Sites commonly dived at night, when octopus, cuttlefish, crustaceans and sleeping reef fish come out. Many are sheltered shore or jetty dives.
90 sites · the first 48 shown as cards, the rest listed by state below
Sydney South & Botany Bay · NSW
A sheltered shallow drift beside the Bare Island bridge with seahorses, pineapplefish and blue-ringed octopus – the…
South West Rocks · NSW
A small but exceptionally macro-rich reef off Trial Bay Gaol, prized locally for photography, night dives and its…
Ballina & Evans Head · NSW
An easy, boat-free tidal shore dive and sheltered lagoon dive right in East Ballina — the default option with no local…
Sydney Harbour · NSW
Dozens of White's seahorses on the net of a Middle Harbour swimming enclosure in under 5 m – Sydney's easiest and most…
Sydney's premier shore dive and macro site – Indianfish, pygmy pipehorses, seahorses and anglerfish on sponge reef…
The easiest Bare Island route – a 6–12 m reef edge with a canyon and cave, seadragons and pygmy pipehorses, ideal for…
Batemans Bay · NSW
Easy gutters with resident wobbegongs and an underwater spit to the island.
Easy shallow entry and, every October, well over 100 newly hatched Port Jackson sharks on the sand.
Wollongong & Kiama · NSW
Shallow, sheltered jetty dive with a resident group of grey nurse sharks and outstanding night diving.
Ulladulla · NSW
Easy shore dive among the remains of the old sawmill jetty with weedy sea dragons and macro life, diveable in southerly…
Sydney Northern Beaches · NSW
A headland-sheltered sandy bay with seagrass seahorses, sea dragons on the kelp edge and an easy beach entry – Mona…
A solid sandstone reef edge with kelp and a little sponge off the eastern point of Nielsen Park – a reliable…
Protected amphitheatre bay with sea dragons, pygmy pipehorses, cuttlefish and seasonal grey nurse sharks – a no-take…
Central Coast · NSW
A sheltered, easy bay dive beside the Norah Head boat ramp — ideal for training and beginners.
Seahorses in the kelp, squid hunting under torchlight and 1788 history on a sheltered beach inside South Head – the…
Eden & Green Cape · NSW
Guided macro and night dives around Eden's old cannery wharf.
Masts, chain and frames of an 1864 Aberdeen clipper on sand at 18 m inside the Heads – Sydney's easiest historic wreck…
Large, easy reef known for the variety of nudibranchs.
Seahorses, anglerfish and decorator crabs on every pile and net – Sydney's definitive muck and night dive, with a car…
Warship mooring chains, a naval wharf, two small wrecks and a Land Rover in 10–12 m – the structured outer half of…
Sydney's classic training and night-dive inlet with tame blue gropers and dense fish schools in 10–15 m visibility.
A quiet pocket beach with seahorse pylons between Fairlight and Manly Cove – the easy-entry alternative to Fairlight…
A 2 km boulder-and-sponge reef with a small wreck below a bushland headland in the North Harbour reserve – Sydney's…
A sheltered harbour wall with two small boat wrecks, soft corals and winter PJ sharks – Manly's all-weather training…
The dusky whaler side of Cabbage Tree Bay – a quiet, shallow wall-and-kelp reef along the Manly promenade that comes…
Newcastle & Lake Macquarie · NSW
A sheltered, easy bay dive behind Moon Island — reliable when the open coast is too rough.
Port Stephens · NSW
Port Stephens' premier training and macro shore dive — parallel sponge-covered ledges with seahorses, pineapple fish…
Seahorses on the pool net and angelsharks on the sand below Dobroyd Head – a quiet North Harbour reserve beach at the…
Easy beach dive with a sand patch for training and broken reef that comes alive at night.
Australia's first underwater nature trail – a 620 m chain loop around a sheltered bay that makes a foolproof training…
Metre-wide gorgonian fans on a North Head boulder reef, with a recent cliff rockfall adding fresh walls and overhangs.
Overhangs, small caves and a boulder field to 15–19 m off the Camp Cove headland – the deepest shore dive inside the…
Easy, sheltered shore dive with a small island to circle, big stingrays and good night diving.
A sponge-covered wall to 26 m inside Port Stephens with excellent macro life — genuinely strong tidal current demands a…
Jervis Bay · NSW
Picturesque, sheltered horseshoe bay with clear water and an easy beach entry – great for snorkelling and night dives.
A night dive under the Kirribilli ferries opposite the Opera House, with the Harbour Bridge overhead and the Prime…
A hidden Vaucluse pocket beach with seahorses and anglerfish in the kelp – a sheltered beginner and macro site between…
South West Rocks' main shore and night-dive site — sheltered, shallow and reliable when the boat sites are blown out.
One of Sydney's best seahorse dives – up to 63 White's seahorses recorded on the swimming-enclosure net and seagrass –…
An easy, protected bay with a wall of overhangs and swim-throughs east of the mouth – and the best post-dive view in…
A pocket of caves, ledges and swim-throughs inside a golf-course inlet – small, intricate and very good at night.
A sheltered, easy Nelson Bay shore dive with a novelty sunken playground at 6 m and marked lines to deeper macro-rich…
A netted, seagrass-floored harbour cove with seahorses, octopus and penguins – the easiest night dive in Manly.
Protected, shallow bay dive with overhung rocks and seadragons that works in most weather and is excellent at night.
White's seahorses on the swimming-net mesh two metres deep, 200 m from the Manly ferry – the easiest seahorse dive in…
A quiet harbour point paved with gasworks coal, full of small rays and cephalopods – a free-parking night dive minutes…
An easy, convenient shore dive off Merewether Ocean Baths with numerous small caves to explore.
Merimbula · NSW
Easy shore dive with an exceptional critter list – sea dragons, seahorses, angel sharks and cuttlefish – beside an…
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