Diving & Travel Guide to New South Wales – South Coast

About New South Wales – South Coast

The South Coast of New South Wales, stretching from Batemans Bay to the Victorian border, is one of Australia's most pristine and rewarding temperate-water diving regions, offering extraordinary encounters with grey nurse sharks, dramatic underwater landscapes, and some of the cleanest waters on the Australian east coast. Montague Island, located 9 kilometers offshore from Narooma, is the region's crown jewel and one of Australia's top dive destinations, with resident colonies of Australian and New Zealand fur seals providing unforgettable interactive encounters alongside massive schools of kingfish, trevally, and the occasional visiting manta ray or sunfish. The island's volcanic geology creates dramatic walls, gutters, and bommies covered in vibrant sponge gardens and kelp forests. Narooma's Bar Beach and Glasshouse Rocks offer exceptional shore diving with prolific marine life in crystal-clear waters, while Bermagui to the south provides reliable grey nurse shark encounters at sites along the rugged coastline. Tathra Wharf, one of Australia's best pier dives, offers easy access to an underwater world of cuttlefish, octopus, sea dragons, and schooling fish beneath and around the historic timber structure. Merimbula's Long Point and The Wharf provide accessible diving with abundant marine life, while Eden, at the southern end of the coast, offers historic wreck diving with the SS Empire Gladstone and the Tasman Hauler alongside diverse marine environments in Twofold Bay. The South Coast's remote and uncrowded nature, combined with its outstanding seafood, pristine national parks, and growing wine region, makes it one of Australia's most compelling dive travel destinations for those willing to venture beyond the well-known sites.

Highlights

• ✓Montague Island – seal colonies with interactive encounters alongside pelagic fish
• ✓Grey nurse shark encounters at Bermagui and surrounding headlands
• ✓Tathra Wharf – one of Australia's best pier dives with sea dragons
• ✓Glasshouse Rocks and Bar Beach at Narooma with exceptional shore diving
• ✓Eden's historic wreck diving with the SS Empire Gladstone and Tasman Hauler
• ✓Pristine, uncrowded waters with outstanding visibility year-round

Getting There

The South Coast is accessed via a scenic drive from Sydney (approximately 3 hours to Batemans Bay via the Kings Highway or 4-5 hours to Narooma via the Princes Highway) or from Canberra (2-3 hours to the southern coast). The region does not have a major commercial airport, though Moruya Airport receives regional flights from Sydney. The main dive departure points are Narooma (for Montague Island, 30-minute boat ride), Bermagui, Tathra, Merimbula, and Eden. Several well-established dive operators run daily trips from Narooma to Montague Island during favorable weather, and the shore diving throughout the region is accessible from headlands, beaches, and wharves. The South Coast is best explored by car, as the dive sites are spread along 300 kilometers of coastline, and the scenic Princes Highway drive is one of Australia's most beautiful coastal routes.