inspiring.