Painted Cliffs (Maria Island)

Meet the site

The Painted Cliffs are one of Maria Island's best-known landmarks: sandstone at the southern end of Hopground Beach stained into swirling patterns by iron oxide. Wikipedia describes them as a favoured coastal walking destination. Under water the sandstone continues as a shallow reef and weed beds, making it a pleasant snorkel from the beach inside the marine reserve.

Expect sandstone ledges and boulders with brown algae, wrasse, leatherjackets, magpie perch and schools of small fish, with sand patches holding stingarees. The reserve's no-take status means fish are relatively tame.

The Troy D artificial reef was deliberately scuttled 1.7 km west-south-west of the Painted Cliffs, outside the marine section of the national park, but it is a deep boat dive and unrelated to the shore snorkel here.

The Painted Cliffs suit snorkellers and divers on a day trip who want a gentle look at the reserve after the walk from Darlington. Carrying tanks from the ferry is a long haul, so a snorkel set is the practical choice.

Maria Island is a national park with no permanent residents apart from rangers, and the Darlington settlement preserves convict-era buildings from 1825 onwards. The marine reserve along the island's northern and western shores has been no-take since 1991 and has been used for long-term studies of how protection affects rock lobster and fish numbers, so reef life inside it is noticeably richer than outside.

What you might see

Brown algae, wrasse, leatherjackets, magpie perch, small schooling fish, stingarees

Location

Shallow sandstone reef below the iron-stained Painted Cliffs at the southern end of Hopground Beach, about 2 km south of Darlington, inside the marine reserve.

Facilities nearby

None at the cliffs; toilets and water at Darlington. Darlington: toilets, showers at the Penitentiary accommodation, campground, ranger station, no shop or air fills. Triabunna: ramp, fuel, supermarket, cafes. Nearest air fills in Hobart.