Ranked for photographers who shoot small: sites recording seadragons, seahorses, pygmy pipehorses, nudibranchs, frogfish and cephalopods, weighted toward the sheltered piers and shore reefs where you can spend an hour on one pylon.
Updated daily from the directory. 30 sites listed.
1. Tasman Peninsula · TAS
Eaglehawk Neck Jetty (Pirates Bay)
Easy shore and night dive at the departure jetty with a good chance of weedy seadragons.
2. Tasmania East Coast · TAS
Fish Rock (Bicheno)
A split granite spire a short swim from the breakwater, with seahorses and seadragons in the surrounding weed and excellent night diving.
3. Hobart & Derwent · TAS
Tinderbox Marine Reserve
Hobart's shore-dive reserve with an underwater snorkel trail, weedy seadragons and easy access.
4. Hobart & Derwent · TAS
Blackmans Bay
Two easy shore dives in one suburban bay – crevice-rich reef at the blowhole and a giant kelp patch at the south point.
5. Hobart & Derwent · TAS
Kingston Beach (Handfish site)
Easy suburban shore and night dive on the edge of the spotted handfish's Derwent range, with seahorses and sand critters.
6. Huon & Far South · TAS
Ninepin Point Marine Reserve
Tannin-darkened Huon water brings deep-water sea whips, sponges and bryozoans into 5-10 m – a rare 'pseudo-deep' reef in a no-take reserve.
7. Tasmania North & North-West · TAS
Rocky Cape
An easy, sheltered course site with a fish-packed rock and superb night diving.
8. Tasmania East Coast · TAS
Waubs Bay
Bicheno's easiest shore dive: rays on the sand edge, big seahorses in the kelp and a split bommie at 15 m.
9. Tasman Peninsula · TAS
Waterfall Bay Wall
The dolerite wall beneath 100 m cliffs, with kelp, sponge gardens and seals passing through.
10. Tasman Peninsula · TAS
Deep Glen Bay North Wall
Colourful sponge and sea-whip wall that is the fallback when the Sisters are blown out, with seals and seadragons.
11. Tasmania East Coast · TAS
Golden Bommies
Twin 10 m bommies smothered in yellow zoanthids and sea whips rising from sand at 39 m; huge schools of butterfly perch and morwong in a no-take reserve.
12. Tasmania North & North-West · TAS
Horseshoe Reef (Devonport)
The pick of the Devonport dives - a large islet-studded reef with invertebrates at 15-18 m.
13. Tasmania East Coast · TAS
Magic Garden (Bicheno)
A wall of sponges and soft corals that is Bicheno's most photographed site.
14. Tasmania North & North-West · TAS
Mersey Bluff (Devonport)
Devonport's easy shore dive below the Mersey Bluff lighthouse - ideal before or after the Spirit of Tasmania.
15. Tasman Peninsula · TAS
Point Puer
Sheltered kelp slope and small caves off the convict boys' prison, opposite the Isle of the Dead.
16. Tasmania North & North-West · TAS
Stanley – The Nut / Godfreys Beach
A sheltered westerly-weather shore dive beneath The Nut, with seadragons, prowfish and giant sponges.
17. Tasman Peninsula · TAS
Cathedral Cave
A huge sea cave system at Waterfall Bay, with chambers you can surface in and walls of colour outside.
18. Tasman Peninsula · TAS
Fortescue Bay
Easy shore access to one of the last giant kelp forests on the Tasman Peninsula, with camping on the beach.
19. Tasman Peninsula · TAS
Little Waterfall Bay
Caves and swim-throughs on the Tasman Peninsula in clear water.
20. Tasman Peninsula · TAS
Patersons Arch
Big daylight swim-through arches lined with anemones – cave scenery without the commitment.
21. Tasman Peninsula · TAS
Sloping Island Kelp Forest
One of the few giant kelp forests within reach of Hobart, with seahorses in easy depths.
22. Bruny Island & D'Entrecasteaux Channel · TAS
Adventure Bay (Bruny Island)
Historic bay (Cook, Bligh) with sheltered shore dives and boat access to Fluted Cape, Penguin Island and Cape Connella.
23. Tasmania East Coast · TAS
Bird Rock (Bicheno)
Three named features - The Elbow, T Cave and the anemone-lined Ballroom - and some of the best nudibranch hunting at Bicheno.
24. Tasmania North & North-West · TAS
Boat Harbour Point
Easy, varied shore dives either side of the point at one of Tasmania's prettiest beaches.
25. Tasmania North & North-West · TAS
Don Heads
An easy long shore dive along volcanic reefs beside the historic Don River port.
26. Tasman Peninsula · TAS
Hippolyte Rocks
Remote seal-colony islets with bull kelp shallows, sponge reefs from 30 m and huge fish schools.
27. Hobart & Derwent · TAS
Iron Pot Reef
Reef, swim-through and small caves beneath Australia's oldest operating lighthouse, 15 minutes from South Arm.
28. Tasmania East Coast · TAS
Mount Everest (Bicheno)
A deep pinnacle for experienced divers off Governor Island.
29. Tasman Peninsula · TAS
O'Hara Bluff Kelp Forest
One of the remnant giant kelp areas on the Tasman Peninsula and a focus of kelp restoration; seals often play in the canopy.
30. Tasmania East Coast · TAS
Paradise Reef
A two-sided sponge and sea-whip reef that gives deep-site colour at more moderate depths.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the best macro diving in Australia?
The piers of the Mornington Peninsula (Blairgowrie, Rye, Portsea, Flinders), the Yorke Peninsula jetties (Edithburgh), Nelson Bay's Fly Point and the Pipeline, and Sydney's Kurnell, Bare Island and Clifton Gardens.
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