Dive with marine life · 2026 guide
The leafy's more widespread cousin — the signature animal of Sydney and Victorian shore diving.
Resident year-round along the southern coast. Egg-carrying males are most commonly seen in spring and early summer.
These 10 sites are where weedy seadragon 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 →2Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia
South Australia's best-known leafy seadragon site, beneath a long jetty on the Fleurieu Peninsula.
The old jetty's T-section at the seaward end is the main attraction. The structure carries dense growth, and the piles and their surroundings hold the seadragons the site is known for.
Look for: Giant Australian Cuttlefish, Leafy Seadragon, Striped Pyjama Squid, Weedy Seadragon
Diving Adelaide
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
5Mornington 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 →
6Hobart, Tasmania
Sheltered channel diving near Hobart, with jetties, reefs and handfish habitat.
Sites include jetties, reef systems and wrecks, with the channel's cold, nutrient-rich water supporting dense temperate life.
Look for: Giant Kelp Forest, Seahorses & Pipefish, Spotted Handfish, Weedy Seadragon
Full D'Entrecasteaux Channel guide →
7Mornington 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 →8Melbourne, Victoria
The bay's network of pier dives — the accessible heart of Victorian diving.
They provide access to seahorses, weedy seadragons, rays, squid, crustaceans and dense macro life, often in only a few metres of water.
Look for: Giant Spider Crab, Seahorses & Pipefish, Weedy Seadragon
Full Port Phillip Piers guide →
9Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia
Dramatic rock formations and a sheltered shore entry on the Fleurieu Peninsula.
The underwater terrain includes ledges, boulders and small swim-throughs, with leafy seadragons among the species divers search for.
Look for: Leafy Seadragon, Weedy Seadragon
Full Second Valley guide →
10Mornington Peninsula, Victoria
A Western Port pier with one of Victoria's most reliable weedy seadragon populations.
The seagrass and kelp around the piles support a resident population, and the shallow depth makes for very long, relaxed dives.
Look for: Weedy Seadragon
Full Flinders Pier guide →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.