Red Indian Point is the innermost of the North Head boat dives, a reef that runs about 200 m out from the shore on the harbour side of the headland, just east of the yellow wave-recorder buoy that marks the approach to the Heads. It is named for the red indianfish, the bizarre laterally compressed relative of the velvetfish that mimics a sponge and is seen on about two dives in three here, more reliably than anywhere else in Sydney except Bare Island. The reef is varied: small gullies and overhangs, a couple of swim-throughs, walls up to 3 m high, large boulders with navigable gaps, and a cracked rock bottom, dropping from 12 m near the anchor to a sand edge at 20–23 m along the main reef.

An Admiralty anchor and the wave-recorder mooring are handy waypoints, along with the numerous abandoned boat anchors, chains and ropes that snag the reef. Fixed life is good – sponges, small gorgonians and sea tulips on the shaded faces – and the fish list is long: sea dragons on the sand fringe, large flathead, Port Jackson sharks in winter, black-reef leatherjackets, silver sweep, sea pike, yellowtail and ladder-finned pomfret, with cuttlefish and octopus in the cracks. Sydney Dive Charters calls it a 'marine sanctuary reef flat with abundant marine life'.

Its position makes it the most protected ocean-quality reef in Sydney: when a strong north-easter is blowing and big seas are running outside, Red Indian Point is flat and often clear, which is why it is dived so often and works so well at night. Current is mild. It suits Open Water divers and trainees, night divers, and macro photographers hunting red indianfish and sea dragons; it is inside the North Harbour Aquatic Reserve.

Boat only. Dive Centre Manly loads at Manly Cove beach beside the wharf; Pro Dive Manly and Sydney Dive Charters load at the Little Manly boat ramp (end of Stuart Street, Manly – free parking, set-up benches, toilets at the reserve); Sydney Dive Charters also picks up at Rose Bay public wharf. From Manly the run is 10–15 minutes across North Harbour to the inside of North Head, 20–25 minutes from Rose Bay.

Private boats launch at Little Manly, Roseville Bridge (Middle Harbour, 30 minutes) or Rose Bay. Boats anchor on the reef in 15–20 m or run in toward the cliff and drop the anchor when the bottom appears; there are no moorings, and many abandoned anchors litter the reef. For Red Indian Point find the yellow Special Marker (wave-height recorder) off the inside of North Head and head east toward shore; anchor where the depth comes up from 20 m to about 15 m (33°49.14'S 151°17.09'E WGS84).

Rose Bay ramp is the usual launch for private boats.

The inner face of North Head is the most sheltered ocean-quality diving in Sydney. It faces west-south-west into the harbour, so it is protected from the north-east sea breeze and from northerly and easterly swell, and is at its best when a strong north-easter is blowing and every ocean site is rough. It is exposed to southerly swell rolling through the Heads: a big southerly (over 2 m) sends surge along the cliff and dirties the water, though the deeper sponge gardens are usually still diveable.

Tidal current runs along the wall, east on the flood and west on the ebb, strong enough to plan a drift; slack water is easiest for novices. Visibility is 10–15 m on average, 25 m on winter westerlies, and drops after heavy rain when the harbour flushes brown. Ferry, shipping and small-boat traffic through the Heads is constant – ascend on the anchor line or a DSMB close to the cliff.

Red Indian Point is the most sheltered of all, tucked well inside the headland, and is the site of choice when even Old Man's Hat is surging.

From the anchor at 15 m follow the sand edge south along the main reef at 20–23 m, then turn and come back at about 16 m heading north-west, looping in a figure-eight through the gullies and swim-throughs at 14 m before returning to the anchor. Check the sponge-covered walls closely for red indianfish. Safety stop on the anchor line.

Dive Centre Manly – double boat dives most weekends and some weekdays from Manly Cove (10–15 minutes); Pro Dive Manly – weekend double boat dives from Little Manly; Sydney Dive Charters – guided double dives Thursdays and Sundays from Little Manly ramp and Rose Bay wharf; Frog Dive, Abyss and Dive 2000 on club/charter days. North Head is the default Sydney boat dive when ocean sites are blown out. Sydney Dive Charters names it as one of the five North Harbour Aquatic Reserve sites.