The offshore reefs and pinnacles scattered 2 to 8 km off Yamba and Angourie form the main dive ground for the only dedicated dive centre between Byron Bay and Coffs Harbour, and while none of the individual pinnacles here carry the fame of Julian Rocks or the Solitary Islands, together they offer solid, uncrowded reef diving with a genuine chance of grey nurse sharks through the cooler months. The reefs rise from a sand bottom around 30 m to peaks as shallow as 12 m, a scale that puts the deeper sections within Advanced Open Water range while leaving plenty of structure accessible to less experienced divers on the shallower pinnacles. Marine life reflects the same subtropical mix found up and down this coast: kingfish and mulloway school over the structure, wobbegong sharks lie in the ledges, turtles move between resting spots, and bull rays and snapper work the sand around the base of the pinnacles.

From roughly May to October, grey nurse sharks are a realistic prospect on the deeper faces, part of the same loose chain of aggregation sites that runs from the Tweed/Gold Coast border down through Ballina and Yamba to the internationally significant grey nurse habitat at the Solitary Islands further south. Because Yamba has just the one dive operator and no marquee single-site reputation to draw international crowds, these reefs see a fraction of the diver traffic of Julian Rocks or South Solitary Island, which suits divers looking for a quieter, more exploratory day out. The main practical hurdle is the Clarence River bar: although well engineered with training walls and generally more reliable than many North Coast river bars, it still requires respect in a big swell or a strong outgoing tide, and trips are planned around both the bar and the offshore sea state.

For divers travelling the length of the Far North Coast, a day with Yamba Dive on these reefs is a worthwhile, lower-key alternative to the more famous sites either side.

Charters depart from Yamba Marina/the Yamba Fishermen's Co-op wharf on Wooli Street; check in at Yamba Dive's shopfront in town beforehand. Boats cross the Clarence River bar (well protected by training walls but still tide- and swell-dependent) and run 15-30 minutes south to the offshore reefs off Yamba and Angourie. Private boats use the same public ramp on the river at Yamba.

This stretch of coast between the Clarence and Wooli Rivers is exposed to easterly and south-easterly swell with no significant headland shelter; charters and shore divers alike need a settled spell of under about 1.5 m swell. The Clarence River bar at Yamba/Iluka is one of the more heavily engineered and generally reliable bars on the NSW North Coast thanks to its training walls, but it can still become dangerous in a big swell or strong outgoing tide, especially at the change of tide. Visibility offshore is usually good (15-25 m) but drops sharply for days near the river mouth after Clarence River floods, which happen periodically given the size of the catchment.

Winter (Jun-Oct) brings grey nurse sharks and the clearest water; summer brings warmer water, more current from the East Australian Current, and the odd manta ray.

Descend the mooring or shot line onto the pinnacle top around 12-15 m, work the ledges and gutters down to 25-30 m looking for grey nurse sharks and large schooling fish, and ascend along the pinnacle for the safety stop, watching for current on the exposed faces.

Yamba Dive runs charters to the offshore reefs and pinnacles on demand, seas permitting; this is the primary dive ground the shop uses when not running trips further north to the Solitary Islands.