The Best Macro & Critter Dives in Australia

Density and rarity of small subjects, with reliable conditions for photography.

Southern Australia's temperate coast is one of the world's great macro destinations, and unlike Lembeh or Anilao almost all of it is shore diving. Weedy and leafy seadragons, giant cuttlefish, pyjama squid, tasselled and striped anglerfish, pygmy pipehorses, blue-ringed octopus, and nudibranchs by the hundred live under piers and along kelp edges in 3–15 m of water.

1. Mornington Peninsula · VIC
Blairgowrie Pier
The benchmark.
Jetty/PierMax 7 mBeginnerOpen WaterShore accessMore in Mornington Peninsula →
2. Yorke Peninsula · SA
Edithburgh Jetty
Blue devils, pyjama squid, anglerfish.
Jetty/PierMax 9 mBeginnerOpen WaterShore accessMore in Yorke Peninsula →
3. Fleurieu Peninsula & Victor Harbor · SA
Rapid Bay Jetty
Leafy seadragons.
Jetty/PierMax 10 mBeginnerOpen WaterShore accessMore in Fleurieu Peninsula & Victor Harbor →
4. Sydney Harbour · NSW
Chowder Bay / Clifton Gardens
Pygmy pipehorses, seahorses and frogfish in Sydney Harbour.
Jetty/PierMax 10 mBeginnerOpen WaterShore accessMore in Sydney Harbour →
5. Sydney South & Botany Bay · NSW
The Steps (Kurnell)
Weedy seadragons and seahorses in Botany Bay.
Shore/Rock PlatformMax 15 mIntermediateOpen WaterShore accessMore in Sydney South & Botany Bay →
6. Sydney South & Botany Bay · NSW
Bare Island
Red Indianfish, pygmy pipehorses, sea dragons.
Shore/Rock PlatformMax 15 mBeginnerOpen WaterShore accessMore in Sydney South & Botany Bay →
7. Port Stephens · NSW
Fly Point
Frogfish, seahorses and nudibranchs in a sponge garden.
Shore/Rock PlatformMax 22 mBeginnerAdvanced Open WaterShore accessMore in Port Stephens →
8. Mornington Peninsula · VIC
Portsea Pier
Night-dive octopus, cuttlefish and dragons.
Jetty/PierMax 7 mBeginnerOpen WaterShore accessMore in Mornington Peninsula →
9. Mornington Peninsula · VIC
Rye Pier
Spider crabs, dragons and seahorses.
Jetty/PierMax 7 mBeginnerOpen WaterShore accessMore in Mornington Peninsula →
10. Mornington Peninsula · VIC
Flinders Pier
Dragons in five metres.
Jetty/PierMax 6 mBeginnerOpen WaterShore accessMore in Mornington Peninsula →
11. Whyalla & Upper Spencer Gulf · SA
Marek's Reef (Whyalla)
Giant cuttlefish by the thousand, May to August.
Artificial ReefMax 12 mIntermediateOpen WaterMore in Whyalla & Upper Spencer Gulf →
12. Fleurieu Peninsula & Victor Harbor · SA
Second Valley
Seadragons and nudibranchs in a Fleurieu cove.
Shore/Rock PlatformMax 9 mIntermediateOpen WaterShore accessMore in Fleurieu Peninsula & Victor Harbor →

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