Where to dive in and around Sydney

[GramsciBeat]

I'll be in Sydney for business at the end of March - the trip will be bookended by weekends there and if I get my scheduling right I'll probably have a day off during the week. I would like to get a few dives in and would be keen on getting recommendations on where and, probably more importantly, with whom to dive.

Also, I would appreciate any heads ups about any regional idiosyncrasies that I should be aware of regarding diving in Australia.

Cheers,

 

[Meggie66]

Hi there

There's lots of good diving in and around Sydney. I dive a few times a week and there's always something interesting to see, plus it's a lot more colourful than you might expect with beautiful sea fans, sea tulips and the like. My favourite critters are the inquisitive blue gropers, the amazing weedy sea dragons, the three species of cuttlefish (giant, mourning and reaper) and the local shark species including Wobbegongs, Port Jacksons and Grey Nurses.

For shore diving, try Shelly Beach near Manly in Sydney's north, a relaxing easy shore dive in a marine reserve which is usually teeming with fish (maximum depth about 9 metres at high tide). Further south, Gordon's Bay and Camp Cove are also good shore dives.

If you can, try to get on a boat dive. Most dive sites which are accessed by boat are in the 20 metre range (some go to 30m plus), and this is the kind of depth at which you're more likely to see weedy sea dragons. There are a variety of boat dive sites up and down the Sydney coast. Probably the most popular is Magic Point, home of Sydney's main Grey Nurse Shark population. On a good day with good vis, this dive is just amazing, but all of the dive sites have their own charm.

Vis in Sydney is variable, I'd say the average is around 5-10m but it can be worse or significantly better (up to 30m at times) and changes day to day. Similarly, sea conditions change day to day. Current water temperature is around 21 degrees.

I can't recommend a dive shop as I'm affiliated with one of them so Scubaboard rules probably won't let me mention it, but if you Google Sydney boat dives or Sydney shore dives or similar a number of options will come up.

Let me know if you want more information, and enjoy your trip!

 

[clownfishsydney]

Google "scuba diving Sydney" and one of the first web sites that comes up is mine. Here is the link: Michael McFadyen's Scuba Diving Web Site. Virtually every site that is dived in Sydney is covered, almost 200 separate articles on the various dives you can do.

Have a read, happy to answer any questions.

 

[SavageRon]

Your site is a great resource, Michael.
Thanks for putting so much energy and effort into it.
I was raised in Sydney, but didn't start diving until a few years ago (living in Florida US) and about to move back to Australia.
Aiming for Cairns/Port Douglass area, but still have a some (non-diver) friends around there, so will be making use of your site a lot when I make it down there to visit.

 

[Meggie66]

Totally agree with Ron, Michael McFadyen's site is fantastic and required reading for every Sydney diver, and I'd like to add my thanks for the hard work that goes into creating it! To the OP, you won't find a more comprehensive resource on Sydney diving - I should have thought to reference it in my first post.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

I can't recommend a dive shop as I'm affiliated with one of them so Scubaboard rules probably won't let me mention it, but if you Google Sydney boat dives or Sydney shore dives or similar a number of options will come up.

Let me know if you want more information, and enjoy your trip!

You could put a link to the shop you are affiliated with in your signature line if you like. There is nothing wrong with letting people know you work with a shop. What SB doesn't want is someone plugging a shop or business in an excessive way (spam). If it is on topic in the thread there is nothing wrong with mentioning your product or dive shop (without turning it into a big sales pitch) but attacking or bad mouthing other businesses is obviously not ok.

Scubaboard is all about the members and if members ask a question such as the OP did giving information about Dive Shops is appropriate. Dive shops and employees of Dive shops have an opportunity to contribute in a positive way to ScubaBoard and they should be able to benefit by doing so. This can be a Win Win situation

 

[bracko]

Shelly beach - great dive site and if you need to hire gear one of the manly based shops might drive the gear over for you. they will absolutely be running courses on the weekend in summer so make sure you get in before the OW classes silt out the site. do both sides. first dive right, second dive left side. heaps of macro there if you look out.
Bare island - usually good. Again lots of classes.
Freshwater headland - my fav shore dive. it's not a beginner dive.

Prodive, Frog Dive, and others run boats, definitely get on a boat if you can. most dives are out of the heads, so consider that if you get sea sick. Some run fast RIB's others run slower bigger boats. google to find more companies.

refer to Michael's website for all sydney diving information, it's by far the best dive site I've seen.

as for Australian-isms when diving. I don't think I've noticed any, if you've dived when travlling you'll know the drill. the dive boats are more rigidly run than resorts but you're also expected to know what you're doing unless you speak up.

 

[Meggie66]

Thanks bowlofpetunias! In that case I work for Pro Dive in Manly

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Meggie^^ Shelly Beach is indeed a great site with lots to look at. That is where we normally take people who come to visit us to dive. It is the best spot to get gear adjustments taken care of and also for us to assess the in water skills to decide where we will or will not take them to dive!

 

[GramsciBeat]

Thanks very much for the information shared both on this thread and in the resources I was directed to - particularly Michael's website. I am very much looking forward to getting wet there ...