Australia is one of the greatest diving destinations on earth. The country’s coastline encompasses some of the planet’s most diverse and pristine marine environments — from the coral cathedral of the Great Barrier Reef to the kelp forests of South Australia, the sea lion colonies of Western Australia, and the volcanic reefs of Lord Howe Island. Whether you’re a first-time diver or an experienced underwater explorer, Australia has a dive that will genuinely change how you see the world.
I’ve been diving in Australia for years, and I still find new sites that astonish me. The sheer scale of the Great Barrier Reef alone — 2,300 kilometres of living coral reef — means a lifetime of diving wouldn’t exhaust its possibilities. But some of Australia’s most incredible underwater experiences aren’t on the reef at all. The world’s largest fish (whale sharks), the world’s largest aggregation of wobbegong sharks, and some of the most dramatic underwater topography anywhere are all waiting in Australian waters.
Here’s where to dive in Australia, from iconic reef experiences to extraordinary off-the-beaten-track sites.
📋 TL;DR — the quick version
- 🐠 Great Barrier Reef, QLD: The world’s largest coral reef system — Osprey Reef, Cod Hole, and Ribbon Reefs are unmissable.
- 🦈 Ningaloo Reef, WA: Snorkel or dive with whale sharks — the largest fish on earth, reliably present March to July.
- 🦁 Baited Mile, WA: Sea lion dives at Jurien Bay or the Abrolhos Islands — these curious animals literally play with you underwater.
- 🐡 SS Yongala, QLD: Australia’s greatest wreck dive — teeming with marine life and in extraordinary condition.
- 🦐 Lord Howe Island, NSW: Remote, pristine, world-class reef diving at the southernmost coral reef on earth.
- 🌊 Julian Rocks, NSW: Byron Bay’s reef dive — leopard sharks, wobbegongs, and huge schools of fish year-round.
- 🐙 Pope’s Eye, VIC: A unique granite formation in Port Phillip Bay — resident fur seals make every dive an adventure.
🐠 Great Barrier Reef, Queensland
The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef system — 2,300 kilometres long, comprising over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands, stretching from the tip of Cape York Peninsula all the way south to Bundaberg. As a diving destination, its scale is almost incomprehensible. You could dive here every day for a year and never visit the same site twice.
The very best diving on the Great Barrier Reef is found on the outer reef, accessed by liveaboard boat. The Ribbon Reefs, off Port Douglas, offer extraordinary coral walls, caverns, and swim-throughs, with populations of reef sharks, turtles, and mantas. Osprey Reef — a remote coral atoll in the Coral Sea, about 350 kilometres northeast of Cairns — is legendary for its Shark Feed dive, where dozens of grey reef sharks, silvertip sharks, and occasionally hammerheads gather in the open water column. It’s one of the most thrilling dives in the world.
The Cod Hole, at the northern end of the Ribbon Reefs, is famous for its population of giant potato cod — enormous fish that approach divers with complete fearlessness, their faces filling your field of vision. The coral here is healthy and diverse, and the visibility regularly exceeds 30 metres. For liveaboard diving, operators like Spirit of Freedom, Tusa Dive, and Mike Ball Dive Expeditions run excellent multi-day trips to the outer reef.
👉 Book a Great Barrier Reef dive tour from Cairns on GetYourGuide →
🦈 Ningaloo Reef and whale sharks, Western Australia
Ningaloo Reef is one of Australia’s most extraordinary natural assets — a 300-kilometre fringing reef that comes almost to the beach along the remote Coral Coast of Western Australia. Unlike the Great Barrier Reef, which requires a boat trip to reach, Ningaloo Reef is accessible by simply wading off the sand. The snorkelling here is world-class and the diving is exceptional.
But Ningaloo’s greatest claim to fame is the whale sharks. Each year, from approximately March to July, whale sharks — the largest fish on earth, reaching up to 12 metres in length — gather in the waters off Ningaloo following the annual coral spawning. Swim with one of these gentle giants and you’ll never forget it. Several licensed operators in Exmouth and Coral Bay run whale shark tours that combine a spotter plane with snorkel guides in the water. The encounters are wild and unscripted — you’re swimming alongside an enormous animal in the open ocean — and genuinely life-changing.
The diving at Ningaloo is also spectacular. The Navy Pier at Exmouth is consistently ranked among Australia’s top ten dive sites — it’s a shore dive off a naval jetty where the fish life is astonishingly dense. Tawny nurse sharks, turtles, wobbegongs, and bumphead parrotfish are all regular visitors. The water visibility is exceptional — 20-30 metres is typical — and the remoteness of the area means crowds are rare.
🌊 SS Yongala wreck, Queensland
The SS Yongala is one of the world’s great wreck dives — many experienced divers and dive magazines rank it in the global top ten. This passenger steamship sank in a cyclone off Townsville in 1911 with 122 people on board, and lay undiscovered on the seafloor for nearly 50 years. Today, the 109-metre hull is encrusted in coral and surrounded by an almost unbelievable concentration of marine life.
Bull sharks, tiger sharks, giant trevally, barracuda, sea snakes, marble rays, and enormous loggerhead turtles are among the regular residents. The wreck itself is in extraordinary condition — you can see the hull, the railings, the portholes, and the cargo hatches — and the sheer density of life around it is unlike anything else in Australia. Schools of fish so thick they block the light from above, sharks cruising through the water column, and turtles resting on the deck. It’s genuinely spectacular.
