The Hairy Wall takes its name from the forest of sea whips that sprout from its face. It is a granite cliff that runs parallel to the eastern shore of Governor Island, starting in kelp at around 15 m and dropping steeply to sand at 35-40 m. The Parks and Wildlife Service reserve brochure lists it as one of three signature sites in the reserve, along with The Castle and Golden Bommies.

Below the kelp line the wall is covered in whips, finger sponges and outcrops of colourful encrusting sponge, with ascidians, hydroids and patches of yellow zoanthids filling the gaps. A moderate current often runs along the wall, which keeps the filter feeders fat and the water clearer than on the more sheltered sites. Butterfly perch hang off the face in large numbers, and banded morwong, long-snouted boarfish and bastard trumpeter work the ledges. Crayfish are big and common thanks to the reserve's no-take status.

The dive is essentially a wall swim, so navigation is easy: keep the wall on one side, go out and come back, or drift with the current and let the boat follow your bubbles. The temptation is to follow the wall down, and several guides warn divers to watch their depth because the best life is found from about 20 m down and the sand is at 40 m. Staying at 22-28 m gives a longer, safer dive with just as much to see.

The wall is a favourite of macro and wide-angle photographers because the whips give scale and colour to a wide shot and the sponges hide nudibranchs and sea spiders for close-up work. It suits experienced divers who are comfortable with depth, cold water and a little current. It is often combined with The Canyon and Paradise Reef, which lie on the same reef system.

Bicheno is on the Tasman Highway (A3), about 2 hr 15 min (180 km) from Hobart and 2 hr (160 km) from Launceston. Boats launch from the small ramp at The Gulch (Waubs Gulch), the narrow channel between Governor Island and the town foreshore off Esplanade; there is trailer parking beside the ramp and fishing co-op. The Governor Island sites are only 2-5 minutes' run out of the Gulch.

Tasmanian boat diving is almost always done as a live-boat drop and pick-up rather than at anchor. The Hairy Wall runs along the seaward (eastern) side of Governor Island, about 3 minutes from the ramp. Divers are dropped on the top of the wall and picked up after surfacing on an SMB.

The Governor Island sites face east into the Tasman Sea, so easterly and north-easterly swell over about 1.5 m, or a fresh easterly/north-easterly sea breeze, makes them rough and surgy and can close the Gulch entrance. Westerly and north-westerly winds blow offshore and give the flattest seas; southerly swell wraps in and stirs the bottom, and a big southerly can drop visibility under 2 m for days. Winter (June-September) usually brings the clearest water (20-30 m) and most settled westerly weather; summer afternoons are often spoiled by the NE sea breeze, so dive mornings.

The wall picks up a moderate current at times, which is why visibility is often better here than elsewhere at Bicheno; plan the direction of the drift with the skipper.

Drop onto the wall top at 15-18 m, then descend to your planned maximum (25-30 m is plenty) and swim with the wall on one shoulder, moving slowly to look at the whip garden. Turn at half gas or when no-decompression time gets short, drift back up the wall face and finish in the kelp on the top before a safety stop under an SMB.

Nitrox useful; carry an SMB and reel for drift pick-up.

No confirmed full-time commercial dive operator in Bicheno as of 2026: the long-running Bicheno Dive Centre was reported closed (Michael McFadyen) although some tourism pages still list it - verify before travelling. Sites are dived by club boats (Tas Uni Dive Club, Tasmanian Scuba Diving Club, Leven Scuba Club), the annual Combined Clubs Weekend each June, and occasional trips from Launceston (Tasmanian Divers) and Hobart (Go Dive Tasmania) shops.