Broken Head Nature Reserve, a stretch of protected coastal rainforest and rocky headland a few kilometres south of Byron Bay, hides an inshore reef system that is dived only occasionally, either by boat as a change of scenery from the crowded Julian Rocks moorings, or from shore by experienced local divers on the rare days the notoriously exposed break here goes flat. The reserve is far better known for its surf break and rainforest walking tracks than for diving, and no operator runs a scheduled trip to the site, which keeps it firmly in the category of a local secret rather than a marketed destination. The underwater terrain follows the pattern typical of this stretch of the Far North Coast: broken rock reef and low gutters running from the shoreline out to around 15-16 m, colonised by the same subtropical mix of hard and soft corals, sponges and reef fish found at Julian Rocks and Cook Island, with turtles, wobbegongs and the occasional grey nurse or leopard shark passing through in season.

Because it sees so little diver traffic compared with the marquee sites nearby, fish here tend to be somewhat warier of divers, but the trade-off is complete solitude on the reef even in the busiest holiday periods. The practical difficulty with Broken Head is access rather than the diving itself: the headland takes the full force of easterly and south-easterly swell that makes it a well-regarded surf break, so a shore entry is realistic on only a handful of days a year, and getting a boat here means either using a private vessel or persuading a Byron Bay operator to run further south than their usual Julian Rocks grounds. For divers who already know the more accessible sites well and are looking for something quieter on a genuinely flat day, Broken Head is worth the detour, but it should not be relied on as a bookable dive and detailed site information remains thin.

By car, take Broken Head Road off the Byron Bay–Ballina road (Bangalow Road/Old Pacific Highway) to the Broken Head Nature Reserve car park, then walk down the short track to the headland or Kings Beach; carry gear down the sandy track and enter from the rocks or beach only in very small swell. By boat, Sundive or Byron Bay Dive Centre would need to run a special charter south from Byron Bay, which is uncommon.

Byron Bay and the coast either side is exposed to easterly and south-easterly swell; the more remote sites away from the shelter of Cape Byron and Julian Rocks need under about 1.5 m swell and light winds to be diveable and are cancelled well before the rocks themselves. The East Australian Current runs strongly along this coast, especially November-May, and can add significant drift to any exposed pinnacle or headland site. Visibility improves after a run of settled offshore (westerly) winds and degrades for several days after the Brunswick River or Belongil Creek flood following heavy rain.

Winter (Jun-Sep) brings the clearest water, grey nurse sharks and migrating humpback whales; summer (Dec-Mar) is warmer with leopard sharks and more current. Broken Head is a surf-exposed headland within a nature reserve, so a shore entry is only sensible on days with very small swell; a boat visit depends on an operator or private vessel being willing to run this far south of the usual Julian Rocks grounds.

Enter from the rocks or beach at the northern end of the reserve on a calm day, or drop from a boat onto the inshore reef, work the ledges and gutters at 4-12 m looking for turtles and reef fish, and return to the entry point or boat before any swell or current builds.

No scheduled charter; occasionally included by Byron Bay operators as a variation from Julian Rocks, otherwise dived by private boats and experienced local shore divers on flat days.