Turtle Cove is a mooring on the southern side of Split Solitary Island set on the eastern edge of a gutter that runs from deeper water along the plateau's edge, and its name is a straightforward description of what divers can expect: this is one of the most reliable spots in the whole marine park for a close turtle encounter, with green and loggerhead turtles regularly found resting or feeding along the gutter. Beyond the turtles, the gutter itself is described by regular visitors as simply 'full of life' — a dense concentration of resident reef fish, nudibranchs and other invertebrates that makes for excellent slow, searching diving even when the turtles are elsewhere on the reef. The gutter's structure, running from open water along the edge of the shallow plateau, creates enough shelter and current break to concentrate marine life without generating the stronger currents found at some of the more exposed South Solitary Island sites, keeping this within comfortable Open Water limits.

As with the rest of Split Solitary Island, Turtle Cove benefits from the site's overall reliability — it is close to Coffs Harbour and sheltered enough to run in a wider range of conditions than the outer islands — which makes it a popular choice both for visiting divers wanting a relaxed, high-probability turtle dive and for the dive centre's training groups. Visibility here follows the same pattern as the rest of Split Solitary, generally more modest than South Solitary Island but entirely workable for good macro and turtle photography.

Jetty Dive Centre departs from the public floating pontoon wharf in Coffs Harbour boat harbour, opposite the Attitude Burgers building (check in at 398 Harbour Drive). Private boats use the public ramp inside the harbour breakwall. Split Solitary Island is the closest of the group, about 9 km east-north-east of Coffs Harbour, roughly a 20-minute run — the standard backup site when weather rules out South Solitary Island.

Conditions off Coffs Harbour depend heavily on which island is being run: North West Solitary and Split Solitary sit closer inshore and are usable in more marginal weather, while South Solitary and any northern sites need a bigger settled window. Visibility across the group is generally 8-25 m and best away from river influence; the Coffs, Bellinger, Nambucca and Clarence systems all periodically dirty inshore water for a few days after heavy rain. Summer (Nov-Apr) is warmest with tropical vagrants and mantas; winter (May-Oct) is cooler with grey nurse sharks and giant cuttlefish.

Humpback whales pass April-November. Being the closest and most sheltered island, Split Solitary is the most reliably diveable site in the group, though visibility is often lower than at South Solitary Island since it sits closer to the mainland's influence.

Descend the mooring onto the eastern edge of the gutter, follow it along the plateau edge watching for resting turtles and nudibranchs, and shallow up onto the plateau for the ascent.

Jetty Dive Centre runs Split Solitary Island daily as either the main destination on rougher days or a second dive after South Solitary Island; also used extensively for training and check-out dives.