When most people think of scuba diving, pictures of the Great Barrier Reef, Bali and Vanuatu spring to mind — a tropical paradise teeming with coral and fish. What they don’t always realise is that there’s very likely a wealth of diving opportunities right in their own back yard. It’s not always going to be as colourful, or as warm, but it can still be quite an adventure nonetheless. To that end, I’ve put together a list of some of the dive sites in Adelaide and the surrounding areas, along with a few of my photos and video clips from each one. This list isn’t every dive site around, it’s just the sites that I’ve visited so far. Fortunately, there’s plenty of them to keep me going so I won’t run out any time soon.

To get an idea of where the sites are, here’s a Google Maps representation of the sites I’ve managed to pin down a location for (yellow for sites I’ve visited, blue for sites I haven’t visited, and green for boat ramps):

Shore Dives

Port Noarlunga

The reef at Port Noarlunga is one of Adelaide’s most accessible dive spots. To make life a little easier, be sure to bring a sack trolley to lug your gear out to the end of the jetty. It gets a bit busy during the warmer months, and you need to watch that the jetty jumpers don’t land on your head while you’re under the jetty.

The main part of the reef stretches for a few hundred metres either side of the jetty, with a few gaps in along the way to switch between the inner reef and the more exposed outer reef. Depths range from about 5m on the inner reef to 12m+ along the outer reef. At low tide the top of the reef is usually exposed so you can simply walk over and jump down to the outer reef. From there, its a nice easy dive north or south to a gap and back along the inner reef.

Aquatic life is abundant, with lots of leatherjackets, morwongs, old wives and the occasional stingray. You might also find some nudis, cuttlefish and octopus.

Port Noarlunga is also great for night dives. Plenty of interesting critters make their way out during the evening, and the area is generally free of any hazards.

Second Valley

Second Valley offers a good bit of variety for a shore dive. There’s the jetty with lots of small fish and some interesting growth, the bluff with its thick seagrass and shy creatures and the small caves around the corner. Depending on the dive you want to do, there’s a few different entry points. Drop down from the jetty, have a look around then head over to the bluff. Walk past the jetty and enter from the cove. Or keep walking and work your way over the slippery rocks and enter from the eastern cove.

The bluff provides a home to many small critters, most interseting among them are the weedy sea dragons. They’re very hard to spot — it takes a really keen eye to find one. There’s also southern blue devils, cuttlefish, (maybe) small crayfish and some rather large eagle rays. It can be a bit barren at times, its just one of those places where you take a chance. Visibility can also be a bit hit and miss, especially towards the tip of the bluff.

The cave system is fairly small but still interesting. Head east from the eastern cove and follow the wall around.

Rapid Bay

It’s often touted as one of the best local jetty dives around. The long T-shaped steel jetty can provide a very nice, easy dive on a good day. The current can get pretty strong too, so that’s one thing to watch for.

Over the years, the jetty became has slowly decayed, and has been closed to fishers since 2004. A new jetty has been built alongside the old one and was opened in March 2009. Since it’s still new, there’s not that much life on the pylons yet, but in time it will hopefully blossom. There’s a great diver’s platform near the end of the jetty which makes getting in and out a very relaxed affair.

Once you’re in, you can follow a line which runs between the two jetties. Its a very pretty dive with lots of smaller fish, sponges and nudis all the way along the jetty, and huge schools of fish living under the T-section. Its also a good place to find both leafy and weedy sea dragons.

Whyalla — The Fenceline

The Fenceline is a seasonal dive site, best visited from late June to late September. The reason to visit this site is to witness the Giant Australian Cuttlefish breeding season. During the breeding season there’s not much in the water other than cuttlefish, but that’s not really a bad thing. The cuttlies put on a great show, totally oblivious to anything other than their own kind. Take your woolies though — at this time of the year, Whyalla is cold, windy and very dusty. Still, if you don’t mind a bit of cold water, its well worth the journey.

The site itself is about 30 minutes out from Whyalla, near Black’s Point. Turn right off Port Bonython road just before the Santos plant, and head along to the car park. Its a short walk over the rocks and into the water. There’s no facilities nearby, so take some food & water.

