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. Tasmania North & North-West · TAS
Boat Harbour Point
Summer water: 16-19 °C · Easy, varied shore dives either side of the point at one of Tasmania's prettiest beaches.
2. Tasmania North & North-West · TAS
Burnie Breakwater / Blackmans Point
Summer water: 16-19 °C · An urban shore dive under the Burnie wharf, with change rooms at the beach.
3. Tasmania North & North-West · TAS
Devonport Breakwater
Summer water: 16-19 °C · A shallow breakwater snorkel with a kelp forest and remains of two 1880s wrecks.
4. Tasmania North & North-West · TAS
Don Heads
Summer water: 16-19 °C · An easy long shore dive along volcanic reefs beside the historic Don River port.
5. Tasmania North & North-West · TAS
Fourth Sister (Ulverstone)
Summer water: 16-19 °C · A 300 m reef ending in a pinnacle, with schooling fish fed by the current.
6. Tasmania North & North-West · TAS
Glory Hole (Sisters Cave)
Summer water: 16-19 °C · Quartzite caves, a boulder maze and a bullseye-filled sea cave - Sisters Beach's shore dive.
7. Tasmania North & North-West · TAS
Horseshoe Reef (Devonport)
Summer water: 16-19 °C · The pick of the Devonport dives - a large islet-studded reef with invertebrates at 15-18 m.
8. Tasmania North & North-West · TAS
Mersey Bluff (Devonport)
Summer water: 16-19 °C · Devonport's easy shore dive below the Mersey Bluff lighthouse - ideal before or after the Spirit of Tasmania.
9. Tasmania North & North-West · TAS
North West Rocky Cape
Summer water: 16-19 °C · Gutters and small boulders on a reef rising from 20 m to 10 m.
10. Tasmania North & North-West · TAS
Pebbly Beach (Rocky Cape)
Summer water: 16-19 °C · An attractive day-or-night shore dive with spires covered in nudibranchs and basket stars.
11. Tasmania North & North-West · TAS
Rocky Cape
Summer water: 16-19 °C · An easy, sheltered course site with a fish-packed rock and superb night diving.
12. Tasmania North & North-West · TAS
Rocky Cape Outer Reef
Summer water: 16-19 °C · Rated 9/10: a twin-peaked outcrop stepping to 25 m with current-fed gorgonians and sea pens in often 25 m visibility.
13. Tasmania North & North-West · TAS
Sea Pen Point (Rocky Cape)
Summer water: 16-19 °C · Sea pens in 10-16 m - unusually shallow - on a colourful, tide-fed reef.
14. Tasmania North & North-West · TAS
Simmos Reef (Shag Rock)
Summer water: 16-19 °C · A figure-6 bommie from 25 m to 4 m with sea pens, dumpling squid and 25 m visibility.
15. Tasmania North & North-West · TAS
Sisters Island (North East Bommie)
Summer water: 16-19 °C · An easy bommie circumnavigation in gutters of kelp, gorgonians and nudibranchs, often in 20 m visibility.
16. Tasmania North & North-West · TAS
SS Southern Cross (Boat Rock)
Summer water: 16-19 °C · Stern and propeller of an 1863 Clyde-built steamer lost in bushfire smoke in 1889.
17. Tasmania North & North-West · TAS
Stanley – The Nut / Godfreys Beach
Summer water: 16-19 °C · A sheltered westerly-weather shore dive beneath The Nut, with seadragons, prowfish and giant sponges.
18. Tasmania North & North-West · TAS
The Boomer (Mary Ann Bay)
Summer water: 16-19 °C · A quick, easy dive on a rocky dome right off the Mary Ann Bay ramp.
19. Tasmania North & North-West · TAS
Wynyard – Fossil Bluff / Table Cape
Summer water: 16-19 °C · A shallow boulder reef under the basalt cliffs of Table Cape.
20. King Island · TAS
Blencathra (Currie)
Summer water: 16-18 °C · The debris field of a whisky-laden 1875 barque right beside Currie Harbour.
21. King Island · TAS
Brahmin (King Island)
Summer water: 16-18 °C · An archaeologically rich 1854 wreck with anchors, windlass and scattered china and clay pipes.
22. King Island · TAS
Cataraqui
Summer water: 16-18 °C · The site of Australia's worst civil maritime disaster (1845), with anchor and capstan on an exposed reef.
23. King Island · TAS
Loch Leven
Summer water: 16-18 °C · Extensive flattened ironwork of an 1871 wool clipper, reachable from shore near Cape Wickham.
24. King Island · TAS
Netherby
Summer water: 16-18 °C · The shallow remains of an 1866 emigrant ship from which all 450-plus aboard survived.
25. Flinders Island & Furneaux Group · TAS
Sydney Cove (Preservation Island)
Summer water: 16-18 °C · One of Australia's oldest shipwrecks (1797), whose survivors' ordeal opened Bass Strait to sealing.
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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