New South Wales

Sutherland Shire Council

Australia

Oak Park is one of the most popular dive sites on the Cronulla Peninsula. It's also a great site for night dive.  The 1st reef at Oak has some interesting features.  There is an old rock pile, some nice sandy parts good for practicing gear removal and diving techniques. Some good ledges that have some large undercut crevices exist along the main wall that can contain many types of fish.  It has some nice sponge gardens and a good spot for numerous nudibranchs if you look closely.  If you do make it out to the 2nd reef and get along the wall to the north you might just get to the broken urinal and then the cave.

Located almost at the end of the Cronulla Peninsula on the southern outskirts of Sydney. Enter at the back of the Pool at the end of Jibbon Street.

Cronulla

Oak Park

Once you have swam past the 1st. reef at Oak Park, follow underwater reef system out to the east. oYu will need to keep following the edge of the reefs system in a 'northerly then east then northerly then east pattern' occasionally crossing some sand to reach other reefs.  The further you go the better the vis and biota.  Most divers don't follow these walls and hence don't impact on the area.

Typically, best done as a boat dive but can be reached by experienced shore divers.  Access can be gained by Jibbon Street Cronulla, at Oak Park.

4th-5th Reefs is also known as Oak park.

4th-5th Reefs

Visibility varied at different points in the dive, the gutter was clear and the boulders was clear however the swim along the reef edge had low visibility.

Cronulla. Park in Via Mare and make your way down to the waters edge on the left side (north) of the observation deck. Upon entering the water you will find a deep narrow gutter that leads out at approx 55 degrees. This turns into a sand gutter with plenty of rays. Follow the reef around to the right 150 - 200 metres to a drop off and explore amongst the boulders for Port Jackson Sharks.

Windy Point

You can start diving here and drift (at high tide) to Oak Park.

Located on the most southern tip of the Cronulla peninsula. Park in front of the Bass & Flinders Point.  You can dive this site all the way round to the Oak Park site - also on this website.  A fairly long dive you'll need a big tank or good air consumption to do it - typically takes and hour.  You won't go much over 6 to 7 meters, so it should be doable by most.  Follow the sand reef line till you hit the BIG rock wall of Oak Park at 6 meters and then turn left - heading west - and go home to the pool.

Bass & Flinders

Only seriously consider this dive when the conditions are perfect. Otherwise the dive will be long and arduous one when you have to contending with: significant surge, low visibility, poor navigational capability, etcetera. Dangers include: overhead boating; distance from shore if surfacing, running out of air, or completing an emergency ascent; loss of direction due to similar or unfamiliar terrain; lost track of time and tank pressure resulting in a low air situation a long way from shore. Shark contact-low. Note: maximum depth is only achievable on a high tide.

Go to Oak Park dive site. Enter at usual spot and 'swim for all your worth'.  No you need to follow the reef outline to the 4 and 5 reefs and then connect the dots on the sea floor till you get to the outer reefs 7 and 8. This is a long slow dive. You will need a 100cft tank or twins (you want to be doing at least 90minutes + on this dive to cover all the area sufficiently) and or a scooter to do this dive effectively. DI can provide dive maps on request via email below.  There is also a good 'Google Maps' photo that shows a poor outline of the reefs which I think is list here or on the 4th & 5th reefs dive site page.

The maximum depth listed below will only be achieved at the extremity of the dive length and on a correspondingly high tide of 2+m.

7th and 8th Reefs

This is a very famous dive of Sydney South. The name comes from the shape of a rock.

Ship Rock can only (except for Kamikazes) be dived for the 1 hour around the peak of high tide (Best is 30 min before, and 30 min after).

This dive has usually got poor vis, and is crowded on weekends. Only ever attempt to dive at slack water as there is a strong tidal current. Also, NEVER surface unneccessarily - the boats travel right over the dive site.