You don’t need to go far out to see the cuttlefish — you’ll probably see them as soon as you put your head underwater. The site is fairly flat, made up mostly of sea grass and rocks. It doesn’t get much deeper than about 3m, so snorkelling is also a possibility. The only things to watch for are the occasional jellyfish and the spiky sea urchins. Also, try to stay on the western side of the fenceline (the other side is Santos property).

Edithburgh

The jetty at Edithburgh is one of the most colourful shore dives around. The pylons are incredibly rich in life, covered with sponges, fans and little critters. The jetty itself is reasonably short but wide, supported by pylons in rows of 4. Don’t bother trying to count pylons as a mode of orientation — it can get a bit confusing!

The water ranges from 3m to 12m+ and visibility is usually decent (6-8m). Entry points are steps on either side of the jetty, giant stride off the side, or for the more adventurous, a giant stride off the deep end.

There’s always plenty to see both under the jetty and off to the sides. There’s always lots of fish, blue swimmer and decorated crabs, sea horses, eagle rays, conger eels and even an anglerfish or two. Nudibranchs are also quite common.

A night dive at Edithburgh is really quite special. You’ll very likely find the sea horses out and about, and if you’re really lucky, some pyjama squid. If you get the chance, its well worth it.

Wool Bay

Wool Bay is renowned for its leafy sea dragons. The site itself is fairly indistinct, lots of vegetation, but very few standout features. You may find an occasional fish or crab, but that’s not really why you’d go there.

A shallow jetty dive, Wool Bay doesn’t get much deeper than 3m. The challenge in the dive is finding the weeds that aren’t really weeds — ie the fishy kind. The sea dragons blend in perfectly with their environment and it is very tricky to actually find one. They are usually found towards the end of the jetty just off to the sides. Its quite a rewarding experience unmasking one of nature’s greatest masquerader.

Port Victoria

Port Victoria’s jetty is yet another easy, picturesque dive. It’s hard to get much below 5m here, but it doesn’t really matter. The pylons are completely covered in sponges and ferns and the fish life abounds. The jetty is quite long and L-shaped, with nice access points. There’s a short walk from the car park to the jetty and entry is via the ramp on the right hand side, or the steps at the L-section.

One of the benefits of the Yorke Peninsula is that there’s always somewhere to dive, no matter what the conditions. If Edithburgh is blown out, try Port Victoria. The wind always favours one of these spots. On a good day it can be magical.

There isn’t much of interest off to the sides of the jetty — most of the fish and critters stay underneath. There’s cowfish, sea horses, nudibranchs and globefish everywhere. In the right season there’s also lots of crabs “getting busy”.

Stenhouse Bay

If you’re looking for something a bit out of the way, and almost guaranteed to be deserted as far as divers go, try Stenhouse Bay. In the heart of Innes National Park, it’s quite a drive to get there — and a long walk to the jetty. Entry to the water is via the metal ladder at the shallow end of the jetty — its a bit precarious though so it’s worth taking a rope to lower the gear down (and to make getting back up a lot easier too!).

Once you’re in though, you’re in for a treat. The jetty is covered in brilliantly coloured gorgonian fans, ascidians and sponges. The fish are everywhere and so are the lobsters. We counted at least 6 in a small group of rocks off to the side of the jetty. If you’re lucky, you might even get buzzed by a seal.

Boat Dives

The Dredge

The wreck of the South Australian, a steam dredge, lies in about 20m of water. Its a very easy dive with lots of fish life. The dredge was scuttled in 1985 and still retains most of its features. There are some great swim throughs, as well as a few entry point for wreck divers.

There are always schools of leatherjackets on the deck, bullseyes in the bridge and some strongies and other larger fish resting under the stern. The hull is covered in sponges and ferns and is home to lots of little fish.

The Dredge makes for a great night dive since it’s very open with minimal hazards. For some reason, I don’t seem to have taken my camera along on any of the dives I’ve done there.

The Barge

Not the most exciting of dives, the Barge resembles a big rectangular box. Its a pretty easy dive and one that comes up fairly often with the charter operations, usually in conjunction with the Dredge, which is located about 80m south-east. The Barge was sunk in 1984 and is still intact. There’s not really much to say about it unfortunately — its one of those dives that you do when there’s nothing else on offer.

• Depth: 18m
• Location: About 3.4Nm (6km) WSW from the West Beach Boat ramp.

