Ranked by recorded winter water temperature: Tasmania, Victoria, the South Australian sinkholes and the Southern Ocean coast, where 11–13 °C is the winter norm and drysuits are standard equipment.
Updated daily from the directory. 25 sites listed.
1. Darwin Harbour · NT
DK 06 Ham Luong
Winter water: 24-26 °C · A small, upright refugee boat packed with fish, in reach of two other wrecks on the same dive.
2. Darwin Harbour · NT
John Holland Barge
Winter water: 24-26 °C · An upturned construction barge whose cylinders and beams form a maze of overhangs full of fish.
3. Darwin Harbour · NT
Medkhanun 3
Winter water: 24-26 °C · A modern confiscated fishing boat lying intact on its side, with holds and wheelhouse visible - the shallowest of the complex.
4. Darwin Harbour · NT
NR Diemen
Winter water: 24-26 °C · Upright, intact Cyclone Tracy trawler in 12 m with some of the harbour's best fish life - Darwin's best beginner wreck.
5. Darwin Harbour · NT
Song Saigon
Winter water: 24-26 °C · An upright 40 m steel refugee boat with open holds, good coral and strong fish life, beside two other wrecks.
6. Darwin Harbour · NT
SS Mauna Loa
Winter water: 24-26 °C · An American freighter sunk in the same raid, upright in 20 m with cargo still in the holds.
7. Darwin Harbour · NT
SS Zealandia
Winter water: 24-26 °C · The former Huddart Parker liner and troopship, now the most coral-covered of the 1942 raid wrecks.
8. Darwin Harbour · NT
USAT Meigs
Winter water: 24-26 °C · A 130 m US Army transport sunk in the 1942 air raid, the largest and most-dived wreck in Darwin Harbour.
9. Darwin Offshore & Artificial Reefs · NT
Amanda Lee
Winter water: 24-26 °C · An 18–20 m trepang vessel lying on her port side with wheelhouse, rails and a large Kort nozzle clearly visible and good coral growth.
10. Darwin Offshore & Artificial Reefs · NT
Amelia C
Winter water: 24-26 °C · A 25 m prawn trawler cleaned by Darwin Sub Aqua Club volunteers and scuttled in 2013 – upright, open and busy with snapper and jewfish.
11. Darwin Offshore & Artificial Reefs · NT
Antares and Steel Barge
Winter water: 24-26 °C · Upright 22 m coastal trader scuttled in 2011 with a steel barge alongside – part of the Antares, Amelia C and Merindah Pearl wreck cluster.
12. Darwin Harbour · NT
Bellbird
Winter water: 24-26 °C · An upturned Cyclone Tracy trawler draped in gorgonians, a few minutes from the CBD and sheltered from the trade winds.
13. Darwin Offshore & Artificial Reefs · NT
Bus Stop Reef
Winter water: 24-26 °C · An improvised early-1990s reef of steel pontoons, truck tyres, concrete bus shelters and a 10 m boat, known for very large cod.
14. Darwin Harbour · NT
C-47 Dakota A65-115
Winter water: 24-26 °C · An almost intact RAAF Dakota transport that ditched off Mindil Beach in 1946, reached by a heritage mooring and guide line.
15. Darwin Harbour · NT
DSAC Barge
Winter water: 24-26 °C · The club's own upturned barge reef, surrounded by a yacht, work boat and concrete structures, with tame fish.
16. Darwin Harbour · NT
Dudley Point Bommies
Winter water: 24-26 °C · A wide field of shallow coral bommies with clownfish and long, easy bottom times.
17. Darwin Harbour · NT
East Point Reef
Winter water: 24-26 °C · A convenient shallow macro site off East Point Reserve, full of sponges, sea whips and small fish.
18. Darwin Harbour · NT
Kelat
Winter water: 24-26 °C · A relaxed 12 m dive on the remains of an 1881 iron sailing ship turned naval coal hulk, sunk after the 1942 raid.
19. Darwin Offshore & Artificial Reefs · NT
Marchart 3
Winter water: 24-26 °C · The 32 m ex-research vessel and prawn trawler that founded the Fenton Patches reef field in 1988 – upright, intact and heavily fish-populated around the stern and rudder.
20. Darwin Offshore & Artificial Reefs · NT
Merindah Pearl
Winter water: 24-26 °C · A 25 m ex-pearling vessel prepared by DSAC volunteers and scuttled in 2013 at the northern end of the Fenton wreck cluster.
21. Darwin Offshore & Artificial Reefs · NT
Pipeline Artificial Reef
Winter water: 24-26 °C · About 200 tonnes of large concrete pipes forming tunnels and overhangs that shelter big cod and jewfish.
22. Darwin Harbour · NT
The Pinnacle
Winter water: 24-26 °C · A ridge rising from 15 m to 5 m, with big fish at the base and clouds of small fish on the top.
23. Darwin Harbour · NT
USS Peary
Winter water: 24-26 °C · The US destroyer sunk with 88 of her crew in the first raid on Darwin; the harbour's deepest and most solemn WWII dive.
24. Darwin Harbour · NT
Weed Reef Bommies
Winter water: 24-26 °C · Large bommies with an overhang packed with colourful sponge and soft coral life; sargassum at its best around August.
25. Darwin Harbour · NT
Beaufort A9-497
Winter water: 24-26 °C · An intact RAAF Beaufort bomber with guns and cockpit instruments in place, found by sonar and kept undisturbed.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the coldest diving in Australia?
Tasmania's east coast and Port Phillip Bay drop to 11–13 °C in August; the Mount Gambier sinkholes are a constant 14–16 °C. A drysuit is the norm from May to November.
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