Sites where a certified diver, a snorkeller and a nervous first-timer can all get in at the same beach: shallow, sheltered, easy entry, plenty to see in the top five metres, and usually a car park, toilets and a café nearby.
Updated daily from the directory. 30 sites listed.
1. Mornington Peninsula · VIC
Blairgowrie Pier
The best pier dive in Australia: seadragons, cuttlefish, frogfish, seahorses and the spider crab aggregation in May.
2. Fleurieu Peninsula & Victor Harbor · SA
Rapid Bay Jetty
The most reliable leafy seadragon dive in the world, on the pylons of the old and new jetties.
3. Merimbula · NSW
Merimbula Wharf
Easy shore dive with an exceptional critter list – sea dragons, seahorses, angel sharks and cuttlefish – beside an historic wharf.
4. Adelaide Metro · SA
Port Noarlunga Reef & Jetty
South Australia's most popular shore dive: a sheltered reef lagoon reached by jetty stairs, with an underwater trail, nudibranchs galore and Port Jackson shark aggregations in early summer.
5. Mornington Peninsula · VIC
Rye Pier
Seahorses on nearly every pylon, the annual giant spider crab aggregation, big stingrays and superb night diving – all in 7 m from a car park.
6. Townsville & Magnetic Island · QLD
Alma Bay (Magnetic Island)
Easy beach entry to granite-boulder canyons, swim-throughs and coral gardens with 50+ nudibranch species, turtles and rays – Magnetic Island's classic shore dive.
7. Melbourne & Port Phillip Bay · VIC
Banksia Point, Ricketts Point
Quietest entry in the sanctuary; very shallow close-in reef for snorkelling, children and relaxed night dives.
8. Yorke Peninsula · SA
Edithburgh Jetty
A macro photographer's jetty: blue devils, pyjama squid, seahorses, tasselled anglerfish and nudibranchs in 6–9 m.
9. Mornington Peninsula · VIC
Flinders Pier
Weedy seadragons almost guaranteed in 5 m of water on Western Port.
10. Sydney South & Botany Bay · NSW
Gordons Bay
Australia's first underwater nature trail – a 620 m chain loop around a sheltered bay that makes a foolproof training or night dive.
11. Melbourne & Port Phillip Bay · VIC
McGregor Rock, Quiet Corner
The sheltered fallback corner of Ricketts Point; profuse fish life over shallow ledges when other bayside sites are blown out.
12. Melbourne & Port Phillip Bay · VIC
Middle Reef, Ricketts Point
Uncrowded shallow reef edge between the teahouse and the life saving club; simple night dive and a good intertidal-to-subtidal study site.
13. Melbourne & Port Phillip Bay · VIC
Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary
Melbourne's flagship marine sanctuary: eight shallow reef entries, tame fish, sea caves and seagrass twenty minutes from the CBD, perfect for beginners, snorkellers and night dives.
14. Melbourne & Port Phillip Bay · VIC
Table Rock, Ricketts Point
The sanctuary's best terrain: undercut ledges and a cave-like hollow under a sandstone headland, with bigger fish and rays; a favourite Melbourne night dive.
15. Melbourne & Port Phillip Bay · VIC
Tea House Bay, Ricketts Point
The most sheltered and accessible water in the sanctuary, right in front of the teahouse; sand and seagrass critters plus reef edges.
16. Melbourne & Port Phillip Bay · VIC
Tea House Reef, Ricketts Point
The central reef of the sanctuary with navigable channels, dense tame fish and the best facilities of any bayside shore dive; the standard Melbourne night and training site.
17. Melbourne & Port Phillip Bay · VIC
Triangle Reef, Ricketts Point
Deepest reef in the sanctuary (to 8 m) off a proper beach with showers; the sanctuary's main scuba training site and a fine night dive.
18. Perth · WA
Ammo Jetty
Perth's classic easy shore and night dive: century-old pylons encrusted with sponges and corals that hold excellent macro life, in a sheltered bay that is diveable when most other sites are not.
19. Bundaberg & Agnes Water · QLD
Barolin Rocks
Queensland's best-known shore dive: a sheltered, shallow soft-coral reef with prolific nudibranchs, turtles and sea snakes, toilets and showers at the car park, and the rare chance of a dugong.
20. Wollongong & Kiama · NSW
Bushrangers Bay
Protected amphitheatre bay with sea dragons, pygmy pipehorses, cuttlefish and seasonal grey nurse sharks – a no-take aquatic reserve.
21. Christmas Island · External Territory
Flying Fish Cove
Arguably Australia's best shore dive: a pristine coral slope and wall 50 m from the car park, endemic and hybrid reef fish, and whale sharks passing the drop-off in season.
22. Perth · WA
MAAC Dive and Snorkel Trail
A 400 m interpretive underwater trail with about 20 plinths, weedy seadragons and a wheelchair-accessible entry.
23. Sydney Harbour · NSW
Camp Cove
Seahorses in the kelp, squid hunting under torchlight and 1788 history on a sheltered beach inside South Head – the eastern suburbs' classic night dive.
24. Sydney Harbour · NSW
Fairlight
A sheltered harbour wall with two small boat wrecks, soft corals and winter PJ sharks – Manly's all-weather training and night-dive site.
25. Sydney Northern Beaches · NSW
Fairy Bower
The dusky whaler side of Cabbage Tree Bay – a quiet, shallow wall-and-kelp reef along the Manly promenade that comes alive at night.
26. Hobart & Derwent · TAS
Tinderbox Marine Reserve
Hobart's shore-dive reserve with an underwater snorkel trail, weedy seadragons and easy access.
27. Sydney South & Botany Bay · NSW
Clovelly Pool / Clovelly Bay
Sydney's classic training and night-dive inlet with tame blue gropers and dense fish schools in 10–15 m visibility.
28. Gold Coast · QLD
Gold Coast Seaway – South-West Wall (Broadwater beach)
The easiest Seaway entry – a beach walk-in beside the car park onto a shallow rocky reef full of critters.
29. Perth · WA
Omeo Wreck & Coogee Maritime Trail
A 1858 iron steamer lying 25 m off the beach in 3 m of water, with a 200 m trail of reef modules and sculptures running seaward from it: one of the best-developed underwater trails in WA.
30. Mornington Peninsula · VIC
Portsea Pier
Port Phillip's oldest dive pier, with sea dragons and night-dive octopus.
Frequently asked questions
Where can non-divers join in?
Any site marked snorkel-friendly. Cabbage Tree Bay at Manly, Port Noarlunga, the Mornington piers, Tangalooma, Lady Elliot's lagoon and Tinderbox are among the easiest.
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