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AUSTRALIAN DESTINATIONS

Diving in New South Wales

Explore 685 listed dive sites and find the local knowledge to help plan your visit.

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THE LOCAL PLANNING BRIEF

Build the trip around a coastal base

New South Wales offers a long sequence of coastal regions rather than one central dive gateway. Our directory separates Sydney areas, the north and mid-north coast, and the south coast so that you can compare a realistic local base. A Sydney stay and a Jervis Bay or Coffs Harbour trip need different transport and departure arrangements; do not treat a state-level search as a list of nearby sites.

Choose the setting, then the trip

There are 685 published site records across New South Wales. The recorded categories include reef (227), shore/rock platform (162), wreck (89), wall (70). These categories reflect the database; they are not a ranking, a conditions report or an assessment of your suitability.

Start with one of the regional pages below. State-wide totals are useful for browsing, but the actual choice should be made at the level of an operator, a site and a proposed itinerary.

Research operators in New South Wales →

Ask before booking

  1. Where does the trip meet, and is parking or a transfer needed?
  2. Which alternative itinerary might be offered?
  3. What local park or access information should we check?

Save the answers with the contact name and date. Separate confirmed arrangements from items still waiting for a reply.

Record your trip questions →

Sydney regions

Compare the harbour, northern beaches and southern Sydney records separately. Confirm the meeting point and actual entry or vessel arrangements.

North and mid-north coast

Start with a town and its operators, then ask which offshore or local trips are offered during your dates. Wildlife photographs do not guarantee an encounter.

South coast and islands

Compare Jervis Bay, Narooma and other regional bases by travel time and departure availability. Keep island travel arrangements distinct from mainland road-trip assumptions.

Questions, answered

How do I choose a dive in New South Wales?

Begin with the individual site and its source notes, then discuss the proposed trip with a local provider. The 685 published records are research options, not a list of trips available today. Match the plan to your training, recent experience and the operator’s current requirements.

When should I visit New South Wales for diving?

Choose dates with a provider who runs the activity you want, then discuss seasonal patterns, recent conditions and alternative itineraries. A generic best-month claim cannot establish the conditions at your exact site or guarantee a wildlife encounter.

Can I use these maps to enter or navigate a dive site?

No. Recorded and approximate map positions support orientation only. Confirm the exact access, permissions, meeting point and route with the responsible local provider or manager.

Regional planning context: Destination NSW — beaches and water activities ↗. Directory counts come from published YouDive records. Individual site claims remain subject to their source and review notes.

Prepare for this destination

Find your region

Ballina & Evans Head6 sitesBatemans Bay30 sitesBermagui & Tathra6 sitesCentral Coast44 sitesCoffs Harbour & Solitary Islands38 sitesEden & Green Cape21 sitesForster & Seal Rocks27 sitesJervis Bay47 sitesLord Howe Island49 sitesMerimbula9 sitesNambucca & Urunga4 sitesNarooma & Montague Island16 sitesNewcastle & Lake Macquarie35 sitesPort Macquarie & Camden Haven19 sitesPort Stephens22 sitesShoalhaven Coast10 sitesSouth West Rocks21 sitesSydney Harbour33 sitesSydney Northern Beaches52 sitesSydney South & Botany Bay113 sitesTweed & Byron Bay21 sitesUlladulla19 sitesWollongong & Kiama37 sitesYamba & Iluka6 sites

Dive sites to explore

Find local operators
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteShore/Rock Platform

Jervis Bay

Green Patch

Calm, family-friendly beach with octopus and squid around the rock platforms, beside a national park campground.

ShoreDepth not recorded
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteReef

Sydney Northern Beaches

Green Wheely Bin Reef (North Head)

An out-of-the-way wall and boulder gully at the tip of North Head with an old Admiralty anchor and, on one occasion, sixty…

BoatUp to 28 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteReef

Merimbula

Haycock Point

Haystack Rock bommie and reef beside NSW's largest remaining wreck.

BoatUp to 18 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteWreck

Sydney South & Botany Bay

Hereward wreck (Maroubra Beach)

The iron hull and mast fragments of an 1898 clipper periodically uncovered in the Maroubra surf, 50 m from the sand.

