New South Wales

City of Lake Macquarie

Australia

The Arch dive starts at The Arch - a large natural rock arch big enough for 5 divers to swim through together. It lies at the eastern end of a long low bommie; the dive then follows a circuit passed a more vertical bommie with steep walls covered in growth and a good spot for nudibranchs. Divers continue to meet up with parts of Moon Island's southern wall and a series of caves - the first being the In/Out Cave - go in one side of a rock collapse and out the other, the next cave is hidden behind some large boulders (the Secret Cave). Divers then cross an area of kelp (look out for weedy seadragons) before reaching #3 Cave - the second biggest cave around Moon Island. After leaving #3 the Moon Island wall drops to just a rock platform; swim over this and find the fissure - drop into that and pass through the Squeezy (a narrow swim-through). The dive is completed swimming passed Dog's Head Rock and around the point at the end of this section of the rocky reef coming from Moon Island before crossing the pebbly gutter to return to The Arch and the boat.

Boat dive access from Swansea Channel. Grey Nurse Charters run regular trips to Moon Island and The Arch is one of the most popular sites.

The Arch Moon Island is also known as The Arch.