The Leap

This is for experienced divers. Dive this site on the incoming tide. You have to leap off a rock into the water, but this is not the problem... If you choose to return to the entry point and NOT dive all the way round to the Steps site then you will have to exit after your dive at the same rock, which can be a problem if you dive to late on the tide and it goes out while you are submerged. Alternatively, you can exit from The Steps, only 100 meters away - as the crow flies, some 400 meters diving wise - from The Leap. Kurnell National Park. The dive site is located after about 2 kilometres after entering the national park. You should see a small informal parking area on the right side of the road as you head up a significant hill. This is after you pass the Steps Site on the left. You will see newly painted car spaces and a Zebra pedestrian crossing painted on the raod surface as well. Its on the cleft of a corner so care needs to be taken when leaving the area and backing away from the car park. Once parked, cross the road using the zebra crossing and follow the small tack out to the east heading to the coastal shoreline. You should find a cliff walk, denoted by the stairs now made available that fishermen use down the side of the cliff face. Use this to access the site. It's not too difficult a walk. I have taken many novice divers down here. Some tollerance to heights is required though. At the base of the cliff walk you will need to be careful of black - dark green slime, which looks dry but isn't on the rocks as it is very slippery. Walk to cliff edge and perform all buddy checks. Then do a giant stride into the ocean. You need to decide before hand whether you are diving from the Leap to the Steps, or whether you are just going to dive the Leap area and come back to you start point. If you wish to take this second option, you will need to start you dive an hour BEFORE the top of the tide. This way there will be plenty of high tide to lift you up onto the rock when you wish to get out at the end of an hours dive - make it 1:30 hour before the top of the tide. If your diving from the Leap to the Steps, then you plan to do this dive 2 hours before the top of the tide, so as to gain maximum benefit of the tidal 'push' into the bay. This way you don't have to swim much at all. Firstly, descend and then head east to great wall which drops down to the sand at 22-24 meters. Once here, turn left and head back into the bay - North west depending on air consumption, you may need to come up from the bottom and stay at 15 meters to help use less as you dive around the coast. Or you may have to completely cut the corner and rise up to 6-7 meters and come into the shallows to get all the way round the corner and make it to the Steps exit. You'll know you are back at the Steps when you are on the sandy reef line when your depth reaches 8 meters. The first few times you may need to surface first to find out where you are in relation to the Steps Exit area. This is typically where the fisho's hang out at the Steps site.