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.
119 sites · the first 48 shown as cards, the rest listed by state below
Kangaroo Island · SA
A sheltered tidal channel muck dive for seahorses and pipefish at the entrance to Pelican Lagoon.
Yorke Peninsula · SA
The quickest Yorke Peninsula jetty dive from Adelaide – shallow, easy and full of crabs, pike and rays under the piles.
Whyalla & Upper Spencer Gulf · SA
A quiet country jetty on a coast of easy 2-4 m snorkelling reefs, with eagle rays and Port Jackson sharks on the…
A sheltered, little-documented headland reef in Nepean Bay near Kingscote.
Limestone Coast · SA
Shallow ledged limestone reef with seadragons and rock lobster, a short walk from Beachport.
A sheltered 772 m jetty in Rivoli Bay – easy pylon diving and night dives when the open Limestone Coast is blown out.
Quiet beach snorkel over seagrass on a shack-lined point – not a scuba site. Not to be confused with Black Point near…
Fleurieu Peninsula & Victor Harbor · SA
A large reef and bommie field behind the Bluff where seadragons are regularly seen, away from the shore-dive crowds.
Adelaide Metro · SA
A convenient shallow snorkel beside Adelaide's rebuilt 1886 jetty on a flat day.
Prolific kelp-reef life on the rugged lobster coast around Cape Banks lighthouse and the Admella story.
Eyre Peninsula · SA
Sheltered granite and limestone ledges and caves at the Boston Bay entrance, plus offshore Donnington Reef – next door…
Big stingrays visiting a working cray-boat jetty in the evenings – a sheltered option when the reef is blown out.
A shallow iron barge lost in 1880 during the salvage of the steamer Sorata, rediscovered by spearfishers in 1968.
Current-swept reef below South Australia's oldest lighthouse (1852) at KI's eastern tip.
Shallow ledges, caves and high bommies below the cliffs, where cleaner clingfish can be seen servicing larger fish.
An easy shallow day or night dive in the last town before the Nullarbor, with critters in the old debris.
A small island ringed by reef riddled with swim-throughs, chimneys and caves, a short boat ride from Marion Bay.
Dozens of Port Jackson sharks resting in a few metres of water in early summer, reachable with a short walk from the…
A quiet, very shallow village jetty over seagrass – a gentle snorkel minutes from Edithburgh.
A wild, clear-water reef coast around the 1882 lighthouse at the peninsula's north-western tip – rarely dived.
Shallow seagrass snorkel in sheltered Franklin Harbour, on a coast of easy 2-4 m reefs with eagle rays and Port Jackson…
Wild, rarely dived rocky beaches in Deep Creek Conservation Park, best as a calm-day snorkel or exploratory dive.
Arguably Australia's best jetty dive: 150-year-old piles smothered in sponge and ascidian growth hosting anglerfish,…
A sheltered, lit steamer-era jetty in near-enclosed Waterloo Bay – Elliston's all-weather day or night dive.
A quiet, sheltered north-coast jetty with weedy seadragons and cuttlefish over white sand.
A historic whaling and ore-shipping landing where 19th-century anchors, cartwheels and chain lie on the seabed.
Quieter cuttlefish viewing at the northern end of the breeding grounds, away from the Stony Point crowds.
A remote historic jetty on the edge of the Nullarbor, in a bay where southern right whales calve each winter.
Wobbegongs almost guaranteed among historic concrete mooring blocks in 5 m, and one of the best night and muck dives…
An easy city night dive among jetty piles and debris, with cuttlefish, octopus and nudibranchs.
A historic timber jetty on Adelaide's northern beaches, suitable for a calm-day snorkel.
Granite boulders sloping to 15 m on the exposed southern side of Victor Harbor's causeway-linked island.
A sheltered, shallow fallback dive at Victor Harbor when southerly swell closes the open sites.
A quiet reef spreading several hundred metres from a small islet at the southern end of Maslin Beach.
A convenient, uncrowded southern-suburbs shore dive beside the geologically famous Hallett Cove Conservation Park.
A wild south-coast bay with salmon, trevally and big kelp – diveable only in rare calms.
Harlequin fish and giant blue groper at a historic lighthouse landing, reached by a steep 750 m track.
A city jetty behind Henley Square over a sandy bottom – a local calm-day snorkel.
An easy reef snorkel in front of the Frenchmans Rock monument, a short walk from the ferry.
A shallow horseshoe-shaped reef off Christies Beach that is ideal for snorkelling and part of the summer Port Jackson…
A dismasted 1897 four-masted barque of the Erikson grain fleet, scuttled as a breakwater with bow and stern still…
A remote north-coast reef with longsnout boarfish and herring cale, reached by 4WD along the beach.
A rugged, scenic southern-coast beach below Kings Head, diveable only on rare calm days.
Anchors and timbers of the 1884 barque Fanny M hidden in a sheltered weedy reef off Kingscote.
Leafy seadragons, seahorses and giant cuttlefish under an easy town jetty – Kangaroo Island's reliable fall-back dive.
An easy, sheltered snorkel beside the town and the relocated Cape Jaffa lighthouse.
Port Lincoln's deeper shore dive – a colourful 12 m reef with often good visibility beside Kirton Point.
Forecastle and bows of a 1917 four-masted schooner in 2 m – a snorkelable piece of the shipwreck trail.
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