The Claris

There are two parts to the Claris, a 12m long boat and a wheel­house from another boat. The fish are abun­dant and its quite an inter­est­ing spot. It seems very pop­u­lar with the anglers too. The wrecks lie in 25m of water which means you don’t really have much time to try and find it if you hap­pen to anchor nowhere near the thing (as we found out on one rather unevent­ful “sand” dive!).

The gurnard perch cover the sandy bot­tom, so you really need to be care­ful when set­tling down on the sand since they are quite well cam­ou­flaged. There are bullseyes every­where in quite large schools, and plenty of mag­pie perch, moon­lighters and the occa­sional snap­per. We even man­aged to find a 2m wobbe­gong swim­ming around us.

ex-HMAS Hobart

The HMAS Hobart was scuttled at the end of 2002 near Wirrina, south of Adelaide. The Hobart is a Charles F Adams class guided missile destroyer, about 130m long and 14m wide. Its sitting about 4nm off shore in 30m of water. The site is subject to very strong currents, so its best to dive the site on a dodge tide when the current is much weaker. Because of its size, you’ll need quite a few dives to see everything.

Not too many fish call the wreck home, but really that’s not the purpose for visiting the Hobart. The ship is pretty well cleaned out but there are still some interesting spots to visit. The bridge is a popular spot, as are the toilets for some reason. A fair bit of growth has gathered on the hull which is very colourful. One fish that can be found in abundance is the flathead — they literally line the sand, although because they blend in so well its hard to see them until you’re almost on top of them.

The dive boats tie off to one of the moorings points. The ship reaches to about 5m from the surface, so its quite a good trip going from the top of the antenna tower to the deck. Try descending down one of the funnels for a torrent of streaming bubbles.

Stanvac Barges

Collectively known as the Stanvac Barges, the ships at Port Stanvac are actually two barges and a dredge. Most of the time, the larger dredge is the focus of the dives. This one was known as the Saurian and its about 50m in length so there’s plenty to see. The ships are in about 28m of water, so bottom time is fairly limited. The silt is also quite fine so it can get stirred up fairly easily. Nonetheless, its quite an enjoyable dive: plenty of growth on the hull as the ships have been on the bottom since 1954.

Seacliff Reef

It took me a while to get out to Seacliff Reef, but it was well worth the wait. A very relaxing dive, the reef stretches out in a crescent shape at about 12-15m. It doesn’t have that many distinguishing features so it’s a good idea to make a note of where you started so you know where to come back to. This fishlife here is incredible — you won’t see so many Southern Blue Devils in any other area — they’re everywhere. There are plenty of hiding spots for fish and other critters which makes for some great exploring.

Port Noarlunga Tyre Reef

Its probably not a dive you’d do on its own, since there’s a couple of neat ships right next to it, but the tyre reef at Noarlunga is still nice. The reef is made up of a bunch of tyre pyramids spread out over a wide area. The pyramids are hollow and lots of little fish are found poking their heads out for a look at the silly people in neoprene.

The reef is located right next to the Lumb so more than likely, you’ll visit the Lumb and take a look at the tyre reef, rather than the other way around. Even so, there are lots of neat fish, including some very large boarfish which call the reef home. The reef is in about 20m of water, making for a comfortable dive.

The Drop Off

A bit like the spot in Finding Nemo, the Drop Off is a flat ledge at 5m which drops off to 20m. This is a very pretty dive, but it’s a long boat ride from O’Sullivan’s Beach boat ramp (about an hour). One of the striking features of the site is the abundance of gorgonian fans. Ranging in shades from yellow to red, they are really spectacular. The site is quite spread out but fairly easy to navigate around.

Aldinga Pinnacles

The Pinnacles at Aldinga are tall vertical pillars of rock rising up from the sand at 18m to about 5m from the surface. They make a great swim through and house a wide variety of fish and crustaceans. You’re almost guaranteed to find Southern Blue Devils here.

This site is quite close to the Drop Off, so its likely that you’d dive both on a trip out there (being an hour from the boat ramp, it makes sense to at least do two dives).

Norma

The Norma is a wreck with quite a bit of history. It was used as a cargo ship during the early 1900’s and had a number of mishaps and close encounters. In 1907 it was accidently rammed by the Ardencraig and sank in 14m of water, about 5km out from Semaphore. Because of the height of the masts, a couple of ships actually ran into the Norma, and one sank right on top. To put a stop to this, the Norma was exploded and thus leaving the wreckage that is there today.

