Blandy Beaux Diving Adventures

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The best shore dive sites in Sydney are listed here along with some details and maps

#1  Kurnell

The very place that Captain James Cook arrived in Botony Bay in 1770 is also a fantastic dive site in Sydney, probably my favourite. Set in a national park with all the colourful parrots and the laughing kookaburras keeping you company as you set up your gear it only gets better in the water. From the Monument to the Steps there are lots of colourful nudibranchs, corals, sponges, anenomes, fish, sharks, weedy seadragons, rays and even the occassional turtle.
kurnell visitor centre
shiprock road sydney

#2  Shiprock 

We only recently discovered this site but am in love with it. It is difficult to describe because I have only ever experienced deep wall dives like this from boats, whereas with this dive site is easily accessible from the shore.  We saw the biggest octopus we have ever seen here. There was also the Pineapple fish which we have never seen anywhere else.

#3  Shark Point, Clovelly

This site is only possible to dive when the conditions are right because the entry and exit can be quite scary.  You can enter via the swimming pool, but it is easier to jump in at the gutter and then swim south and exit via the swimming pool. Giant cuttlefish are regularly spotted here, along with sharks, rays, weedy sea dragons, eastern blue devilfish and many nudibranchs too.
clovelly swimming
Bare island

#4  Bare Island

Set on the edge of a national park very close to the airport, Bare Island offers some great diving. Whilst the visibility at this site is not the best, there are usually seahorses, sharks and the fantastic red indian fish seen here.

#5  Camp Cove
This is a great local dive site in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney with so much to see, especially at night. By day the site can be dangerous due to boat traffic and the popularity with fishermen so stay safe whilst diving and always ascend using your deployable safety sausage!

camp cove sydney
gordons bay, sydney

#6  Gordon's Bay

A great local site for us with easy shore access and an underwater trail to help divers navigate the site. We enjoy this site for its typically good visibility and depth which make it great for practicing skills. The wildlife here is pretty good. We often see porcupine fish here, stingray, wobbegong sharks, estuary catfish, guitarsharks (fiddler rays), blue gropers, and old wives. 

#7  Shelly Beach, Manly

I feel sad to list this so low on the list because its such a good dive site. But for me the parking and inaccessibility makes it not ideal. Plus there is lots of sand!  I quite like the deeper dives with more rocky outcrops and swimthroughs. That said, Shelly Beach is fantastic. I call it shark city on account for the numbers of port jacksons and wobbegongs I have seen here.

shelly beach, manly
magic point

#8  Magic Point, Maroubra

Again, I feel I am being unfair to place this wonderful dive site so low on this list but its because getting to Magic Point from the shore involves such a long hike over rocks. Make sure you are hydrated well for this journey and prepared for clambering over rocks to get to the site. It really is worth it though.