Palm Beach is Sydney's northernmost ocean beach, a long curve of sand from Little Head at the south to Barrenjoey Headland at the north, and its southern corner – Kiddies Corner, beside the 1930s ocean pool – is the one place on it that can be dived from shore with any regularity. Vizzbud lists Palm Beach as an Open Water site of 8 m average and 16 m maximum with wobbegongs, sea dragons, blue groper, cuttlefish, wrasses and octopus, and gives two approaches: the sheltered Pittwater side (covered in a separate row) and 'the more exposed ocean-side reef'. At Kiddies Corner a boulder reef runs out from the pool platform and along the base of Little Head, kelp on top and gutters between, to sand at 10–12 m; further north along the beach there is nothing but sand until the Barrenjoey rocks.

The marine life is standard Northern Beaches headland reef: blue groper that have learned that swimmers mean food, wobbegongs and Port Jackson sharks under the ledges in winter, weedy sea dragons in the kelp along the sand line, cuttlefish and octopus in the cracks, luderick, bream and red morwong over the rocks, eagle rays on the sand, and in autumn the tropical juveniles that turn up at every north-facing corner. Visibility on a winter westerly can be excellent; after rain or a north-easterly it is poor. This is an independent divers' site with no operator, no dive shop closer than Mona Vale and an entry that is only sensible in small swell; the summer crowds and paid parking are further deterrents.

It suits experienced Open Water divers and snorkellers who are already at Palm Beach and want a look, and it is a pleasant, easy reef when the ocean is flat. The description here is generalised from Vizzbud and local geography and should be confirmed on site.

Follow Barrenjoey Road to Palm Beach; for the southern reef park at the Palm Beach SLSC/rock pool car park off Ocean Road (paid in summer, busy) and walk 100 m to the pool platform at Kiddies Corner beneath Little Head. Enter from the platform when the swell is small or from the sand at the southern corner and swim east to the reef. For the Barrenjoey ocean reef, park at the northern Governor Phillip Park car park (paid, Governor Road) and use the rock platform near the lighthouse track.

Exit where you entered; the beach is a surf exit.

The beaches between Narrabeen and Palm Beach face east to north-east and are open to the full Tasman swell; anything over about 1 m from the north-east or east makes the rock-platform entries a wash zone and puts surge across the shallow reefs, and a southerly swell wraps around the headlands. Choose mornings with under 1 m swell and a westerly or light north-easterly, on the top half of the tide so the platform edges are covered. Visibility is 5–12 m on winter westerlies and drops after rain when the lagoons open.

There is no dive shop north of Brookvale except Dive Spear and Sport at Mona Vale, so fills and advice are limited; these are independent divers' sites. Kiddies Corner is the most protected part of Palm Beach, tucked under Little Head from the southerly, but it is open to the north-east and is a surf zone in any north-east swell.

Enter off the pool platform, descend over the boulders to 6–8 m and follow the reef east and north along the base of Little Head to the sand at 10–12 m, then return through the kelp at 5–6 m. Turn at half air and surface only close to the platform; watch the sets before exiting.

No operator; independent local divers and snorkellers. Nearest fills at Dive Spear and Sport, Mona Vale.