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. 28 sites listed.
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Yorke Peninsula · SA
Edithburgh Jetty
A macro photographer's jetty: blue devils, pyjama squid, seahorses, tasselled anglerfish and nudibranchs in 6–9 m.
4. Whyalla & Upper Spencer Gulf · SA
Stony Point – Giant Cuttlefish Aggregation
The world's only mass aggregation of giant Australian cuttlefish – tens to hundreds of thousands of displaying, mating animals in 1-6 m within metres of an easy boardwalk entry, May to August.
5. Yorke Peninsula · SA
Port Hughes Jetty
A 417 m 1911 jetty with prolific cowfish, anglerfish, seahorses and weedy seadragons – one of SA's best macro and night dives, two hours from Adelaide.
6. Yorke Peninsula · SA
Wool Bay Jetty
One of the most reliable leafy seadragon sites in South Australia, in water so shallow a single tank can last well over an hour.
7. Yorke Peninsula · SA
Point Turton Jetty
The lower Yorke Peninsula's go-to sheltered dive and a first-class night dive, with pyjama squid, slipper lobsters and nudibranchs under a long jetty.
8. Adelaide Metro · SA
Port Noarlunga Southern Reef
A quieter, beach-accessed section of Adelaide's most popular reef, away from the jetty crowds.
9. Yorke Peninsula · SA
Port Victoria Jetty
A short, pretty jetty dive in a historic windjammer port, best on easterly days, and the base for the Wardang Island wreck trail.
10. Kangaroo Island · SA
Kingscote Jetty
Leafy seadragons, seahorses and giant cuttlefish under an easy town jetty – Kangaroo Island's reliable fall-back dive.
11. Fleurieu Peninsula & Victor Harbor · SA
Second Valley Jetty
A shallow, easy jetty and seagrass site with a good chance of leafy seadragons, ideal for snorkellers and new divers.
12. Fleurieu Peninsula & Victor Harbor · SA
Star of Greece Wreck
An 1868 Belfast-built iron ship wrecked in 1888 with the loss of 17 lives, lying in snorkelling depth 200 m off Port Willunga with a mast showing at low tide.
13. Adelaide Metro · SA
Christies Beach Ledges
Dozens of Port Jackson sharks resting in a few metres of water in early summer, reachable with a short walk from the car.
14. Eyre Peninsula · SA
Port Lincoln Town Jetty
An easy, colourful town jetty dive in Port Lincoln – ideal for a check-out or night dive between shark and sea lion trips.
15. Adelaide Metro · SA
Horseshoe Reef
A shallow horseshoe-shaped reef off Christies Beach that is ideal for snorkelling and part of the summer Port Jackson shark aggregation area.
16. Yorke Peninsula · SA
Ardrossan Town Jetty
The quickest Yorke Peninsula jetty dive from Adelaide – shallow, easy and full of crabs, pike and rays under the piles.
17. Limestone Coast · SA
Beachport Jetty
A sheltered 772 m jetty in Rivoli Bay – easy pylon diving and night dives when the open Limestone Coast is blown out.
18. Fleurieu Peninsula & Victor Harbor · SA
Port Willunga Reef & Jetty Ruins
An easy shallow reef beside historic jetty pylons and cliff caves, leading north to the Star of Greece.
19. Kangaroo Island · SA
Penneshaw Jetty
A shallow, easy jetty dive with gorgonians beside the ferry terminal – best at night.
20. Kangaroo Island · SA
Emu Bay Jetty
A quiet, sheltered north-coast jetty with weedy seadragons and cuttlefish over white sand.
21. Whyalla & Upper Spencer Gulf · SA
Tumby Bay Jetty
The Eyre Peninsula's leafy seadragon jetty, with large leafies camouflaged in the weed and colourful piles – an easy stop on the way to Port Lincoln.
22. Kangaroo Island · SA
Stokes Bay
A sheltered rock pool reached through a boulder tunnel – Kangaroo Island's best family snorkel, with seahorses in the weed.
23. Fleurieu Peninsula & Victor Harbor · SA
Carrickalinga Reef
Shallow ledges, caves and high bommies below the cliffs, where cleaner clingfish can be seen servicing larger fish.
Shore/Rock PlatformMax 6 mBeginnerOpen WaterShore accessMore in Fleurieu Peninsula & Victor Harbor →
24. Eyre Peninsula · SA
Elliston Jetty
A sheltered, lit steamer-era jetty in near-enclosed Waterloo Bay – Elliston's all-weather day or night dive.
25. Eyre Peninsula · SA
Memory Cove
A sheltered wilderness cove with a granite fringe and fish nursery, in one of Lincoln National Park's most beautiful settings.
26. Limestone Coast · SA
Port MacDonnell Breakwater
A sheltered harbour muck dive in Australia's southern rock lobster capital – divable when the open coast is not.
27. Kangaroo Island · SA
Kona Wreck (Antechamber Bay)
Forecastle and bows of a 1917 four-masted schooner in 2 m – a snorkelable piece of the shipwreck trail.
28. Fleurieu Peninsula & Victor Harbor · SA
Normanville Jetty & Seagrass
A hectare of shallow seagrass with at least 20 syngnathid species, including rare pipefish found almost nowhere else.
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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