Little Beach is one of Nelson Bay's most user-friendly shore dives, sheltered enough inside Port Stephens to avoid the strong tidal currents that define nearby Fly Point and Halifax Park, and calm enough on most days to make it a genuine no-fuss entry point for beginners, training courses and photographers wanting an easy, unhurried dive. Its best-known feature is a section of sunken playground equipment sitting at about six metres, an intentionally placed novelty that has become a favourite subject for underwater photographers and a fun, easily reached target for newer divers building confidence. From there, marked lines lead out to deeper structures in the thirteen-to-twenty-metre range, giving more experienced divers a reason to venture further from the beach on the same site.

Marine life follows the general pattern of Port Stephens' more sheltered, sand-influenced sites: a strong showing of macro subjects — nudibranchs, small crustaceans and the occasional seahorse or pipefish — rather than the big-animal encounters found on the harbour's more current-swept walls or the offshore islands. Because it needs no boat, no tide planning to speak of and very little preparation, Little Beach functions as Nelson Bay's default easy dive, used heavily for open-water training, refresher dives and relaxed second dives on a multi-dive day. Visiting divers without their own boat or wanting a guaranteed calm dive regardless of the day's tide or swell conditions will find Little Beach a reliable, pleasant choice, if not one built around the drama of sharks or big pelagics that define the area's more famous boat-accessible sites.

From central Nelson Bay, take the turn past the sporting ovals before reaching the RSL club, following the road down to Little Beach and its adjacent boat ramp. Park near the beach and carry gear a short distance across sand to enter; the site is sheltered and calm, well suited to beginners and easy on gear.

Sheltered inside Port Stephens with minimal swell exposure and only mild tidal influence compared with Fly Point and Halifax Park, making this one of the more consistently diveable and forgiving sites in the harbour regardless of tide state.

Enter from the sand near the boat ramp and head out to the sunken playground equipment at around 6 m as an easy first stop, then follow marked lines out to deeper structures in the 13-20 m range for more experienced divers or a second, longer dive, moving slowly to find the site's resident macro life.

Feet First Dive (Nelson Bay) uses Little Beach for training and easy guided dives; independently diveable by certified divers.