New South Wales – Byron Bay to Eden (Australia)

New South Wales has some of Australia's best temperate-and-subtropical diving along a coast washed by the warm East Australian Current: Nguthungulli Julian Rocks off Byron Bay (a sanctuary zone of Cape Byron Marine Park), the Solitary Islands Marine Park off Coffs Harbour, Fish Rock Cave at South West Rocks, and Looking Glass off Broughton Island with its endangered grey nurse sharks. Sydney offers easy shore dives (Shelly Beach, Bare Island, The Steps at Kurnell, Ship Rock) and the boat dive at Magic Point, while Jervis Bay and Eden to the south add kelp, caves, sea dragons and big tug and steamer wrecks. Many sites sit in marine parks and aquatic reserves where fishing and collecting are banned, and wrecks more than 75 years old are protected. One notable wreck, the ex-HMAS Adelaide at Terrigal, has been closed by NSW Crown Lands since July 2024.

Facts

• Best season: Year-round diving; summer–autumn is warmest with tropical species, winter brings grey nurse sharks, Port Jackson sharks and humpback whales (May–Sep)
• Water temperature: About 18 °C in winter to 25 °C+ in summer at Julian Rocks; 12–20 °C at Merimbula in the south
• Visibility: Typically 10–15 m, 5–30 m range at Julian Rocks and Sydney; best on good days 25–30 m offshore
• Marine parks and reserves: Cape Byron, Solitary Islands, Port Stephens Great Lakes and Jervis Bay marine parks plus aquatic reserves (Cook Island, Cabbage Tree Bay, Fly Point, Ship Rock): zones restrict fishing and collecting; Julian Rocks is a sanctuary zone with guided-only diving
• Wrecks: Wrecks older than 75 years are protected (Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976, now Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018); the ex-HMAS Adelaide site is closed
• Grey nurse shark sites: Julian Rocks, Fish Rock, South Solitary, Looking Glass and Magic Point are all grey nurse shark aggregation sites; Magic Point sharks were absent for long stretches 2013–2024

Season

• Best months: Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May
• Acceptable: Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov
• Water temperature: 12–26 °C

Diveable year-round. Summer–autumn is warmest, with tropical species carried south on the East Australian Current (Ship Rock; leopard sharks at Cook Island in summer). Winter brings more grey nurse sharks (Anemone Bay; Magic Point sightings cluster April–August), Port Jackson sharks and, May–September, humpback whales. In the south (Eden, Merimbula) water is 12–20 °C.

Dive sites (24)

Central Coast (Terrigal)

• [CLOSED] Ex-HMAS Adelaide wreck (Terrigal / Avoca) – site closed since July 2024 – 20–32 m, advanced

Solitary Islands (Coffs Harbour–Wooli)

• Anemone Bay (North Solitary Island) – Solitary Islands Marine Park – 5–30 m, intermediate
• Fish Soup (North West Solitary Island) – 10–30 m, advanced
• Manta Arch (South Solitary Island) – 13–29 m, advanced
• Plate Coral (South West Solitary Island) – 5–16 m, beginner

Sydney & Botany Bay

• Bare Island (La Perouse, Botany Bay) – 5–19 m, beginner
• Magic Point (Maroubra) – grey nurse sharks – 8–25 m, intermediate
• Shelly Beach (Manly) – Cabbage Tree Bay Aquatic Reserve – 2–16 m, beginner
• Ship Rock (Port Hacking) – Aquatic Reserve, slack tide only – 3–18 m, intermediate
• The Steps / Inscription Point (Kurnell, Botany Bay) – 3–15 m, intermediate

Byron Bay & Tweed (Julian Rocks, Cook Island)

• Cook Island Aquatic Reserve (Fingal Head, Tweed) – 12–18 m, beginner
• Julian Rocks (Nguthungulli) – Sanctuary Zone, guided only – 5–25 m, intermediate

South West Rocks (Fish Rock)

• Fish Rock Cave (South West Rocks) – Advanced, torch required – 12–30 m, advanced

Port Stephens & Broughton Island

• Fly Point (Nelson Bay) – Aquatic Reserve – 5–18 m, intermediate
• Looking Glass Isle (Broughton Island) – 8–26 m, intermediate
• SS Oakland wreck (Cabbage Tree Island) – protected historic wreck – 24–27 m, advanced
• The Pipeline (Nelson Bay) – 3–18 m, beginner

Eden & Far South Coast

• Henry Bolte wreck (Eden) – broken-up tug – 18–26 m, advanced
• SS City of Sydney wreck (Green Cape) – protected historic wreck – 15–21 m, advanced
• SS Ly-ee-Moon wreck (Green Cape) – protected historic wreck – 5–14 m, advanced
• Tasman Hauler wreck (Eden) – 15–30 m, advanced

Jervis Bay

• The Arch (Point Perpendicular, Jervis Bay) – 24–40 m, advanced
• The Docks (Jervis Bay) – 6–21 m, beginner
• TSS Wandra wreck (Jervis Bay) – protected historic wreck – 23–28 m, advanced

Operators (6)

• Byron Bay Dive Centre – dive centre, Byron Plaza, 5/90-96 Jonson Street, Byron Bay NSW
• Jetty Dive (Solitary Islands Dive Fleet) – dive centre, 398 Harbour Drive, Coffs Harbour NSW
• South West Rocks Dive Centre – dive centre, South West Rocks NSW
• Feet First Dive Newcastle & Nelson Bay – dive centre, 97 Stockton Street, Nelson Bay NSW
• Dive Centre Manly – dive centre, 10 Belgrave Street, Manly NSW
• Dive Eden – dive centre, Strickland Lane, Eden NSW

Site positions come from published dive-site pages, GPS marks and Wikipedia and are for orientation only, never for navigation; where a position is only a shore entry or a community waypoint it is marked approximate and shore sites are shifted seaward. Rules, marine park zones, closures (ex-HMAS Adelaide) and operators change: check the NSW Marine Parks and operator pages before you dive.