The Yongala is accessible from Townsville and Ayr, with day trips and liveaboard options available. The site is for experienced divers — currents can be strong, the depth ranges from 14 to 29 metres, and the marine life is wild and unrestrained. But if you’re a competent diver, this is unmissable.
🐡 Lord Howe Island, New South Wales
Lord Howe Island’s waters contain the world’s southernmost coral reef — and because only 400 visitors are permitted on the island at any time, the diving is almost entirely uncrowded. The clarity of the water is extraordinary, visibility regularly exceeding 40 metres. The reefs are pristine, the fish life is abundant and unafraid of divers, and the underwater topography — volcanic pinnacles, overhangs, and walls draped in soft coral — is stunning.
Ball’s Pyramid, a dramatic 551-metre volcanic sea stack about 20 kilometres from Lord Howe Island, is one of the most spectacular dive sites in the world. The walls drop vertically from the surface into deep blue water, covered in soft corals, sea fans, and sponges. Galapagos sharks, grey reef sharks, Bannerfish, and enormous schools of trevally all call these waters home. It’s remote, logistically complex to dive (you need calm weather and a good operator), but utterly extraordinary.
Worth adding to your itinerary: Best Beaches in Western Australia.
🌿 Julian Rocks, Byron Bay, New South Wales
Julian Rocks is a small rocky outcrop about 2.5 kilometres offshore from Byron Bay, and it sits at the confluence of cold southern and warm tropical currents — which means the marine life diversity here is exceptional. Leopard sharks (the patterned, harmless ones) rest on the sandy seabed in great numbers during the summer months. Grey nurse sharks aggregate here in winter. Wobbegongs drape themselves over the rocks like living carpets. Turtles, manta rays, and enormous schools of trevally and batfish complete the picture.
The diving at Julian Rocks is accessible to a wide range of experience levels — depths range from about 12 to 24 metres — and the Byron Bay Dive Centre has been operating here for decades and offers excellent guided dives and courses. Because Julian Rocks is a marine sanctuary, fishing and collecting are prohibited, which means the wildlife is plentiful and relaxed around divers.
🦭 Sea lion dives, Western Australia
Diving with Australian sea lions is one of the most joyful and interactive wildlife experiences available underwater anywhere in the world. These highly intelligent animals treat scuba divers as playmates — swooping past your face, blowing bubble rings, grabbing your fins, and rolling upside down to get a better look at you. Jurien Bay, about 200 kilometres north of Perth, is one of the best places to access these dives, with operators running tours to colonies on nearby islands. The Abrolhos Islands, further offshore, also host sea lion dives alongside extraordinary coral reef diving.
Rockingham, just south of Perth, offers a similar experience with New Zealand fur seals — these animals are equally playful and slightly more boisterous than sea lions. The dive sites around Carnac Island and nearby reefs are accessible in half-day trips and are genuinely wonderful for photographers and families with older children who are already certified divers.
👉 Book a scuba diving tour in Australia on GetYourGuide →
🐙 Pope’s Eye and Port Phillip Bay, Victoria
Pope’s Eye is a partially constructed fort in the middle of Port Phillip Bay, about a 20-minute boat ride from Queenscliff, Victoria. It was built in the 1880s as a military fortification but never completed. Today, it’s a marine sanctuary — and the broken stone walls are encrusted with invertebrate life and permanently occupied by a colony of Australian fur seals. Diving here involves swimming through arches and under ledges festooned with sponges, sea fans, and nudibranchs, while fur seals zoom past in every direction. It’s one of the most entertaining and unusual dive sites in Australia.
Port Phillip Bay also has excellent shore diving at sites like Rye Pier, Portsea Hole, and Point Lonsdale. These sites offer cold-water diving with extraordinary invertebrate life — enormous sea stars, decorator crabs, weedy seadragons, and octopus are all regular finds. Melbourne’s dive scene is active and welcoming, with good dive shops and operators throughout the Mornington Peninsula and Bellarine Peninsula.
🧭 Planning your Australian dive trip
Water temperatures in Australia vary enormously by region and season. In Queensland’s tropical north, water is 27-29°C year-round and a shorty or dive skin is sufficient. In southern Australia (Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania), water temperatures can drop to 12-14°C in winter and require a 5-7mm wetsuit. Western Australia spans both extremes — Ningaloo is warm tropical water, while the south coast around Albany can be cold. Plan your gear accordingly.
For the Great Barrier Reef, liveaboard diving offers far superior access to the outer reef than day boats. A 3-5 day liveaboard will take you to remote sites that day trippers never reach, and you’ll typically complete 12-16 dives over the trip. If you’re not yet certified, several operators in Cairns offer learn-to-dive packages that include two days of pool and classroom training followed by a liveaboard trip. It’s an excellent way to get certified while experiencing some of the best diving in the world.
Book liveaboard trips well in advance, especially for peak season (July to October in Queensland). The best operators — Spirit of Freedom, Mike Ball, and Tusa — book out months ahead. Shore diving and day trips are easier to arrange on shorter notice, but for any special experiences like whale shark swimming at Ningaloo, bookings during the March-July season fill up quickly.
