Sites you can reach from the beach, rocks or a jetty without a charter. Always check the local swell, tide and entry notes on each site page, and dive with a buddy.
29 sites
Christmas Island · External Territory
A sheer, effectively bottomless wall reached from the beach, with trevally, reef sharks and seasonal whale sharks.
Norfolk Island · External Territory
A spectacular cliff-framed beach with a shallow coral wall – but with dangerous undercurrents.
Easy shore dive over sand, rock outcrops and coral heads with visibility often over 40 m, sheltered in south-easterlies.
Quieter Kingston snorkel beside the convict cemetery; best at mid to high tide on calm days.
Cocos (Keeling) Islands · External Territory
Calm, shallow lagoon snorkelling off one of Australia's most celebrated beaches, right beside The Rip.
A small, crystal-clear rock pool at Point Ross – one of Norfolk's favourite shallow dives when the swell is down.
A remote palm-fringed reef beach with turtle nesting, rock pools and a freshwater stream – snorkel and camp.
Quiet cliff-ringed bay with a sandy slope, a coral wall, boulders and swim-through arches.
WWII history in 5–18 m: the broken-up Norwegian freighter Eidsvold, torpedoed in Flying Fish Cove in 1942, now…
Calm, sheltered lagoon snorkel over coral outcrops with Norfolk's endemic fish, in a World Heritage convict setting.
A colourful sloping reef off one of Australia's best beaches – the island's wet-season shore dive and a red crab…
Distinctive rock formations with coral on the eastern side of Duncombe Bay.
Arguably Australia's best shore dive: a pristine coral slope and wall 50 m from the car park, endemic and hybrid reef…
A sheltered ocean pool below a steep staircase, with nesting turtles and one of the best red crab spawning spectacles.
The remains of the First Fleet flagship, lost off Slaughter Bay in 1790 – Australia's most significant colonial…
Easy swimming and snorkelling off the Home Island foreshore beside the ferry jetty.
Shallow reef with some of Norfolk's most pristine coral.
Historic convict-built pier – departure point for boat dives and a shallow reef-and-wall shore dive.
A safe, sandy-bottomed rock pool in a dramatic keyhole cove, with the island's best picnic facilities.
Scattered bommies on clean sand to 30 m – a deep shore dive with unpredictable currents.
Sheltered pocket of submerged rock formations and rock pools at the southern end of Flying Fish Cove – a…
Walk across the reef flat from Scout Park and drift around a palm-covered islet with clams, turtles, octopus and baby…
Sheltered sand-and-coral lagoon snorkel beside Kingston, with night snorkelling possible and the Sirius wreck site…
A tiny sea cave pool of crystal-clear, mixed fresh and salt water, 30 m from the road.
A fast, coral-lined drift channel from the ocean into the lagoon, full of sharks, humphead parrotfish and Napoleon…
A dense garden eel colony and easy shallow reef right off the beach; the island's go-to training and night dive.
A calm, sheltered beach snorkel in a no-take National Park zone – ideal for children and beginners.
Shallow seagrass snorkelling with feeding green turtles on Home Island.
Shallow, warm lagoon water steps from West Island accommodation, with juvenile blacktips and turtles.
Other ways to find a dive