Dive Newcastle at Swansea is located just 20 meters from the dive site entrance at Swansea bridge perfectly located to go shore diving. Swansea is the place where people in Newcastle come to dive and is only 15 minutes from the Central Coast and 2 hours from Sydney.

The world- famous Swansea bridge dive site lies below the Swansea Bridge close to the mouth of Lake Macquarie, Australia’s largest salt water lake. The incoming and outgoing tide “feed” a diverse wildlife in the massive ecosystem under the bridge.

The current bridge pilons and remaining structures of the “old” bridge create an amazing artificial reef that looks and acts much like a ship wreck. The entire area is covered in a diverse marine vegetation growth which supports an abundance of marine life from leather -jackets, sea horses, octopus, cuttlefish and teaming schools of luderick or bream are seen on every dive. With such a hive of activity you can see almost anything cruising in and out of the Lake including rays, kingfish or salmon.

You can only dive “comfortably” under the bridge on still water at high or low tide. High tide is generally the best visibility. We post tide times every week on our website and or facebook. Also, very exciting is a drift dive. You can saw like an eagle down the channel. Good dive skills are required for this dive. Some adventurous people venture into high speed drifts. Only for every experience divers. There are many interesting dives on both sides of the channel and you can literally perform hundreds of dives and see something knew on every dive.

While diving Swansea Bridge can be a very easy dive there are some very important aspects of the site you should be briefed on before the dive. We strongly recommend you join one of our guided dives – ask the store for details. With so much amazing diving close by why not stay the weekend, Swansea has accommodation to suit any budget, and if you have a non-diving partner, there is so much to keep them occupied.

 

• Longitude, Latitude

-33.0859, 151.6407

• Tips for Diving

We recommend not using an SMB under the Swansea Bridge due to the high current. Swansea channel is a very place with high volume of boat and jet ski traffic, so we recommend ascending against the wall, boat ramp or Blackneds bay only.

The old coal loader is the dominating feature of the bay, a shallow dive that goes to about 11m. Under and about the coal loader you can find a plethora of ship chains, cables and hardware including the remains of the SS Wallarah. Being a relatively sandy dive, you will also likely get to see a few rays!

The pylons of the old coal loader have spent decades growing their own reef and are now home to lots of fish species and nudibranch. To the south of the loader is the calmest entry and exit point for the area, a shallow dive with schooling fish and, like the loader, a plethora of ship chains, cables and hardware. Follow a chain and see what you end up with!

There are literally dozens of dive sites on the shoreline off the rocks at Catherine Hill bay but Dive Newcastle recommend a guide for diving these areas for the first time.

Flagstaff is a great shore dive only 5 minutes’ drive from Newcastle Dive at Swansea. It is a small bay right at the heads and is also protected from swell by Moon Island. Unless the winds are blowing from the South East diving is generally protected.

The dive site ranges in bottom topography from sandy areas where the rays like to hang to green/yellow weedy sea gardens where the fish and Nudibranch like to hide. That mixed with a backdrop of giant boulders make for a beautiful dive. Other critters that have been spotted on this site are Port-Jackson sharks, spotted rays, schools of mullet, king fish and Australian salmon!

Over the winter period when the water is beautifully clear, between Flagstaff and Moon Island we are lucky enough to get visits from the Grey Nurse Sharks. Grey Nurse are large Sharks but known to be “friendly” to divers and non aggressive. It’s a great time to dive Swansea region!

How to Get There

You can enter from the sandy beach at the bay or off the rocks just south of the bay. It's a shallow dive ranging in depth from 5 metres to 8 metres, Flagstaff suits all ranges of diver skills.

Being within relatively close distance to Nelson Bay, Dive Newcastle love taking advantage of the beautiful shore dives they have on offer! Halifax is the perfect dive site for all dive levels with a gently sloping bottom from 5 metres down to 25 metres.

It boasts a stunning range of both soft and hard corals which gives life to a huge array of marine species, including Port Jackson sharks, blind sharks, rays, friendly blue gropers, nudibranch and loads more!

Great site for beginners. Cabbage tree bay is a sandy bottle, wall dive, so you follow the wall reef out and back.

