WAKING up to playful whales mugging his boat on Saturday morning, is a long weekend memory etched forever in Dan Stella's mind.
The Lake Macquarie diver was out sailing the coastline for the October long weekend and decided to stop in at Port Stephens for a dive in the Bay on October 4 and 5.
"As we were sailing down the coast we decided to stop in at Port Stephens as we've heard from the dive community there's been big schools of 30 plus bronze whaler sharks in the channel, and whales playing in the bay," he said.
"It's always been such a great dive spot."
Mr Stella was diving with mates in clear visibility which produced some incredible water encounters with the sea creatures.
"While diving, the whales swam right up to me, barrel rolling right towards me. I had to duck the tail of a humpback whale, it's clearly an encounter I won't forget," he said.
He came across another humpback whale in the shallows slowly swimming towards him and he stopped to take it all in.
"I just watched it eyeball me, diving underneath me and admiring me," he said.
Some boat issues on Saturday morning meant he had to anchor up for the night but waking up to whales playing next to him made it all worth it.
"They were playing next to the boat, they sounded like elephants. We sat back and just watched the performance they gave everyone for over an hour, playfully splashing in the Bay," he said.
Mr Stella said he counted nine humpback whales along with his two water encounters and whales mugging around his boat.
"This was definitely one of the more memorable trips I've had," he said.
Humpback whales are starting to make their way back down towards the southern ocean offering sightings along the Hunter coastline from September through to November.
