DIVE CENTRE & OPERATOR DIRECTORY

Dive Lord Howe

Lord Howe Island

Lord Howe Island's major verified PADI operation, identified as a PADI 5 Star Dive Resort and running the island's certified diving, training and charters.

padi

About this operator

Dive Lord Howe is the island's major verified PADI operation, identified as a PADI 5 Star Dive Resort, and it has been operating since 1978 on one of the most unusual dive destinations in the world.

Lord Howe Island sits roughly six hundred kilometres off the New South Wales coast and supports the world's southernmost coral reef system. Official destination information records more than ninety coral species and approximately five hundred fish species, in an environment where tropical, subtropical and temperate species occur together — frequently on the same dive.

The island offers four distinct diving environments. The lagoon is shallower and sheltered, suitable for training and easy diving. The Admiralty Islands off the northern end provide volcanic pinnacles, walls, trenches and caves at greater depth. The outer reefs deliver clear water and reef diving. And Ball's Pyramid, twenty-six kilometres south, is the world's tallest sea stack — remote, exposed, and recommended for Advanced-certified divers.

Visibility is exceptional. Official information describes twenty to forty metres outside the lagoon in summer and fifteen to twenty in winter, with occasional reports approaching seventy metres and an average closer to thirty during the main season.

The operation's PADI profile lists scuba and Nitrox, equipment sales and rental, freediving equipment rental, a dive boat, a waterfront facility and six PADI instructors. Advertised products include certified dives, dive packages, introductory scuba, refresher dives, night diving, private charters and courses through Advanced Open Water. Complete rental sets are provided including exposure protection, BCD, regulator, computer, cylinder, weights, whistle and SMB.

Lord Howe caps visitor numbers, and flights are limited and weather-affected. That keeps the sites genuinely uncrowded but means the whole trip — flights, accommodation and diving — needs booking well ahead as a package rather than assembled on arrival.

Listed services

Service information is recorded from operator research. Availability and requirements should be confirmed directly.

  • Boat
  • Freediving
  • Nitrox fills
  • Equipment hire
  • Equipment sales
  • Beginner training
  • Continuing education

Find the right fit

Ask about the sites you want to visit, recent conditions, group sizes, equipment and experience requirements.

Read our guide to choosing a dive centre

Make your enquiry specific to Dive Lord Howe

Use the recorded location in Lord Howe Island as a starting point, then ask where your proposed activity actually meets. A business address may be a shop or office rather than the boat departure. The directory lists padi; confirm the exact course and current training arrangement directly.

Questions for your enquiry
TopicWhat to ask
TripWhich departure, vessel and proposed sites fit our dates and experience?
TrainingWhat is the exact programme, teaching schedule and process if more practice is needed?
EquipmentWhich items, sizes and familiarisation are included?
PriceCan we have an itemised quote and the current change and cancellation terms?

Questions, answered

Does YouDive verify every service at Dive Lord Howe?

No. The profile distinguishes recorded research from information that still needs confirmation. Directory inclusion is not accreditation or a safety endorsement.

Does Dive Lord Howe currently visit every linked site?

A linked site reflects a sourced directory relationship, not a live schedule. Confirm current trips, access and suitability with the operator.

How should I compare Dive Lord Howe with another provider?

Send the same brief to each: dates, group size, training, recent experience, equipment and support needs. Compare itemised inclusions and terms rather than headline prices alone.

Sources & further reading

divelordhowe.com

Other operators to compare

Same-state directory records, with matching localities shown first. This is not a ranking or a claim of equivalent services.

Sites linked in the directory

Trips are subject to current operator schedules and conditions.

NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the sitePinnacle/Bommie

Lord Howe Island

Balls Pyramid – Ballina Rock

The best chance of the rare Ballina angelfish, in a boulder field at the foot of a surface-breaking bommie with Galapagos sharks…

Boat (day trip)Up to 28 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the sitePinnacle/Bommie

Lord Howe Island

Balls Pyramid – Observatory Rock

Drift through 5–8 m rock stacks and caves packed with lobsters, with Galapagos sharks circling on the safety stop and a chance of…

Boat (day trip)Up to 28 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteReef

Lord Howe Island

Balls Pyramid – South East Rock

Easy-profile Balls Pyramid dive on a boulder and ledge shelf with lobster-filled overhangs and plate coral – long bottom times in…

Boat (day trip)Up to 30 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the sitePinnacle/Bommie

Lord Howe Island

Balls Pyramid – Sunken Rock

Deeper Balls Pyramid pinnacle with bommies, gutters and ledges from 12 to 36 m – pelagics, Galapagos sharks and Ballina angelfish.

Boat (day trip)Up to 36 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteIsland

Lord Howe Island

Blackburn Island

Paddle to the lagoon's grassy island, climb for the view and snorkel around its shores.

Shore or BoatDepth not recorded
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteReef

Lord Howe Island

Comet's Hole

The easiest introduction to Lord Howe's fish – a coral-walled lagoon hole packed with endemics.

Boat (day trip)Up to 7 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteReef

Lord Howe Island

Deacon's Delight

Swim-throughs lined with purple soft coral, fusilier schools and Galapagos sharks.

Boat (day trip)Up to 22 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteReef

Lord Howe Island

Erscott's Blind

A deep lagoon bowl with a resident group of friendly Galapagos sharks.

Boat (day trip)Up to 20 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteReef

Lord Howe Island

Erscott's Hole

Coral-walled sanctuary pool in the lagoon – bluefish, doubleheaders and pygmy seahorses in almost any weather.

Boat (day trip)Up to 8 m
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteReef

Lord Howe Island

Far Rocks

Pocket-guide snorkel site listed for endemic anemonefish and three-striped butterflyfish.

Boat (day trip)Depth not recorded
Details need confirmation
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteWreck

Lord Howe Island

Favourite wreck (North Bay)

Engine, refrigeration piping and steel boxes of a 1965 tuna boat, overgrown with coral in shallow water.

Shore or BoatDepth not recorded
NSWYouDive mascot illustration; not a photograph of the siteReef

Lord Howe Island

Five Star

A circular deep reef with some of the healthiest, most varied coral at Lord Howe, in 35 m visibility.

Boat (day trip)Up to 40 m