Maximum Depth
3 to 9 metres
Dive Type
Shore Dive
Recommended Experience
Beginner Divers
Entry
Beach Entry left of the boat ramp
Exits
Beach Exit left of the boat ramp
Current
Low current. Get current on an outgoing tide. Best to dive on a low swell day but it protected form any South Eastly winds. Recommend not diving on a North Easterly.
Average Temperature
24 to 14 degrees.
Marine Life
Rays
Stripeys
Wobbegong
Port Jackson
Numb rays
Longitude, Latitude
-33.2785,151.5690
There is a lower and upper car park on Bald Street
Tips for Diving
The boat ramp is still occasionally used so be careful of boats.

Dive the headland at Snapper point it is a rocky headland with many swim throughs, boulders, overhangs, arches, and beautiful sponge walls.

Depth
5 to 12 metres
Dive Type
Shore Dive
Adventure Dive
Wall/Drop off
Recommended Experience
Advanced to Expert
Entry
Giant stride of the rocks
Enter via Bongon Beach head left around the rocks
Exits
Exit via Bongon Beach
Current
Light current
Average Temperature
24 to 14 degrees.
Marine Life

Longitude, Latitude
-33.187847, 151.628416

Tips for Diving
Best to dive on a day when there is under 1 metre swell.

 

Terrigal Heaven is an easily accessible dive site with and easy exit and entry point. The dive site itself has a sloping sandy bottom. Underneath the moored boats is sand flats and seagrass. The seagrass in the Haven is a much-overlooked habitat with some of the most interesting critters. Follow the rocks on the right-hand side out and left-hand side exiting your dive. The is a Giant Anchor at the point sitting in 10metres of water and you can follow the rocks on out further to 15metres.
Maximum Depth
3 to 15 metres
Dive Type
Shore Dive
Recommended Experience
Beginner to Advanced Divers
Entry
Head down the steps right side of the Terrigal boat ramp and enter via the shore. Be careful there are the occasional rock or dip in the sand here
Exits
Exit in the same location as entry
Current
Light Current
Average Temperature
24 to 14 degrees.
Marine Life
Pipefish
Seahorses
Anglerfish
Sea hares
Nudibranchs
Silver bream
Snapper
Blue Groper
Grey Nurse sharks
Lobsters
Longitude, Latitude
-33.447, 151.4500

Desoto Inlet is a shallow boat dive or shore dive via Catherine Hill Bay. Consisting of overhangs and large rocks. It gets its name from an Old Desoto motor vehicle driven off the cliff into the inlet. Desoto Inlet is on the southern side of the south point, about 80m long and 10m wide. You will alternatively hear the site called Honda hole.
Maximum Depth
5 to 16 metres
Dive Type
Boat or Shore Dive
Macro Dive
Wall/Drop Off
Recommended Experience
Advanced to Expert
Entry
Boat Entry from entrance of the outlet
Giant stride off the rocks
Exits
Exit via boat
Exit via Catherine hill bay if you are diving as a shore dive.
Current
Middle current especially within the Desoto inlet
Average Temperature
24 to 14 degrees.
Marine Life
Yellowtail
Silver Sweep
Flatheads
Port Jackson Sharks
Wobbegong Sharks
Rays
Shrimp
Nudibranch
Longitude, Latitude
-33.1608, 151.6348
For boat entry you will have to dock your boat at Swansea channel and motor down
For shore diving you will need to park at Catherine hill bay life savings and walk around the headlands to Desoto
Bring your camera!

Park at the end of Teramby Road and walk down past the fish and chip shop to where there are handy concrete steps down into the water. You want to dive this site on the high tide on the incoming water as it is a tidal site, and the incoming water will bring in the clear visibility giving you better visibility. To find the pipe you want to follow down is left about 10 metres west of the steps. Follow the pipe down and back you will see plenty!
Depth
14 to 18metres
Dive Type
Shore Dive
Photography dive
Recommended Experience
Beginner to Expert Diver
Entry
Exit via the concrete steps into the water
Exits
Exit via the concrete steps into the water
Current
Light to extreme current, must be dived on the high or low tide and the high with the incoming tide will be better visibility.
Average Temperature
24 to 14 degrees.
Marine Life
Sea horse
Nudibranchs
Cuttlefish
Decorator crabs
Moray eels
Sea hares
Bream
Lobster
Port Jackson
Rays
Longitude, Latitude
-32.4344, 152.827
Tips for Diving