youdiveAUSTRALIA
Search
Menu

AUSTRALIAN DESTINATIONS

Diving in New South Wales

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

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 siteWreck

Sydney Northern Beaches

Himma wreck

Compact WWII Empire tug at 50 m with an intact propeller and a boiler room you can look into through the hull; the deepest of the…

BoatUp to 52 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the sitePinnacle/Bommie

Wollongong & Kiama

Hump One

Compact deep hump densely covered in gorgonians and sponges, circumnavigable in one short dive.

BoatUp to 36 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteWall

Wollongong & Kiama

Hump Wall

Sheer deep wall to 34 m with swarms of mado and carpets of tiny feather stars.

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

Sydney South & Botany Bay

Hungry Jacks (Jibbon)

A north–south wall with large low overhangs, big sponges and huge schools of seapike and trevally, next to Maccas.

BoatUp to 27 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteReef

Sydney South & Botany Bay

Indian Point (Congwong Bay)

A 9–15 m wall cut by thirteen gutters with seadragons, red Indianfish and seahorses, a few hundred metres from Bare Island and…

Shore or BoatUp to 16 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteReef

Jervis Bay

Inner Point Perpendicular

Sheltered multilevel reef with shallow caves under the cliffs at the corner of Point Perpendicular; a gentle drift on the flood…

BoatUp to 32 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteShore/Rock Platform

Sydney South & Botany Bay

Inscription Point (Kurnell)

A one-way flood-tide drift past Sydney's best sponge gardens and up to twenty seadragons, finishing at the Monuments wall.

ShoreUp to 14 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteArtificial Reef

Sydney South & Botany Bay

JD Reef North (Royal National Park)

Eighteen 25-tonne concrete modules in a Greek-cross layout, some with 9 m steel pylons, now colonised by jewel anemones.

BoatUp to 31 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteCave/Cavern

Eden & Green Cape

Jacko's Cave

A huge low cavern and 40 m tunnel behind a sponge-covered wall – one of McFadyen's top temperate reef dives.

BoatUp to 22 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the sitePinnacle/Bommie

Sydney South & Botany Bay

Jibbon Bombora (Fish Reef)

The reef that shelters Port Hacking: overhangs, a canyon and a huge overhang on the south-east side with giant cuttlefish, big…

BoatUp to 22 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteCave/Cavern

Tweed & Byron Bay

Julian Rocks – Cod Hole

Julian Rocks' signature swim-through/cave, packed with wobbegongs year-round and grey nurse sharks resting in the passage through…

BoatUp to 22 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteReef

Tweed & Byron Bay

Julian Rocks – Hugo's Trench

A pair of sheer-walled parallel trenches offering shelter from swell and some of the best macro life at Julian Rocks.

BoatUp to 18 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the sitePinnacle/Bommie

Tweed & Byron Bay

Julian Rocks – The Needles

Julian Rocks' big-animal site: a summer leopard shark aggregation among towering bommies, plus regular manta rays and schooling…

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

Tweed & Byron Bay

Julian Rocks – The Nursery

The most colourful, fish-dense and sheltered quarter of Julian Rocks; the classic beginner, training and snorkel site where…

BoatUp to 12 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteShore/Rock Platform

Wollongong & Kiama

Kiama Gutter

One-way dive from the Blowhole Point pool, over a wall and through rock valleys, finishing in sheltered Kiama Harbour.

ShoreUp to 17 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteShore/Rock Platform

Sydney Harbour

Kirribilli Point

A night dive under the Kirribilli ferries opposite the Opera House, with the Harbour Bridge overhead and the Prime Minister's…

ShoreUp to 8 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteArtificial Reef

Sydney South & Botany Bay

Kurnell Desalination Plant Inlet

Four giant concrete intake cylinders with ceilings carpeted in multi-coloured jewel anemones, schooling seapike and kingfish.

BoatUp to 25 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteShore/Rock Platform

Sydney South & Botany Bay

La Perouse Point (Larpa)

A 40–60 minute macro drift around La Perouse Point with seadragons, firefish, pygmy pipehorses, anglerfish and blue-ringed…

ShoreUp to 14 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteWreck

Eden & Green Cape

Lanercost

Scattered remains of an 1872 timber barque, identified by an 1864 US cent, in two gullies near Mowarry Point.

BoatUp to 21 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteReef

Ulladulla

Lighthouse Sponge Gardens

Colourful sponge-covered wall with gullies and canyons, crevices full of wobbegongs and Port Jackson sharks, and dense fish…

BoatUp to 22 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteWall

Ulladulla

Lighthouse Wall

Relaxed 600 m drift along a cracked wall below Ulladulla Lighthouse with angel sharks and rays on the sand.

BoatUp to 28 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteMuck/Sand

Sydney South & Botany Bay

Lilli Pilli (Port Hacking)

One of Sydney's best seahorse dives – up to 63 White's seahorses recorded on the swimming-enclosure net and seagrass – with easy…

ShoreUp to 13 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteShore/Rock Platform

Sydney South & Botany Bay

Little Bay

An easy, protected bay with a wall of overhangs and swim-throughs east of the mouth – and the best post-dive view in Sydney from…

ShoreUp to 13 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteShore/Rock Platform

Port Stephens

Little Beach (Nelson Bay)

A sheltered, easy Nelson Bay shore dive with a novelty sunken playground at 6 m and marked lines to deeper macro-rich structure.

ShoreUp to 20 m