Yabbies is an offshore plateau and pinnacle formation roughly 30 minutes by boat south of Port Macquarie, in the general Camden Haven offshore reef cluster alongside Mermaid Reef and Old Faithful. The site rises from a deep plateau edge around 24-33 metres to a distinct peak at about 12 metres, and its standout feature is a set of multiple swim-throughs cut into the rock, giving the dive a genuine sense of exploration rather than a simple perimeter swim around a bommie. A sponge garden lies roughly 100 metres to the north-east of the main structure and is worth the extra swim on a calm day with good visibility, adding a contrasting stretch of soft-bottom colour to the harder rock topography of the pinnacle itself.

Because the site sits some distance offshore with no natural shelter, it is very much a calm-weather-only proposition, and local operators will only run the longer trip out to Yabbies when conditions are settled enough to justify it over the closer, more sheltered options nearer Port Macquarie or Camden Haven. This relative inaccessibility means it remains one of the region's less-dived sites despite offering genuinely interesting swim-through terrain, and it rewards divers with good buoyancy control and a taste for exploring rock architecture over open-water schooling-fish spectacle. It is best suited to confident, advanced-level divers comfortable with a multi-level profile across the plateau's full depth range, and is typically offered as a special-conditions trip rather than a standard daily option.

Its remoteness relative to the more sheltered inshore options is exactly what keeps it in good, lightly dived condition for the divers who do make the trip.

Boat only, reached from the Camden Haven/Laurieton ramp or as part of a longer charter run from Port Macquarie, roughly 30 minutes travel time as the name-source operator page describes it.

This stretch of coast is exposed to easterly and south-easterly swell with limited natural shelter; charters want under about 1.5 m swell and moderate wind to run safely, and the offshore pinnacle sites (Cod Grounds, Mermaid Reef, Yabbies) are cancelled first in marginal weather given the longer run and lack of lee. Visibility is best in autumn and early winter after a run of settled weather and drops noticeably after East Coast Lows and Hastings/Camden Haven River flood outflows. Grey nurse sharks are present year-round with numbers building through winter.

Descend to the plateau's shallowest peak at around 12 m, then work down and through the multiple swim-throughs toward the deeper plateau edge at 24-33 m, finishing with a detour to the sponge garden roughly 100 m to the north-east if time and gas allow.

Scuba Haven (Port Macquarie) — regular boat dives to Cod Grounds, Fish Hatchery, Bird Rock and shore trips; Port Macquarie Dive Centre operators run seasonal charters. Book ahead for Cod Grounds given grey nurse shark permit and mooring limits.