Dive with marine life · 2026 guide
Sea slugs of absurd colour and variety — the reason temperate Australian macro diving has a global reputation.
Present year-round; diversity and abundance often peak in the cooler months and into spring on temperate reefs.
These 10 sites are where nudibranchs encounters are best documented, with the operators who dive them.
1Sydney, New South Wales
Sydney's most-dived shore site — weedy seadragons, extraordinary macro life and multiple routes.
The site offers several distinct routes at different depths, which is why it sustains that popularity — divers who have dived it a hundred times still find new things.
Look for: Eastern Blue Groper, Giant Australian Cuttlefish, Nudibranchs, Port Jackson Shark
Full Bare Island guide →2Yorke Peninsula & Edithburgh, South Australia
One of the world's great muck dives — an unremarkable jetty hiding extraordinary small life.
Jetty sites are often described as easy because access is from shore. That can be misleading, and Edithburgh illustrates why: shallow does not mean trivial, and the best diving here happens at night.
Look for: Giant Australian Cuttlefish, Leafy Seadragon, Nudibranchs, Seahorses & Pipefish
Full Edithburgh Jetty guide →3Newcastle, Nelson Bay & Port Stephens, New South Wales
A protected sponge garden at Nelson Bay with some of the richest macro life in Australia.
The sponge gardens hold an extraordinary density of small life, and the protection means the fish are habituated and the habitat is intact.
Look for: Nudibranchs, Seahorses & Pipefish
4Ningaloo & Exmouth, Western Australia
A structure dive with extraordinary fish density, on Defence land with controlled access.
The structure supports an extraordinary density of fish — grey nurse sharks, wobbegongs, giant groupers and vast schools crowded into a comparatively small area.
Look for: Grey Nurse Shark, Nudibranchs, Queensland Groper, Wobbegong
Full Exmouth Navy Pier guide →
5Sydney, New South Wales
An Eastern Suburbs shore dive with a long-established underwater nature trail.
The boulder terrain and kelp hold a solid range of temperate species, and the bay is sheltered enough for comfortable diving in most conditions.
Look for: Eastern Blue Groper, Nudibranchs, Port Jackson Shark, Wobbegong
Full Gordons Bay guide →
6Sydney, New South Wales
A cluster of Botany Bay shore dives including The Steps and The Leap, with wall terrain.
The Leap and The Steps access genuine wall and drop-off terrain that is unusual for a shore dive, reaching well past 20 metres.
Look for: Eastern Blue Groper, Nudibranchs, Port Jackson Shark, Weedy Seadragon
Full Kurnell guide →
7Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia
A shore-accessible aquatic reserve reef reached via a jetty — South Australia's main training site.
It is an aquatic reserve, and the protection has produced abundant and approachable marine life on a reef only a short distance from suburban Adelaide.
Look for: Giant Australian Cuttlefish, Leafy Seadragon, Nudibranchs, Striped Pyjama Squid
Diving Adelaide
8Mornington Peninsula, Victoria
Victoria's most popular pier dive, and the best-known site for giant spider crab aggregations.
It is best known internationally for the giant spider crab aggregation, when tens of thousands of crabs gather in the shallows to moult.
Look for: Giant Spider Crab, Nudibranchs, Seahorses & Pipefish, Weedy Seadragon
Full Blairgowrie Pier guide →
9Mornington Peninsula, Victoria
A shallow, sheltered pier known for seahorses, seadragons and night diving.
The piles and surrounding sand hold seahorses, weedy seadragons, octopus and an excellent range of macro subjects, and the site is heavily used for training.
Look for: Giant Spider Crab, Nudibranchs, Seahorses & Pipefish, Weedy Seadragon
Full Rye Pier guide →10Newcastle, Nelson Bay & Port Stephens, New South Wales
Fly Point's neighbour — sponge gardens and macro life within the same protected reserve.
It is often dived as an alternative when Fly Point is busy, or as a second dive, and holds the same extraordinary macro diversity.
Look for: Nudibranchs, Seahorses & Pipefish
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.
No. Listings and order come from our research only. Businesses can ask us to correct their details, but not to change their position.
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.