Sydney shore spots for a mini scuba tank: Cabbage Tree Bay, Gordons Bay, Clovelly and Bare Island

Sydney has rocky reefs a few steps from the sand. With a mask and snorkel you see them from above. With a small tank you can stay level with the fish for a few minutes, look under a ledge, follow a trail. These four spots are all shore entries and all well known, so pick a calm day and go early.

Cabbage Tree Bay, Manly

The bay between the southern end of Manly Beach and Shelly Beach headland is a no-take aquatic reserve of about 20 hectares. Northern Beaches Council lists swimming, snorkelling, scuba diving and underwater photography among the activities there.

The rules are strict and simple:

• no fishing of any kind;
• no harming or collecting any animal or plant, dead or alive, empty shells included;
• no feeding the fish, and no breaking urchins to do it.

Shelly Beach is the usual entry: it faces west, inside the headland, and it is sheltered on most days.

Gordons Bay, Coogee

Between Clovelly and Coogee, Gordons Bay has an underwater nature trail: concrete-filled drums about 20 m apart, linked by a chain, with information plaques. Randwick City Council gives the trail at 600 m and about forty minutes on scuba; the NSW fisheries page gives 500 m. On a clear day you can follow it from the surface, and a small tank lets you drop down to read a plaque or look into a crack.

Gordons Bay is part of the Bronte-Coogee Aquatic Reserve. Some activities are allowed there, but collecting is restricted: check the reserve rules before you take anything at all.

Clovelly Beach

A narrow bay between two rocky ridges, with a breakwater at the mouth that keeps it calm. Randwick City Council calls it a very popular snorkelling site with a wide range of marine life. It is also part of the Bronte-Coogee Aquatic Reserve. Expect swimmers doing laps along the edges in the morning, so keep to the side and watch your fins.

Bare Island and Congwong Beach, La Perouse

At the northern side of Botany Bay, in Kamay Botany Bay National Park. NSW National Parks describes the water around Bare Island Fort as one of the most popular scuba diving sites in the state, and Congwong Beach nearby as a favourite for snorkelling, especially in spring and autumn. There is boat traffic in the bay, so a surface float with a dive flag is worth taking.

Planning the day

• After rain, wait. Stormwater makes the water murky and can affect water quality. NSW Beachwatch publishes water quality for Sydney beaches, Clovelly and Gordons Bay included.
• Look at the swell and the wind before you go. A calm bay one day can be rough the next.
• Dive with someone. Agree on signals and stay close.
• Know your air. Near the surface and at rest, the 0.5 L OX500 and OX500Plus give up to 8 minutes, the 1 L OX1000 around 15 and the 2.3 L OX2000 20 to 25. Cold water and finning against a current shorten that.
• Stay shallow and keep the rules: breathe continuously, never hold your breath on the way up, ascend slowly. Our safety guide has the details.
• Refill at home. A 0.5 L tank refills in about 12 minutes on the 12 V / 220 V compressor, so you can top up between two sessions.

If you take a boat out instead of walking in, our dive flag guide explains the 60 m rule that applies in NSW.

Sources

• Northern Beaches Council, Cabbage Tree Bay Aquatic Reserve
• NSW Department of Primary Industries, Cabbage Tree Bay Aquatic Reserve and Bronte-Coogee Aquatic Reserve
• Randwick City Council, Gordons Bay and Clovelly Beach
• NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, La Perouse area and Congwong Beach
• NSW Government, Beachwatch

Reserve rules can change. Read the signs at the entry before you get in.