A true freshwater fantasy
The area around the town of Mount Gambier has lots of holes and ponds that are suitable for scuba diving. Around 40 of them are regularly visited by scuba divers. The ponds and sinkholes were discovered in the 1960's by divers and when they saw how beautiful lots of these places were the area became popular by scuba divers. The Cave Divers Association of Australia (CDAA) was formed in september 1973 after a number of fatalities in the caves and sinkholes. Lots of sinkholes and ponds are located on government property or private property and landowners were thinking of closing the sinkholes because of fear for legal liability if more accidents would happen. The new formed CDAA could prevent the closure and these days it's still possible to dive in many of the ponds, sinkholes, caves and caverns.
Because heaps of these dive sites are located on private property you need permission and permits before diving. The CDAA categorized the dive sites as sinkholes (S), caves (C), penetration sites (P) and caverns (CN). The only site where you don't need a permit is Ewens Ponds south of Mount Gambier.
Ewen Ponds
Ewens ponds is a dive site that consists of three different ponds connected with eachother through little channels. The biggest pond is more than 50 meters in diameter and the water is so clear that you can see the other side of the pond on most days. The visibility is clearlyone of the best feateres of this dive site. The bottom is on a depth of 10 meters and is covered with grasses and reeds.
When you get into the shallow channel to swim to the second pond you'll find that the current will pull you through to the second, slightly smaller pond. There are more fish in this pond than in the first one. You can see the rare pygmy perch, eels and spiny srayfish here.
Through a second channel you'll arrive in the last and smallest of three ponds. The bottom is on a depth of 9 meters and on rocky ledges you can find lobsters and small fishes.
Piccaninnie Ponds
This sinkhole is the most popular one in the area. You have to book ahead if you want to dive here, because the number of visitors are restricted.
After you've entered the water you can swim to the other side of the pond and over The Chasm. If you descent to a depth of 10 meters you'll find an entrance in the wall that will bring you to The Cathedral. This chamber is around 20 meters wide and 30 meters high. The walls are made of white limestone and it's truly magnificent to see so take a good look around before exiting.
You can also explore The Chasm, but remember not to go too deep. This drops to a depth of around 60 meters, but you're only allowed to go to a maximum depth of 36 meters in this diving area. The animals you will often see are tortoises, eels and pygmy perch.