ShoreUp to 3 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteWreck

Shoalhaven Coast

Hive Wreck Site

Site of an 1835 convict-ship wreck from which 250 convicts survived; heritage-listed buried remains.

ShoreUp to 2 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the sitePinnacle/Bommie

Ulladulla

Home Bommie (Ulladulla)

Close-to-harbour bommie with a sponge-covered double-ledged wall, small caves and occasional visiting seals.

BoatUp to 26 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteShore/Rock Platform

Jervis Bay

Honeymoon Bay

Picturesque, sheltered horseshoe bay with clear water and an easy beach entry – great for snorkelling and night dives.

ShoreUp to 10 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteShore/Rock Platform

Jervis Bay

Hyams Beach

Parallel reef ledges at 8–10 m with wobbegongs, a short swim from the famous white sand of Hyams Beach.

ShoreUp to 10 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the sitePinnacle/Bommie

Central Coast

Inner Bommies (Norah Head)

A shallow, fish-dense bommie field — a relaxed, high-volume fish-life dive and a good pairing with the deeper Outer Bommies.

BoatUp to 20 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteWreck

Sydney Harbour

Itata wreck (Salt Pan Creek)

The burnt-out iron hull of an 1883 barque abandoned in a mangrove-lined Middle Harbour creek – Sydney's zero-visibility training…

BoatUp to 10 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteIsland

Batemans Bay

Jimmies Island

Easy island reef inside the bay with gutters, swim-throughs and weedy sea dragons.

BoatUp to 18 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteCave/Cavern

Forster & Seal Rocks

Jimmy's Cave (Seal Rocks)

A deep cave system with a dramatic inner chamber, the 'ballroom', packed with ladder-finned pomfret.

BoatUp to 34 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteWall

Sydney South & Botany Bay

Jolong (Cape Banks)

A 20–26 m wall with overhangs and boulders under the national park gun emplacements, 700 m north of Cape Banks and rarely visited.

BoatUp to 30 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteCave/Cavern

Tweed & Byron Bay

Julian Rocks – Cray Cave

A narrow swim-through on Julian Rocks' most exposed flank, one of the best places on the island to find resting grey nurse sharks…

BoatUp to 25 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the sitePinnacle/Bommie

Tweed & Byron Bay

Julian Rocks – Split Bommie

A distinctive split rock formation within the sheltered Nursery, easy and photogenic, popular with course students.

BoatUp to 12 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteReef

Sydney South & Botany Bay

KFC Reef (Jibbon)

Some of the best and most colourful sponge gardens in Sydney, with giant boarfish and swarms of one-spot pullers.

BoatUp to 24 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteShore/Rock Platform

Bermagui & Tathra

Kianinny Bay

Boulder slope from a sheltered bay to sand at 16 m, beside Tathra's boat ramp.

ShoreUp to 18 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteWreck

Newcastle & Lake Macquarie

LVT-4A amphibious tank (Stockton Beach)

An upright WWII 'Water Buffalo' amphibious tank in 33 m off Stockton Beach, lost in a 1954 exercise.

BoatUp to 33 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteShore/Rock Platform

South West Rocks

Ladies Reef (South West Rocks)

South West Rocks' main shore and night-dive site — sheltered, shallow and reliable when the boat sites are blown out.

ShoreUp to 10 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteReef

Forster & Seal Rocks

Latitude Rock

An easy, shallow reef with a strong Port Jackson shark and wobbegong population and a good chance of grey nurse sharks and…

BoatUp to 15 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteReef

Narooma & Montague Island

Lighthouse Bay (Montague Island)

Sea cave, swim-throughs and dramatic rock formations in a bay sheltered from northerlies.

Boat (day trip)Up to 16 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteWall

Central Coast

Lighthouse Reef (Norah Head)

A north-south wall off Norah Head Lighthouse with boulders, canyons and an unexplored swim-through reportedly leading to a large…

BoatUp to 19 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteShore/Rock Platform

Sydney South & Botany Bay

Little Bay – 4th Hole

A pocket of caves, ledges and swim-throughs inside a golf-course inlet – small, intricate and very good at night.

ShoreUp to 12 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteReef

Port Stephens

Little Broughton Island grey nurse shark habitat

A separately declared satellite critical habitat site adjoining the main Broughton Island grey nurse shark aggregation.

BoatUp to 22 m