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. Sunshine Coast · QLD
La Balsa Park
Winter water: 18-20 °C · Australia-class nudibranch muck dive: 700+ nudibranch species recorded in the Mooloolah River, in 1-6 m with easy stair entries from a riverside park.
2. Hervey Bay & K'gari · QLD
Roy Rufus Artificial Reef
Winter water: 18-21 °C · Hervey Bay's signature dive: historic hulls, barges and car bodies scattered over about 3 km² off Big Woody Island, three ships linked by picket lines, and dense life in low-vis green water.
3. Hervey Bay & K'gari · QLD
Three Ships (Roy Rufus Artificial Reef)
Winter water: 18-21 °C · Three historic hulls (Otter, Pelican, Lass O'Gowrie) linked by picket lines at 14-17 m – see all three in one dive.
4. Hervey Bay & K'gari · QLD
Gatakers Reef (Point Vernon)
Winter water: 18-21 °C · Hervey Bay's easiest shore dive and snorkel: a shallow, coral-rich fringing reef minutes from town.
5. Hervey Bay & K'gari · QLD
Hardie Artificial Reef
Winter water: 18-21 °C · Concrete habitat modules near Little Woody Island and K'gari, with schooling fish and resident cod in 10-16 m.
6. Hervey Bay & K'gari · QLD
Simpson Artificial Reef
Winter water: 18-21 °C · Five clusters of 24-tonne concrete habitat modules in 10-16 m – a modern fish-attracting reef 7 nm from Urangan.
7. Bundaberg & Agnes Water · QLD
Barolin Rocks
Winter water: 19-21 °C · 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.
8. Brisbane & Moreton Bay · QLD
Curtin Artificial Reef
Winter water: 19-21 °C · The world's first diver-built artificial reef – 30+ wrecks, a Brisbane tram and resident giant Queensland groupers.
9. Sunshine Coast · QLD
Ex-HMAS Brisbane
Winter water: 19-21 °C · A 133 m destroyer scuttled off Mooloolaba in 2005, with cut-outs that make it one of the best penetration wrecks for recreational divers.
10. North Stradbroke Island · QLD
Flat Rock
Winter water: 19-21 °C · A protected rock complex with four sites – coral gardens, turtle caves, a deep coral bowl and a winter grey nurse shark aggregation.
11. Brisbane & Moreton Bay · QLD
Flinders Reef
Winter water: 19-21 °C · The most diverse coral reef in Moreton Bay, an hour from Brisbane.
12. Gold Coast · QLD
Gold Coast Seaway – South Wall (Sand Bypass Pipe)
Winter water: 19-21 °C · Australia's best city shore dive: giant groupers, rays and 400+ species along a breakwater and sand bypass pipe, with easy stair access.
13. Gold Coast · QLD
Gold Coast Seaway – South-West Wall (Broadwater beach)
Winter water: 19-21 °C · The easiest Seaway entry – a beach walk-in beside the car park onto a shallow rocky reef full of critters.
14. Sunshine Coast · QLD
Hanging Rock
Winter water: 19-21 °C · A 50 m overhanging wall carpeted in sun corals above a sandy trench, with some of the largest plate corals on the local reefs.
15. Sunshine Coast · QLD
Inner Gneerings
Winter water: 19-21 °C · The Sunshine Coast's core reef system, 15 minutes from Mooloolaba: gutters, ledges, caves and pinnacles with outstanding nudibranch diversity and a winter grey nurse shark aggregation.
16. North Stradbroke Island · QLD
Manta Bommie
Winter water: 19-21 °C · Stradbroke Island's summer manta and leopard shark site.
17. Capricorn Coast & Keppel Islands · QLD
Monkey Beach (Great Keppel Island)
Winter water: 19-22 °C · Great Keppel's best snorkelling reef: dense staghorn and plate coral in 1-6 m, hawksbill turtles and a sheltered beach reachable on foot.
18. Sunshine Coast · QLD
Mudjimba Island
Winter water: 19-21 °C · The Sunshine Coast's all-weather site: a sheltered wall from 16 m to 5 m and coral gardens from 2 m, rich in macro life and ideal for training and snorkelling.
19. Sunshine Coast · QLD
Nurse Rock
Winter water: 19-21 °C · A winter grey nurse shark aggregation (July-October) among boulders and swim-throughs in 14-22 m, with better visibility than the inshore reefs.
20. Gold Coast · QLD
Scottish Prince Wreck
Winter water: 19-21 °C · An 1887 Glasgow barque whose whisky cargo was looted by locals, now wrapped in enormous schools of yellowtail scad in only 11 m.
21. North Stradbroke Island · QLD
Shag Rock
Winter water: 19-21 °C · A sheltered rock with a swim-through cave linking both sides – Straddie's go-to dive for beginners, macro and night dives.
22. North Stradbroke Island · QLD
Shark Alley (Flat Rock)
Winter water: 19-21 °C · Up to fifteen grey nurse sharks circling through two sandy channels in winter – one of the best shark dives in Queensland.
23. Capricorn Coast & Keppel Islands · QLD
Shelving Beach (Great Keppel Island)
Winter water: 19-22 °C · The closest snorkel reef to Great Keppel's accommodation, with coral, boulder fields and walking epaulette sharks in the shallows.
24. Brisbane & Moreton Bay · QLD
Tangalooma Wrecks
Winter water: 19-21 °C · Fifteen scuttled vessels off Moreton Island, snorkel-able from the beach.
25. North Stradbroke Island · QLD
The Bowl (Flat Rock)
Winter water: 19-21 °C · A coral-lined basin that runs from a 10 m rim to 34 m, with turtles, groupers and seasonal sharks.
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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