Clovelly is a drowned gully turned into a natural swimming pool by concrete platforms on both sides and a low rock wall across the mouth, and it is where a large share of Sydney divers did their first open-water dive. Inside, the bottom is rock with a narrow strip of sand running down the middle, three to four metres wide near the beach and widening to five or six towards the wall; depth is 2–6 m. It is too easy for experienced divers but it is a superb training, refresher and night-dive site, and the fish are famously tame: large schools of trevally, yellowtail, bream, seapike and whiting cruise the sand, blue groper follow divers, Port Jackson sharks and wobbegongs rest under the ledges in winter, and small morays, numbfish, sole, eagle rays and cuttlefish are regular.

The bay's celebrity was 'Bluey', a big blue groper that was speared in 2002 and prompted the ban on spearfishing gropers. Crossing the wall changes the dive completely: outside, large rocks lead to a small wall at 8 m with a sand patch, a kelp bed at 6 m, and a pronounced drop-off to 10–11 m with overhangs that continues around towards Shark Point. This outer section is only for calm days and flooding tides, because the ebb runs hard over the wall.

Clovelly sits in the Bronte–Coogee Aquatic Reserve, declared in 2002, which is why the fish life inside the bay is so dense. Seasonal restrictions apply: from 1 October to 30 April diving is only allowed before 8 am and after 6 pm, and lifeguards enforce it. The site suits students, snorkellers, night divers and anyone testing new gear; the outer wall extends it into a genuine intermediate dive.

Drive to the very end of Clovelly Road and park as near the far left (south-eastern) corner of the car park as possible; on summer weekends arrive before 8 am or park up the hill and carry gear 200–300 m. Walk to the pool edge and enter via the second or third set of stairs on the southern concrete platform – they are extremely slippery. Exit up the same stairs or the ramp at the western beach end.

Waverley/Randwick councils restrict diving from 1 October to 30 April to before 8 am and after 6 pm; outside those dates there is no restriction.

The inside of the bay is sheltered in almost everything short of a huge east or south-east swell, when waves surge up the inlet and over the concrete. Going outside over the wall needs a small sea – under about 1 m – because the wall itself is in the break zone. The main hazard is tidal: on an ebbing tide a strong outflow pours over the pool wall and can pin a diver outside, so cross the wall on the flood or at slack.

Visibility inside is routinely 10–15 m and occasionally 30 m; it drops after heavy rain. Summer weekend crowds of swimmers and snorkellers make early mornings the only sensible time between October and April (also a legal requirement).

Inside: descend at the stairs and follow the edge of the central sand strip anticlockwise with the rocks on your right, out to the wall and back along the northern side – an easy 30–45 minutes at 3–6 m. Outside: cross the wall on a flooding tide, head out on 120 degrees over large rocks to the small wall at 8 m, the kelp bed at 6 m and the 10–11 m drop-off with overhangs; turn at a third of your air and recross the wall before the ebb.

Abyss Scuba Diving, Pro Dive Coogee, Dive Centre Bondi and Frog Dive all use Clovelly for Open Water training, refreshers and night dives, most weeks of the year. Hugely popular with independent divers and snorkellers.