Runway 36 is the name Pro Dive Manly gives to one of its North Head Peninsula anchorages, and Vizzbud, which lists it as 'Runway', explains the name: a long, relatively flat reef structure that runs parallel to the cliffs like a landing strip. It lies on the outer, ocean face of North Head close to Bluefish Point, and the layout is a sloping boulder field from about 10 m down to lower reef platforms, the runway itself, and a sand line at 25–27 m. The deep platform edge carries the sponge gardens, gorgonian fans and sea tulips that make the eastern North Head faces so colourful, and the boulder slope above holds the ledges and gaps where the sharks live.

Fish and animals are those of the Bluefish area: wobbegongs and Port Jackson sharks in the boulders, moray eels, eastern blue groper, giant cuttlefish in winter, schools of yellowtail and southern pomfret over the platform and kingfish along the edge, with grey nurse sharks from the Bluefish Valley colony wandering along the wall in the cooler months. Bull rays cross the sand. Depth and current make it an Advanced dive: the interesting structure is at 25 m, no-decompression time is short, current runs along the wall, and swell surge works the boulders, so it is a settled-weather, morning dive with a DSMB ascent.

It suits Advanced divers on a Manly boat wanting a deeper alternative to the sheltered sponge gardens, and it is a good place for wide-angle photography when the water is blue. Documentation is thin – an operator listing and a Vizzbud page – so depths and the exact position are approximate.

Boat only, on the ocean side of North Head between Bluefish Point and the tip of the head. Pro Dive Manly (Little Manly ramp) includes Runway 36 in its 'North Head Peninsula' rotation; Dive Centre Manly and Sydney Dive Charters cover the same ground. Ten to fifteen minutes from Manly Cove or Little Manly, 20 from Rose Bay.

The skipper positions on the day according to swell and current; ascend on a DSMB to the boat ladder.

On the exposed ocean face of North Head: swell from south to east over 1.5 m produces surge on the boulder slope and the charters move inside the Heads; current flows along the wall and can be brisk at the sand line; north-easterly afternoons are rough. Visibility 8–12 m on average, over 20 m when clean East Australian Current water is pushing in. Morning dives.

Descend to the reef top at 10 m, drop down the boulder slope to the flat 'runway' platform and follow it along the cliff line to the sand at 25–27 m where the sponge gardens and gorgonians are thickest, then work back along the platform at 18–20 m and up the boulders for a safety stop; deploy a DSMB for the pick-up.

Nitrox useful for the 25 m profile.

Pro Dive Manly – part of its North Head Peninsula boat dives (with Flagstaff, Old Man's Hat, North Head Wall and Blue Fish); Dive Centre Manly and Sydney Dive Charters dive the same face under other names.