Ranked by recorded summer water temperature: the Top End, the Kimberley, the far northern reef and the Indian Ocean territories, where 30 °C water is normal and a 3 mm suit is for sun protection.
Updated daily from the directory. 25 sites listed.
1. Far Northern Reef & Torres Strait · QLD
RMS Quetta wreck
Summer water: 29-31 °C · A coral-encrusted 1890 royal mail steamer teeming with fish, often compared with the Yongala – dived only at slack water.
2. Port Douglas · QLD
Barracuda Bommie (Agincourt Reef 2)
Summer water: 28-30 °C · Circling barracuda school over a coral pinnacle; excellent snorkelling on the shallow garden around it.
3. Port Douglas · QLD
Bashful Bommie (Opal Reef)
Summer water: 28-30 °C · Double-sided bommie with a sea-fan wall on a deep channel, a sheltered clam garden, and a very friendly Maori wrasse.
4. Port Douglas · QLD
Blue Buoy (Opal Reef)
Summer water: 28-30 °C · Reliable turtle encounters plus pipefish and razorfish; can be linked with Wild West.
5. Port Douglas · QLD
Castle Rock (Agincourt Reef 1)
Summer water: 28-30 °C · A 24 m exposed wall on one side and a sheltered coral garden on the other; one of the better Agincourt sites for sharks and big groper.
6. Ribbon Reefs & Lizard Island · QLD
Clam Gardens (Lizard Island)
Summer water: 28-30 °C · Giant clams up to 2 m long in shallow water a short swim from the beach.
7. Port Douglas · QLD
Coronation Corner (Agincourt Reef 3)
Summer water: 28-30 °C · Clear-water southern corner of Agincourt 3 where sharks and barracuda work the current.
8. Port Douglas · QLD
Harry's Bommie (Agincourt Reef 4)
Summer water: 28-30 °C · Instructors' favourite garden of pinnacles regularly visited by juvenile grey reef sharks and occasionally mantas.
9. Port Douglas · QLD
Horseshoe Reef (Agincourt Reef 2)
Summer water: 28-30 °C · Drift along a wall covered in shimmering blue fusilier schools with trevally and mackerel hunting through them.
10. Port Douglas · QLD
Low Isles
Summer water: 28-31 °C · Snorkel straight off a coral cay beach with a high chance of turtles, 30 minutes from Port Douglas; historic 1878 lighthouse.
11. Port Douglas · QLD
Nursery Bommie (Agincourt Reef)
Summer water: 28-30 °C · Stunning 24 m pinnacle draped in fans and soft corals, circled by sharks, barracuda and schooling fish – regarded as one of the best dives out of Port Douglas.
12. Port Douglas · QLD
Phil's Reef (Agincourt Reef 3)
Summer water: 28-30 °C · Huge tiers of plate coral sheltering groper and whitetips; giant clams and cuttlefish on a compact, shallow reef.
13. Port Douglas · QLD
Sandbox (Opal Reef)
Summer water: 28-30 °C · Shallow staghorn gardens and sand patches with a resident barracuda school – a relaxed final dive.
14. Port Douglas · QLD
Sno (Opal Reef)
Summer water: 28-30 °C · An all-rounder wall-and-reef-top site with turtles, sharks and a shallow safety-stop reef; recovered coral after crown-of-thorns damage.
15. Port Douglas · QLD
Stonehenge (Agincourt Reef 3)
Summer water: 28-30 °C · Coral pillars and arches forming swim-throughs, with some of the healthiest hard coral in the Port Douglas area.
16. Port Douglas · QLD
The Chapel (Agincourt Reef 4)
Summer water: 28-30 °C · Swim-throughs, dense anemone fields with clownfish, and grey reef sharks on a compact patch reef.
17. Port Douglas · QLD
The Gap (Agincourt Reef 3)
Summer water: 28-30 °C · Shallow gutter drift beside a reef wall riddled with grottos; big sweetlips schools and groper.
18. Port Douglas · QLD
The Gardens (Agincourt Reef 2)
Summer water: 28-30 °C · Bright, shallow boulder-coral garden with excellent visibility; often done as an effortless drift.
19. Port Douglas · QLD
The Point (Agincourt Reef 4)
Summer water: 28-30 °C · Southern point of Agincourt 4 with magnificent coral and big schools of red bass, sweetlips and trevally.
20. Port Douglas · QLD
Three Sisters (Agincourt Reef 4)
Summer water: 28-30 °C · Three coral bommies close to the mooring surrounded by huge fish schools and young grey reef sharks.
21. Port Douglas · QLD
Turtle Bay (Agincourt Reef 2)
Summer water: 28-30 °C · Sheltered bay with a coral wall and a resident large loggerhead turtle often seen in summer.
22. Port Douglas · QLD
West End (Agincourt Reef 2)
Summer water: 28-30 °C · The largest swim-through caves on Agincourt plus a very large, friendly Maori wrasse.
23. Port Douglas · QLD
Whaler Point (Agincourt Reef 1)
Summer water: 28-30 °C · Coral-rich southern point of Agincourt 1 with sharks, rays and barracuda passing along the edge; easy out-and-back layout.
24. Port Douglas · QLD
Wreck Site (Agincourt Reef 3)
Summer water: 28-30 °C · Clear sandy lagoon with 12 m pinnacles and the coral-covered remains of a fishing boat in the shallows.
25. Mission Beach & Cassowary Coast · QLD
Beaver Reef
Summer water: 28-30 °C · Mission Beach's main outer reef: an uncrowded green-zone reef with coral gardens, turtles and a shark-patrolled southern wall.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the warmest diving in Australia?
Darwin Harbour and the Top End reach 29–32 °C in the wet season, with the Kimberley, Torres Strait, Christmas Island and Cocos close behind at 27–30 °C.
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