Dive with marine life · 2026 guide
A small, harmless, harness-marked shark that gathers in southern NSW winters to breed.
A winter visitor to NSW inshore reefs, aggregating to breed roughly May to September before dispersing south.
These 6 sites are where port jackson shark 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 →
2Sydney, 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 →
3Sydney, 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 →4Jervis Bay, New South Wales
Temperate sponge-covered walls and drop-offs in some of the clearest water in NSW.
Water clarity here is frequently better than anywhere else on the NSW coast, which changes what the diving feels like — the walls read as genuinely dramatic rather than merely deep.
Look for: Australian & New Zealand Fur Seals, Eastern Blue Groper, Port Jackson Shark, Weedy Seadragon
5Central Coast, New South Wales
A sheltered Central Coast shore entry used heavily for training and night diving.
The rocky reef and sand terrain holds a good range of temperate species, and the shelter means it is diveable when the open coast is not.
Look for: Eastern Blue Groper, Port Jackson Shark
Full Terrigal Haven guide →6Wollongong & Shellharbour, New South Wales
A rocky headland south of Wollongong with several entries and a protected reserve area.
Bushrangers Bay is an aquatic reserve and the most sheltered of the entries, making it a common training site.
Look for: Eastern Blue Groper, Port Jackson Shark
Shellharbour ScubaSites 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.