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 Counts describe published records, not bookable trips or confirmed open sites.
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
- Where does the trip meet, and is parking or a transfer needed?
- Which alternative itinerary might be offered?
- 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.
Find your region
Dive sites to explore
WreckForster & Seal Rocks
SS Satara wreck
The east coast's largest wreck dive — a 125 m 1910 steamship loss, now a protected heritage wreck at 38-44 m with an intact bow…
WreckSydney South & Botany Bay
SS Tuggerah wreck
The most intact engine room of any Sydney wreck, buried in schooling fish, at 45 m off Royal National Park.
WreckSydney South & Botany Bay
SS Undola wreck
Complete, upright 1909 collier with boiler, triple-expansion engine and the famous Shanks toilet, lost with all hands in the 1918…
WreckSydney South & Botany Bay
SS Woniora wreck
Rare 1863 iron collier with upright engine and boiler at 58–59 m in the Botany Bay approaches; lost with all but one of her crew…
Shore/Rock PlatformSydney South & Botany Bay
Shark Point (Clovelly)
Boulder field, walls and a 26 m reef edge dense with sponge life, blue devils and seadragons – the best shore dive in the…
ReefLord Howe Island
Shearwater Island
Shallow finger reefs with hard coral cover rivalling the Great Barrier Reef, 40 m visibility and long bottom times.
Shore/Rock PlatformSydney Northern Beaches
Shelly Beach / Cabbage Tree Bay (Manly)
NSW's most popular shore dive – a no-take reserve where tame blue groper, wobbegongs, PJ sharks and summer dusky whalers crowd a…
Shore/Rock PlatformSydney South & Botany Bay
Shiprock (Port Hacking)
Sydney's iconic high-tide estuary dive: a wall dropping to 15 m with bommies, a bubble cave, prolific protected fish and superb…
SeamountShoalhaven Coast
Sir John Young Banks
Remote offshore banks with walls to 50 m, pristine colourful sessile life and pelagic sharks including hammerheads.
ReefSydney South & Botany Bay
Six Fathom Reef (Port Hacking)
Sheltered bad-weather reef at the mouth of Port Hacking with stepped walls and huge schools of pomfret and bullseyes.
Shore/Rock PlatformCentral Coast
Skillion Cave (Terrigal)
A rock-slab-roofed gutter dropping to almost 20 m beneath The Skillion, rated among the best shore dives in NSW, with resident…
WallWollongong & Kiama
Slipper Reef
A bay-like amphitheatre around the mooring, wobbegong caves and a colourful vertical reef edge.
Shore/Rock PlatformSydney South & Botany Bay
South Maroubra
Belbowrie wreckage and old bottles among a boulder maze with more than fifty fish species, including Sydney's biggest dusky…
WallCoffs Harbour & Solitary Islands
South Solitary Island – Buchanan's Wall
The best macro and invertebrate photography wall at South Solitary Island, with abundant nudibranchs and Spanish dancers.
ReefCoffs Harbour & Solitary Islands
South Solitary Island – Cleaner Station
A natural cleaning station with long-resident, well-known turtle and groper 'characters', plus excellent macro life including…
Pinnacle/BommieCoffs Harbour & Solitary Islands
South Solitary Island – Manta Arch
The signature dive of the Solitary Islands Marine Park: a natural arch through a boulder field with one of the most reliable…
WallCoffs Harbour & Solitary Islands
South Solitary Island – North Boulder Wall
A sheltered, boulder-covered wall on the lee side of the island with reliably high fish density — the easy, dependable South…
ReefCoffs Harbour & Solitary Islands
South Solitary Island – Shark Gutters
A shallow, swim-through gutter that has historically been one of the most productive grey nurse shark sites at South Solitary…
WallCoffs Harbour & Solitary Islands
South Solitary Island – South Boulder Wall
Sheltered boulder wall with abundant reef fish, linking with North Boulder Wall for a longer drift along the island's lee side.
ReefSydney Harbour
Sow and Pigs Reef
Circumnavigate the harbour's most notorious ship-trap – a beacon-ringed reef with overhangs and swim-throughs in 4–8 m in…
Cave/CavernJervis Bay
Spider Cave
An 80–100 m cave with three stacked entrances leading up under the cliff to a far end at 7 m.
Pinnacle/BommieCoffs Harbour & Solitary Islands
Split Solitary Island – Cod Rock
A compact bommie separated from the plateau by a deep gutter, home to a resident two-metre black cod under its overhangs.
ReefCoffs Harbour & Solitary Islands
Split Solitary Island – Coral Corner
A rare, close overlap of kelp forest and plate coral growth in a single easy dive, illustrating the tropical/temperate transition…
WallCoffs Harbour & Solitary Islands
Split Solitary Island – South Side Moorings
The closest and most reliably diveable island in the Solitary Islands Marine Park, with a rich, densely encrusted drop-off…