Fish Rock Cave, South West Rocks

Verified2026-09-30 checkedCaveReef

Australia’s only true ocean-through cave, and grey nurse sharks stacked at the shallow end of it.

Depth: 12–24 m39–79 ft
Difficulty: Advanced
Entry: Boat
Typical current: Moderate
Coordinates: 30°56.418′S 153°4.986′E
Activities: Scuba

Fish Rock is a 125 m tunnel that runs right through an island, entered at 24 m at the deep end and exiting at 12 m — the only ocean-through cave dive in Australia. It is dark in the middle and needs a torch and a guide, but it is not a technical dive. The draw is what waits outside the shallow end: grey nurse sharks, critically endangered on this coast, hang in the gutter in numbers through summer. They look alarming and are not; the ragged teeth are for fish. Do not block the gutter, and let them pass.

Twenty minutes by boat from South West Rocks, which is about six hours north of Sydney by road.

Best season

ExcellentDec–Mar
GoodNov
FairApr–Oct

Before you get in

An overhead environment: there is no direct ascent to the surface. Not a dive to make without the training, a guideline and redundant gas.

Taken from this site’s recorded depth, type and current, and nothing else. An empty list is not a safe site — the sea on the day, the local geography and the boat traffic are not in it. The briefing on the spot comes first.

Conditions

Water temperature: 20.6°C69°F
Wave height: 2.1 m7 ft
Air temperature: 13.1°C56°F
Wind speed: 15.4 km/h9.6 mph

Updated 2026-10-07 16:15 UTC · Source: Open-Meteo

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0)

Conditions are reported for information only. Assess the site yourself and follow your guide and your training.

No live conditions for this site yet.

We only show numbers we can attribute to a source.

Sea state and tide

On a date

Tide · 10/8

Low00:37-0.49 m
High06:420.76 m
Low12:37-0.33 m
High18:481.03 m

Forecast heights against mean sea level. Real tides in a bay, a harbour or over a flat can differ — check an official tide table before you get in.

Pick a day to see its tide

Only wave height and wind are scored, because those are what close a boat ramp or a shore entry. Water temperature is reported and never scored: 12°C is an ordinary dive in a drysuit and punishing in a 3 mm, and a number that cannot see your suit has no business marking it down. Stars do not decide whether you get in — you and your guide do, on the day.

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0)

Marine life you may see

Grey nurse sharkCarcharias taurusCommon
Tasselled wobbegongEucrossorhinus dasypogonCommon
Weedy seadragonPhyllopteryx taeniolatusSeasonal
Port Jackson sharkHeterodontus portusjacksoniSeasonal

From divers

What people who were in the water reported. Not a forecast, and not a judgement about whether the site is safe to dive.

No recent reports from divers. If you dived here in the last two weeks, you can say how it was.

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