The site is quite spread out, and its hard to recognise much of the original ship. The bow is still partially intact and a couple of masts are laying off in different directions.

There’s a lot of life around the site and there’s plenty to see. Mostly smaller fish, there is also a resident, and rather large, wobbegong that likes to sleep on the bow.

Lumb

The Lumb was a steel tug in its former life, before being sunk as an artificial reef in 1994. The wreck sits near both the Sea Wolf and the Port Noarlunga tyre reef, so if you’re not going to penetrate the wrecks, its pretty easy to visit all three on the one dive. The hull of the Lumb is quite open but its usually quite silty. The fine sand is also very easy to kick up.

Most of the ship is still intact, and it can be penetrated quite easily. You’ll find lots of smaller fish around the wreck, schools of leatherjackets and some bigger morwongs under the stern.

Sea Wolf

The Sea Wolf is a deliberately sunk wreck off Port Noarlunga. It lies on its starboard side in 20m of water alongside the Noarlunga tyre reef. The wreck is set up for divers with access points throughout.

Sunk in 2002, there’s plenty of growth over the ship and a few fish to find around the place. Visibility can be a bit limited due to the fine silt. The Lumb sits about 15m away from the Sea Wolf — its usually visible from the Sea Wolf, but its best to run a line between them.

Dive sites I haven’t visited yet

As mentioned at the top of the page, this list is just the sites that I’ve had the opportunity to visit. There are plenty more sites available to divers in South Australia. Here are some of them, in no particular order (hopefully I’ll get to visit them all at some stage!)

• The John Robb
• Somerton Reef
• Grange Tyre Reef
• Glenelg Tyre Reef
• The Blocks
• Broken Bottom
• Mac’s Ground
• Milkie’s Reef
• The Bluff
• The Investigator
• The Australian
• Point Turton
• Port Hughes
• Port Giles
• The Songvaar
• The Zanoni
• BHP Jetty
• Ardrossan
• Star of Greece
• AV Ulonga
• Victor Harbor — The Bluff
• Clan Ranald
• Anything near Mt Gambier

Diving is a remarkable sport — being able to visit the underwater world adds a whole new dimension to life.

There are two parts to the Claris, a 12m long boat and a wheelhouse from another boat. The fish are abundant and its quite an interesting spot. It seems very popular with the anglers too. The wrecks lie in 25m of water which means you don’t really have much time to try and find it if you happen to anchor nowhere near the thing (as we found out on one rather uneventful “sand” dive!).

The gurnard perch cover the sandy bottom, so you really need to be careful when settling down on the sand since they are quite well camouflaged. There are bullseyes everywhere in quite large schools, and plenty of magpie perch, moonlighters and the occasional snapper. We even managed to find a 2m wobbegong swimming around us.

One of the best jetty dives in South Australia — two jetties for the price of one!

It’s often touted as one of the best local jetty dives around. The long T-shaped steel jetty can provide a very nice, easy dive on a good day. The current can get pretty strong too, so that’s one thing to watch for.

Once you’re in, its a very pretty dive with lots of smaller fish, sponges and nudis all the way along the jetty, and huge schools of fish living under the T-section. Its also a good place to find both leafy and weedy sea dragons.

We’ve just come back from an amazing weekend of diving on the Yorke Peninsula. It has to be one of my favourite places to kick back, relax and get in some fantastic dives.

Our first day was one of adventure. We had no real plans for where to go, it was going to be a “see what we could find” day. We travelled down the coast from Edithburgh and out towards Troubridge Point. We came across a site that could maybe possibly be dived, but the sheer drop from the cliff face was a bit much for us. The decision was made to give a go.

After a fairly long drive, we would up at Innes National Park, and after paying the entry fee we were on our way. We managed to get the key to unlock the bollards and get the trailer down to the jetty. Its quite a drop from the jetty to the water, so it was one-by-one down the ladder and into the water.

Stenhouse Bay Jetty

Descending the Stenhouse ladder

Once in, it proved to be a spectacular dive, one that we’d never done before. The jetty pylons are covered in vibrant gorgonian fans and sponges. There’s lots of little fish around, and the girls even managed to find a seal.

