Blind Shark Reef is the easiest boat dive from Kiama, a small patch of reef less than 500 m from the harbour entrance – barely a minute's run. It rises from sand at about 15 m to 10 m, with a good wall on its eastern side and gentler slopes elsewhere. The rock is the white-and-pink stone typical of the South Coast, surrounded by sand scattered with smaller rocks and kelp on the eastern and northern sides.

The name comes from the blind sharks that shelter in the reef's overhangs. These small, nocturnal, brown-and-white-spotted sharks are endemic to eastern Australia and spend daylight hours wedged into crevices, so a torch helps. Weedy sea dragons forage on the sand and kelp edges, large schools of yellowtail and one-spot pullers hang over the reef, and the rock supports sponges, sea squirts, gorgonians and nudibranchs including the short-tailed ceratosoma.

Its shallow depth and simple layout make it suitable for Open Water divers, and its proximity to the harbour makes it one of the few sites on the coast that remains practical in either southerly or north-easterly winds. Like the other Kiama boat sites it requires a private boat because no charter operates from the town. For Illawarra divers with their own boat it is a reliable fallback when conditions rule out the offshore reefs, and a relaxed second dive after The Olgas. At 10–15 m it also allows long bottom times, which suits photographers searching the overhangs and sand for sea dragons, and it is shallow enough to be a practical night dive for a private boat crew who know the harbour entrance well.

Launch from the Kiama Harbour boat ramp (beside Blowhole Point; concrete ramp, trailer parking and toilets). Kiama is about 120 km south of Sydney via the M1 and Princes Highway. No charter operator runs out of Kiama, so a private boat is needed.

Head straight out of the harbour on a track just east of the channel markers; the reef is less than 500 m from the entrance (about a minute's run) at 34° 39.944' S 150° 51.794' E. Anchor on the rock near the eastern wall.

Because it is so close to Kiama Harbour, Blind Shark Reef is a good choice in both southerly and north-easterly winds – there is no long, rough run to endure, and the headland gives some shelter. It still takes open-sea swell and wants less than about 1.5 m from the east. Visibility is typically around 15 m, reducing after heavy rain and big seas.

Follow the small wall on the eastern side south-east, checking the overhangs for blind sharks. Then explore the rock formations to the west and complete a circuit of the main reef, looking on the sand for sea dragons, before returning to the anchor.

No regular operator – private boat only.