Dive sites in Australia
79 documented sites. A useful dive-site page needs more than a depth number — it needs conditions, access, hazards, seasonality and an honest statement of who the site actually suits.
Every major dive site should eventually receive its own educational page, because the questions divers have about a site are rarely answered by a map pin and a maximum depth.
Each site page here records the basic information, the diving profile, the experience level it genuinely suits, the environment, resident and seasonal marine life, access, hazards and the operators known to service it.
The experience categories — beginner, intermediate, advanced and technical — are guidance rather than guarantees. Conditions on the day matter more than any classification, and operators routinely impose their own requirements.

Queensland dive sitesAustralia's largest tropical dive-tourism market, plus a substantial resident diving population around Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
New South Wales dive sitesOne of Australia's strongest year-round local diving cultures, with shore diving, shark aggregations and a deep technical training market in Sydney.
Victoria dive sitesCold-water shore diving, piers, more than sixty historic wrecks and wall diving that runs well past recreational depth.
Western Australia dive sitesThe most geographically extreme dive market in the country — tropical Ningaloo and cool southern-ocean diving inside one state.
South Australia dive sitesJetty diving, leafy seadragons, the giant Australian cuttlefish aggregation, and Australia's most important freshwater cave-diving region.
Tasmania dive sitesDramatic temperate diving — kelp, sea caves, sponge gardens, walls and deep wrecks in genuinely cold water.
Northern Territory dive sitesA small market with a genuinely distinctive environment: large tides, variable visibility and significant wreck history.
Lord Howe Island dive sitesThe world's southernmost coral reef, 600 km offshore, mixing tropical, subtropical and temperate marine life.The kind of diving matters more than the postcode for most trip planning.
Reef (54)
Admiralty Islands · Agincourt Reef · Bait Reef · Ball's Pyramid · Bare Island · Bass Point · Broughton Island · Christmas Island Walls · Clovelly · Cocos Keeling Reefs · Cook Island · Coral Sea (Osprey and Bougainville Reefs) · Curtin Artificial Reef · D'Entrecasteaux Channel · Fish Rock · Flat Rock · Flinders Reef · Fly Point · Glenelg Wrecks · Gordons Bay · Governor Island Marine Reserve · Great Barrier Reef (Cairns Outer Reefs) · Heron Island · Houtman Abrolhos Islands · Jervis Bay Walls · Julian Rocks (Nguthungulli) · Kurnell · Lady Elliot Island · Lady Musgrave Island · Lord Howe Island Reefs · Magnetic Island Reefs · Montague Island · Muiron Islands · Nine Mile Reef · Ningaloo Reef · North Solitary Island · Perth Metropolitan Reefs · Pipeline · Port Lincoln Sea Lion Sites · Port Noarlunga Reef · Recherche Archipelago · Ribbon Reefs · Rottnest Island · Second Valley · Shag Rock · Shelly Beach (Cabbage Tree Bay) · South Solitary Island · Sunshine Coast Reefs · Tangalooma Wrecks · Terrigal Haven · Waterfall Bay · Whitsunday Fringing Reefs · Whyalla Cuttlefish Aggregation · Wolf Rock
Wreck (16)
Curtin Artificial Reef · D'Entrecasteaux Channel · Darwin Harbour Wrecks · ex-HMAS Brisbane · Glenelg Wrecks · HMAS Canberra · HMAS Perth · HMAS Swan · Houtman Abrolhos Islands · Magnetic Island Reefs · Perth Metropolitan Reefs · Scottish Prince · Ships' Graveyard · SS Nord · SS Yongala · Tangalooma Wrecks
Wall (14)
Admiralty Islands · Ball's Pyramid · Cathedral Cave · Christmas Island Walls · Cocos Keeling Reefs · Coral Sea (Osprey and Bougainville Reefs) · Governor Island Marine Reserve · Jervis Bay Walls · Kurnell · Lonsdale Wall · Port Phillip Heads Walls · Ribbon Reefs · Rottnest Island · Waterfall Bay
Pier & jetty (9)
Blairgowrie Pier · Busselton Jetty · Edithburgh Jetty · Exmouth Navy Pier · Flinders Pier · Port Noarlunga Reef · Port Phillip Piers · Rapid Bay Jetty · Rye Pier
Cave & cavern (7)
Cathedral Cave · Fish Rock · Kilsby's Sinkhole · Piccaninnie Ponds · Rottnest Island · Tank Cave · Waterfall Bay
Drift (4)
Cocos Keeling Reefs · Lonsdale Wall · Ningaloo Reef · Port Phillip Heads Walls
Sinkhole (3)
Island (18)
Admiralty Islands · Ball's Pyramid · Broughton Island · Cook Island · Governor Island Marine Reserve · Heron Island · Houtman Abrolhos Islands · Julian Rocks (Nguthungulli) · Lady Elliot Island · Lady Musgrave Island · Lord Howe Island Reefs · Montague Island · Muiron Islands · Neptune Islands · North Solitary Island · Port Lincoln Sea Lion Sites · Recherche Archipelago · South Solitary Island
Muck & macro (7)
Bare Island · Blairgowrie Pier · Edithburgh Jetty · Fly Point · Pipeline · Port Phillip Piers · Rye Pier
Diving profile
- minimum, typical and maximum depth
- current and tide sensitivity
- visibility and water temperature
- shore or boat access
- environment — reef, wreck, wall, pier, cave, drift
Practical detail
- resident and seasonal marine life
- access, parking, entry and exit
- hazards specific to the site
- training that is genuinely useful there
- operators known to service it