On the up-side, the marine life here is spectacular, and in summer you even see some small tropical species like lion-fish and heaps of nudibranchs. A great dive for the macro photographer! Also, at about 12m there is a small cave in the wall. You can surface under the ledge in the pocket of trapped air.  If you are going to do this and remove your regulator to talk to someone else, then you should release a substantial amount of air from you occy as the air in the cave may be stale and or depleted due to the biota that exists in the cave.  Ascend with slight positive bouncy so that constant finning to stay up does not stir up the bottom beneath you and ruin the dive for everyone else.

On the return swim to the entry, exit point you should seek the shallower route along the top of the wall and look for the ornate crabs hiding in the walls intricate growth. These are best seen moving about on night dives.

Enjoy!

Shiprock dive site is located at the junction of Burraneer Bay and Port Hacking, on Sydney's southern outskirts, on the Cronulla Peninsula. Drive to Ship Rock road, and park at the end.


Shiprock is also known as Ship Rock.

Shiprock

Good dive for training boat divers and advanced divers.

Two kilometres off the end of the end of The "Kingsway" this site is easily picked up on a depth sounder by lining up on The "Kingsway" road that leads into Cronulla and heading east north east approximately two kilometres offshore.  It's a fairly large underwater bommie that rises up off 22-24m depth (depending on tide) to the top of the bommie at 16-18m.  It can be dived on three sides. The inner western side has a small cave (non-penetration type). See also: Tom Byron's "Dives On The NSW East Coast". Commercial dive boats tend to anchor on the North/western tip of reef to give quick and easy access for divers to the cave, however, the reef on the eastern side is very good and often cleaner vis wise. In days long gone by now, dive agencies used to use 'Osbourne' as the 16m 'boat dive' for new students doing their boat dive component. So it's a fairly easy and good dive for most divers with little experience.

Osbourne Shoals



Only a few hundred metres off Royal National Park on the southern outskirts of the city of Sydney

Barren's Hut

Great marine bio-diversity. Huge swim through with a ceiling with fantastic green jewel anemones on all walls, and pink & orange jewel anemones on the roof of the swim through cave, yet similar to the green ones on the walls!  Great fish life. Fantastic fun watching the surfers riding the waves above.  The site can be dived three ways. 1. heading south to overhang and swim through. 2. east to the deeper water. 3. southeast and around the two huge natural bommies or messas and then north homeward via the long walls. A fourth dive plan might include a LONG dive to the southeast for the sandy sea bottom and great wall. Enjoy!

If you are in Sydney City, take the road south out of the city.  Follow the signs to the airport, then to Cronulla. At the junction of the Boulevarde and Captain Cook Dr, turn left and drive to the site via Captain Cook Drive, keep following the road heading towards Kurnell. Upon seeing the oil refinery take the Carbon Black road (Sir Joseph Banks Drive) and drive right to the end. Then turn right up the small national Park rd (no name) between two big rock and through the gate and follow the rd over all the speed humps and park at the end in the car park. You can see the water from here.  Walk to the shoreline and seek the easiest entry into the small ocean pool.  This is where you get in.  Sites access is by swimming between the two big rocks at the end of the ocean pool.  Head south at 210 degrees on your compass. Look for sand lines that head in the same direction as your compass heading. These are in cracks in the rock floor that aline with the walls that exist further south. So finding these is important to finding the gutters that lead to the swim through and cave over hang area.

Voo Doo is also known as Voodoo, Suck rock.

Voo Doo

The SS Tuggerah was a coastal steamer that carried coal to Sydney. It sunk saturday 16 May 1919, with the loss of 6 lives.

SS Tuggerah lyes on its port side, the bow of the wreck is destroyed. The ship mast is lying off to the left hand side of the wreck, quite distinctive. The bow is full of nannygai and other small fish.

The wreck normally has outstanding fish life on it, as well as intersting setions of the wreck remaining, including tools rusted solidly into the hull in what remains of the engine room, the boiler and engine and propeller.

One needs good GPS marks, plus visual marks to find the wreck. With these it is pretty easy.

Conditions on the wreck very greatly. Current can be in excess of 3 kts: strong enough to be dangerous. Visibility can vary from zero to 30m+ on some days. The site is exposed to the Tasman Sea, and is a 3km swim to safety. As the depth is past normal recreational limits, this is not a site for inexperienced divers, or those who cannot cope with mandatory decompression stops. A half hour dive can result in at least 35 minutes of deco.

