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.
74 sites · the first 48 shown as cards, the rest listed by state below
Bruny Island & D'Entrecasteaux Channel · TAS
Historic bay (Cook, Bligh) with sheltered shore dives and boat access to Fluted Cape, Penguin Island and Cape Connella.
Hobart & Derwent · TAS
Eastern-shore training beach where spotted handfish have been recorded.
Tasmania North-East · TAS
A skull-shaped granite rock with swim-throughs and big banded morwong in a sheltered Bay of Fires cove.
Two easy shore dives in one suburban bay – crevice-rich reef at the blowhole and a giant kelp patch at the south point.
King Island · TAS
The debris field of a whisky-laden 1875 barque right beside Currie Harbour.
Easy shallow sandstone ledges and swim-throughs with an old anchor.
Tasmania East Coast · TAS
A remote 4WD-access bay on Freycinet's ocean coast with a thick weed garden and virtually no other divers.
Tasmania North & North-West · TAS
Long reefs across sand with big basket sponges and lace corals.
Easy, varied shore dives either side of the point at one of Tasmania's prettiest beaches.
A quiet family snorkel on granite rocks with views to Freycinet's Hazards.
Tasman Peninsula · TAS
Easy, sheltered shore dive from a pebbly beach at the head of Wedge Bay.
An urban shore dive under the Burnie wharf, with change rooms at the beach.
Fissures, a 50 m cave and good fish habitat on the Great Oyster Bay coast.
Huon & Far South · TAS
Small, dense kelp garden at the Huon mouth for a quiet shallow snorkel.
A small island with a sheltered lee-side kelp garden and a more exposed seaward reef.
A quieter shore alternative to Waubs Bay with colourful zoanthids, for calm days only.
Deep cliffs under Mount Brown with delicate sponges and anemones, in one of the peninsula's wildest bays.
The easiest snorkel on Maria Island, straight off the ferry, with cuttlefish and squid at dusk.
A shallow breakwater snorkel with a kelp forest and remains of two 1880s wrecks.
An easy long shore dive along volcanic reefs beside the historic Don River port.
Easy shore and night dive at the departure jetty with a good chance of weedy seadragons.
A sheltered, very shallow kelp cove - the easy option at remote Eddystone Point.
Fringing granite reef below the historic Eddystone Point lighthouse.
A flooded limestone quarry that is diveable in any weather - the north-west's training fallback.
Shallow seaweed gardens beside the relics of the Catamaran coal mines, with possible remains of the whaler Offley.
A split granite spire a short swim from the breakwater, with seahorses and seadragons in the surrounding weed and…
Kelp-garden shore dive beside the ruins of an 1830s whaling station at the end of Australia's southernmost road.
A quiet kelp-garden snorkel below the cliffs south of Lucas Point, close to Tinderbox.
A sheltered bay with cliffs and small caves - but only with landowner permission.
Easy shore access to one of the last giant kelp forests on the Tasman Peninsula, with camping on the beach.
Very sheltered shallow kelp snorkel in the historic Port Arthur settlement cove.
Spectacular current-fed sponge gardens reachable from the shore at George Town.
Secluded beginner beach where large smooth stingrays glide over the sand.
Quartzite caves, a boulder maze and a bullseye-filled sea cave - Sisters Beach's shore dive.
The easiest snorkel in Bicheno, right beside the car park and next to the marine reserve.
An easy cove with picnic facilities near Binalong Bay.
A maze of quartz ridges and gutters at 15 m reachable from shore, with schools of barber perch.
Easy suburban shore and night dive on the edge of the spotted handfish's Derwent range, with seahorses and sand…
Tasmania West Coast · TAS
A sheltered wilderness inlet on the wild west coast, reached only by 4WD.
Sheltered kelp-bed shore dive near Southport – the calm-day fallback for the far south.
Tasmania Freshwater & Caves · TAS
Clear freshwater diving at Australia's deepest lake, with freshwater crayfish in the shallows.
Extensive flattened ironwork of an 1871 wool clipper, reachable from shore near Cape Wickham.
A shallow crevice-and-cave reef at the north end of Waterfall Bay, ideal for long, easy dives.
An easy terrace reef below Australia's oldest pilot station, usable as a gentle tidal drift.
A shallow fringing reef that stays diveable in easterly weather.
An easy holiday shore dive to a small island reef between Scamander and St Helens.
Devonport's easy shore dive below the Mersey Bluff lighthouse - ideal before or after the Spirit of Tasmania.
Tannin-darkened Huon water brings deep-water sea whips, sponges and bryozoans into 5-10 m – a rare 'pseudo-deep' reef…
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