Best Places to Scuba Dive Near Sydney

If you want to go diving in Australia, it’s not all the great barrier reef and that’s it, there are a lot of places that are just magnificent for the color and clarity, places that are just magic for diving.  Sydney is one of those places. There are places that are easy to access right off the beach and places that you have to take a local boat to, but the variety and quantity of the sea life are truly amazing. There are even about 30 shipwrecks that you can see, though of course, as any diver will tell you, be very careful around wrecks. Here are some of the best places we have found just off Sydney.

Gordons Bay

Gordons Bay is actually an underwater nature trail. You can scuba dive it or even snorkel It if the weather and water is good enough. It’s a 600-meter trail and about 14 meters deep at the deepest. There is a chain connecting concrete filled drums to mark the path. There are also metal plaques on the drums describing various things in the area. Personally, we would have preferred it without the overt signs of mankind, but it is still worth the dive.

Bare Island

There are dives on both sides of the island, though the right side is the calmest as there is often a pretty strong southerly swell. There are a lot of sea stars and coral that are worth the look as well as a lot of other species of aquatic fauna

Clifton Gardens, Sydney Harbor

This is a fairly shallow shore dive, but you can see a large variety of aquatic life. It’s best to check before you go through as it’s a muck dive, and you never know how clear the water will be. Sometimes you might as well just close your eyes, as that’s about the same as you will see when it’s churned up.

The Wall and the Apartments at long reef

The wall is next to the apartments at long reef and is an excellent wall dive. There are a lot of nooks and crannies and you can get quite lost in the exploration of the wall. There are current issues, so make sure you take an SMB (Surface Marker Buoy). You can move from there onto the apartments are named for large rectangular rocks and are a good place to explore. It also has current changes. So keep aware.

Bonus points: SS Tuggera

for advanced divers, but it is a great one. It’s a 60-meter vessel about 2.2 kilometers off the coast. The current can be high though, and there are mandatory decompression stops so it is not something for inexperienced divers. But it is a great unique wreck and worth seeing.

Diving in Australia is fantastic, some of the best anywhere. The Great Barrier Reef is something you should see once in your life as well, unfortunately, it’s once in your life while you still can, as its being destroyed faster than you can imagine. Remember to treat your undersea world with respect, and help the barrier reef and other marine life charities to help recover what we are losing. That beauty should be shared with our grandkids, and passed on, and not just in stories. Sydney is definitely a place to check out diving, and while you are at it, enjoy the rest of Sydney too.