The wreck lies two kilometres off the coast of Royal National Park on Sydney's south.

SS Tuggerah

NB. This is a shore dive for those extremely comfortable with their ability to self rescue or long surface swim.  There is only one way in and one way out. If it turns to crap here while you are down you have to be able to look after yourself and may need to surface swim and good couple of kilometres home to either 'VooDoo' or 'The Steps' dive sites further round the point.  generally speaking, this dive site can only be dived during August when the westerlies are blowing! This is necessary to keep the swells down.  Do not attempt an entry when white water can be seen. NB:  THE RESCUE SERVICES TAKE A WHILE TO GET TO THIS POINT !!!

This IS MY favourite dive site !!!

Follow Captain Cook Drive all the way out to Kurnell township.  Find the entrance to the Botany Bay National Park (follow signs or ask). $8 gets you in.  Follow the road all the way to the end of the road, past the whale watching site.  Park in the spaces provided. Look south along the coast line to the furthest eastern point you can see, that's your dive site (but not your entry point).  If you can see 'swell' producing significant white water along the cliff, then you are unlikely to be able to get in, unless you are very good and highly experienced in shore diving techniques.   You CAN do it as a shore dive, ADVANCED, 300+, Divers Only!  It requires a walk of 800m with all your dive gear on!, so it's not for the faint hearted, but well worth it. 

Follow the green posts indicating the cliff walk-for first timers, it can be advantageous to do this once without your gear- to the cutting in the cliff face (where the pipeline is) and walk down to the shoreline.  A number of ledges here on the right hand side, southern, of the cliff face are your entry points and provide good deep water to flop into. I would not suggest entering at the waters edge at its most westerly maximum as there are triangular plinths in shallow water, less than 1m, that expose you to small waves while donning and doffing your fins and make entering and exiting here difficult to say the least.  Access the dive site by following the pipeline east on the south side of the cutting and then to the waters edge. Here exist some natural rock platforms which make good entry and EXIT points.  

Submerge some meters off shore and follow the shoreline out to the south, see photo, following the natural shelf lines and kelp beds to the east and head south around corner.  You should find a large wall drop off.  Head south following the wall.  Turn and head back the same way upon deciding to return home.  They have recently put the DESAL pipeline in around here.  Once I have had a chance to dive it again I shall update the info letting you know where it is situated and whether it causes any concerns to diving and if it-the by product-Brine, has ruined the site for diving.

Ok I have since dive the site twice after the installation of the Desal plant.  Rock fall from blasting or drilling has damaged much of the natural walls look and attraction, however it still constitutes a great dive.  these rocks can be distinguished from the old rocks by their sharp edges and lack of marine growth and obvious yellow colour.  I have 'rec-eed' al the way to the 'spoon drain' type feature some 150meters south of the headland and can still not find the pipe for the Desal plant. So it is either underground or further south. Underground would make sense as it would provide it some protection from the large swells that frequent this location year round.  The shutting down of the Caltex Oil Refinery, some years ago, has stopped the flow of warm water to the site and hence the large patches of green seaweed that used to cover the rocks near the entry have since gone.  Oldly, there seems to be more fish frequenting the site now.  I don't put this down to the Desal plant's operation, or the likely hood of the 'brine' affecting the water quality because the site has never operated officially.  It is a big 'white elephant that contractually cost the taxpayers money to keep operational, but has never had to operate to give Sydney home-dwellers water since it opened !!! The Pipe is installed on the ocean bed some 200 meters offshore in 22 meters of water, roughly inline with the headland.

It is a shame about all the rock fall as the site was very pretty without it. But it still is a great dive on a good day !

I still rate it as the best shore dive in all of Sydney.  Enjoy!

The Cutting (Tabbagai Gap) is also known as Farkernell !!(UBD), Cape Solander.

Oak Park

Snorkeling and Scuba Diving at Oak Park