Dive sites · 2026 guide

The Best Drift Dives in Australia

Drift diving lets the current do the work, covering far more reef than a fin-powered dive. Timing is everything — most drift sites are planned around tide changes.

The Drift Diver specialty and a good surface marker buoy are worth having before you go.

Ningaloo Reef

Ningaloo & Exmouth, Western Australia

Open Water · ≤18 m~15 m typical, 30 m maxShore dive · Boat divereef · drift

A fringing reef close enough to shore that in places you can swim to it from the beach.

For certified divers, the reef systems and offshore sites around the Exmouth Gulf provide the main scuba product, with drift diving along the reef edge and coral bommies inside the lagoon.

Look for: Green Turtle, Humpback Whale, Manta Ray, Spotted Eagle Ray

Who takes you there Exmouth Dive & Whalesharks Ningaloo Ningaloo Reef Dive Dive Ningaloo Ningaloo Blue Dive

Full Ningaloo Reef guide →

Neutrally buoyant underwater photographer composing an image on a temperate reef

Port Phillip Heads Walls

Port Phillip Heads, Victoria

Deep · 25–30 m~30 m typical, 90 m maxBoat divewall · drift

Walls starting at 12 metres and continuing beyond 90 — the terrain behind Victoria's technical culture.

That range makes the region relevant simultaneously to recreational wall diving, deep training, decompression diving, Trimix and full technical diving. Very few Australian sites serve that entire spectrum.

Look for: Australian & New Zealand Fur Seals

Who takes you there Ocean Divers Australian Diving Instruction SCUBABO Queenscliff

Full Port Phillip Heads Walls guide →

Scuba diver and green sea turtle above a tropical coral reef

Cocos Keeling Reefs

Cocos Keeling Islands, Western Australia

Open Water · ≤18 m~18 m typical, 30 m maxBoat divereef · drift · wall

A remote Indian Ocean atoll with clear water, drift diving and very few other divers.

The atoll provides clear water, reef diving, drop-offs and a large lagoon, with marine life influenced by both Indian Ocean and Indo-Pacific species.

Look for: reef sharks, manta rays occasionally, turtles, hard coral, schooling fish

Who takes you there Cocos Dive

Full Cocos Keeling Reefs guide →

Scuba diver discovering a weedy seadragon beneath a sponge-covered Victorian pier

Lonsdale Wall

Port Phillip Heads, Victoria

Very deep · 30 m+~35 m typical, 90 m maxBoat divewall · drift

Victoria's signature wall — sponge-covered, vertical, and continuing well past recreational depth.

The shallower sections are within reach of competent recreational divers on slack water; the deeper sections are a genuine technical undertaking.

Look for: Australian & New Zealand Fur Seals

Full Lonsdale Wall guide →

Questions about this list

How is this list ranked?

Sites are chosen from our dive-site database and ordered by how well documented they are: flagship status, the number of operators we have confirmed dive there, and the marine life recorded. Nobody pays to be listed.

Can a business pay to appear here?

No. Listings and order come from our research only. Businesses can ask us to correct their details, but not to change their position.

How current is this guide?

It is generated from the directory's latest research, checked in 2026. Conditions, operators and seasons change — confirm details with the operator before you book.

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