Fish Rock (Bicheno)

Meet the site

Fish Rock is Bicheno's best-known shore dive: a large granite spire standing about 75 m offshore at the edge of the reef in front of the breakwater, split almost in two and with a large cavern on its shore side. The Combined Clubs guide describes an 8 m boulder split through its centre surrounded by weedy reef, and the Marine Life Network guide rates it as an excellent day and night dive with a safe breakwater entry and exit.

The weed and cray-weed beds around the rock are the place to look for pot-bellied seahorses and weedy seadragons, and cuttlefish, octopus and southern calamari are frequent, especially at night. Mackerel, trumpeter and banded morwong school around the spire, while tunicates, sponges and sea spiders cover the rock faces. The maximum depth is about 15 m, and most of the dive is spent at 6-12 m.

Because it can be reached from the shore in a short swim, Fish Rock is a common training site and the standard way to finish a Bicheno trip once the boats are packed away. It is also one of the few places in the area that can be dived independently without a boat. The rock sits at the edge of the Gulch approach, however, so divers should tow a flag or stay deep enough to avoid boats.

Fish Rock and the adjoining Waubs Bay dive (which follows the sand edge west to the split bommie known as The Rock) are often combined on one long dive. Together they are the most accessible diving on the Tasmanian east coast and a good way to see the east coast's seahorses and seadragons without leaving the shore.

What you might see

Pot-bellied seahorse, weedy seadragon, cuttlefish, octopus, southern calamari, mackerel, trumpeter, banded morwong, tunicates, sponges, sea spiders, cray weed

Location

A large split granite spire about 75 m offshore at the edge of the reef in front of the Bicheno breakwater and Waubs Bay.

Facilities nearby

Parking at the old harbour/breakwater; public toilets and a hot outdoor shower at the foreshore area near the Gulch; cafes, bakery and supermarket in town. No confirmed air-fill station in Bicheno - bring filled cylinders from Launceston or Hobart.