Fans and pylon growth on the jetty

Some of the gorgonian fans on the jetty pylons

We had quite a long dive, so that pretty much killed off the rest of the day, until the sun set…

After a quick bite to eat at the Edithburgh Hotel, we kitted back up, switched on the lights and jumped back into the water at the . Almost instantly we encountered a treasure trove of critters — pyjama squid, seahorses and crabs everywhere.

Short-head Seahorse

A pyjama squid buried in the sand

The next day we had another leisurely dive on the Edithburgh jetty. This was a great chance to get stuck into some macro photography and sure enough there was plenty to find. Nudibranchs were everywhere, but we only managed to find one sneaky little seahorse off to the side of the jetty.

Fan worm

White fan worm

Ceratosoma brevicaudatum

All in all, it was a blast, and I can’t wait to get back out there again!

One of the best dive sites around

The jetty at Edithburgh is one of the most colourful shore dives around. The pylons are incredibly rich in life, covered with sponges, fans and little critters. The jetty itself is reasonably short but wide, supported by pylons in rows of 4. Don’t bother trying to count pylons as a mode of orientation — it can get a bit confusing!

The water ranges from 3m to 12m+ and visibility is usually decent (6-8m). Entry points are steps on either side of the jetty, giant stride off the side, or for the more adventurous, a giant stride off the deep end.

There’s always plenty to see both under the jetty and off to the sides. There’s always lots of fish, blue swimmer and decorated crabs, sea horses, eagle rays, conger eels and even an anglerfish or two. Nudibranchs are also quite common.

A night dive at Edithburgh is really quite special. You’ll very likely find the sea horses out and about, and if you’re really lucky, some pyjama squid. If you get the chance, its well worth it.

12►

Stenhouse Bay is quite a challenge to get to, but its well worth the trip.

I decided to put together a page listing all the dive sites I know about in Adelaide and South Australia. After a bit of research, it turned out to be quite a long list! Its taken quite some time to gather all the info, along with the physical locations of the sites, as well as photos and videos that I’ve taken while under the water.

Take a squizz and see if you’re not amazed at how many sites we have in this great little state of ours.

Adelaide & South Australian dive sites

We spent a week on the island of Espiritu Santo, primarily to dive the SS President Coolidge. The experience was very different to our time on Hideaway Island — a much more “regimented” feeling was apparent. Still, we had a great time, and again, the diving was extraordinary.

SS President Coolidge

The first dive on the Coolidge took us to the Promenade Deck

The dive guides had a thing for removing their regs and blowing bubble rings — quite clever of them!

Million Dollar Point

We decided to try a dive at Million Dollar Point — basically a huge rubbish pile, full of tractors, bulldozers, trucks, jeeps and other assorted machinery that the US Army decided to dump after World War 2. Quite a waste really, but it does make for a great dive.

Fish feeding

The fish at the deco stop on the Coolidge are very much used to divers, so much so that when anyone brings along a bit of food, there’s a mad dash and a feeding frenzy ensues.

Lionfish

Our last dive on the Coolidge was a night dive — and the most amazing part of it was the lionfish activity! These fish come out at night to hunt the smaller reef fish — watch the video to see how it all works out!

The following videos were taken during our week on Hideaway Island in Vanuatu. We had the most amazing experience during our time there — the people were amazing, the food was fantastic and the diving was out of this world!

We couldn’t believe how many different dives there were for such a tiny place, and all within a 15 minute boat ride of the island. We saw so many creatures, and such fantastic reef life — it was a true adventure. There’s no doubt — we’d go back at the drop of a hat!

Clown Colony Reef

The Clown Colony Reef was an amazing place, full of clown fish and the anemonies that they live with.

The Aloara

The wreck of the Aloara lies on its side, which allows a pocket of air to remain trapped in the hull. This means you can take out your regulator at 20-odd metres, and have a chat at the bottom of the ocean. The air’s a bit stale, but still breathable!

The christmas trees on the corals are really beautiful, but they’re very timid — its quite a bit of fun to swim over them and watch them shrink back into their holes!

Another swim through on one of the amazing reefs

Red Flame File Clam

This was one of the most amazing sights I have experienced to date. This brilliant red clam has a “flaming” white lip that flashes and streaks vibrantly in the night. I’d only ever seen them on David Attenborough documentaries. I couldn’t believe that I was seeing one!