The southern side of Black Rock mirrors its northern twin in general character — a small reef formation off Smoky Cape Beach dived from a central mooring in the gully separating the two halves — but runs a little deeper and more open, with the rock dropping from about eight metres to twenty-plus on the surrounding sand and larger boulder fields interspersed with sand gutters rather than the tighter crevices of the north side. This more open structure suits a slightly different style of dive: divers spend more time working sand-gutter edges where juvenile fish shelter and pelagic visitors like kingfish, jewfish and bronze whalers are more likely to be seen cruising past than tucked in among rock. Long-tailed bannerfish, pomfret and bullseyes school over the reef, and the same suite of macro life found on the northern side — lionfish, scorpionfish, moray eels and egg cowries — is well represented here too.

Because the two sides of Black Rock are usually dived as separate tanks on the same trip, with a surface interval that doubles as popular snorkelling given the shallow depth and clear water, the southern side is often treated as the second, slightly more adventurous dive of the pair, with a touch more depth and open water encouraging a look for the bigger fish that pass along the drop-off. It remains an easy, all-levels site overall, well used by South West Rocks operators as a reliable, sheltered fallback when conditions rule out the more exposed Fish Rock complex, and it gives visiting divers a good comparative look at how quickly the coastal topography here changes character across a formation only a couple of hundred metres across.

Boat access from South West Rocks, departing the town boat ramp/marina with Fish Rock Dive Centre or South West Rocks Dive Centre. The run is short — generally 10-20 minutes — as these sites lie closer inshore than Fish Rock itself, off Smoky Cape or between the town and Hat Head National Park. Boats moor or hold-station over the site for a direct descent; no surface swim required.

As for the northern side — a shallow inshore site only diveable in calm conditions; visibility drops with swell or rain runoff.

Descend into the gully mooring, work the boulder-lined reef edge where it drops from eight metres at the rocks to twenty on the surrounding sand, checking the sand gutters for resting rays and juvenile fish, then use the surface interval to snorkel the shallows before the second Black Rock dive.

Fish Rock Dive Centre (South West Rocks) — regular boat trips; South West Rocks Dive Centre — daily boat trips.