Adelaide, Australia

Diving Adelaide

Adelaide Dive Sites, Underwater Photography and Marine Life

 

Adelaide offers an excellent selection of temperate water diving filled with beautiful invertebrate life, a myriad of fish species, and of course the famous Leafy Sea Dragon. Lovers of marine life will not be disappointed here.

 

Best Adelaide Dive Sites

 

  • Rapid Bay Jetty - the best dive site in South Australia
  • Edithburgh Jetty - beautiful shore dive with colorful pilings, nudibranchs, sea horses and leafy sea dragons
  • Wreck of the HMAS Hobart - large wreck dove by boat. The wreck is 133 meters long, the depth is 30meters deep at the bottom, and rises as shallow as 5 meters.
  • Kangaroo Island - is supposed to have some very good dive sites
  • Bluff at Victor Harbour
  • Whyalla - you want to dive here in cuttlefish mating season, from July to September to see the Giant cuttlefish mating
  • There's more dive sites at Ben's site here.

 

rapid bay jetty underwater, Adelaide

Underwater school of fish at the Rapid Bay Jetty

 

Adelaide Marine Life & Photography subjects

 

  • Fur Seals
  • Cuttlefish - Giant cuttlefish mating is a great site to see at Whyalla. Otherwise squid and cuttlefish can occasionally be spotted at many of the local dive sites.
  • Leafy Sea Dragons
  • Short-spined Sea Horses
  • Colorful Tunicates - found all over the piers of the jetties
  • Nudibranchs - a good assortment of nudibranchs is found on the wrecks and piers around Adelaide, such as at Edithburgh jetty.
  • Port Jackson Sharks - known as Horn sharks in California, these small harmless sharks usually rest on the bottom
  • Pajama squid - found on night dives at the Edithburgh jetty 
  • Weedy sea dragon - not as commonly seen as the Leafy around Adelaide, but still spotted sometimes
  • Anglerfish - known as frogfish in most the world, they occassionally pop up at a dive site
  • Great White Sharks - dive with them safely in cages, and hope you don't see one outside of one. The diving is done out of Port Lincoln.

 

crab underwater photo

Crab underwater on a pier piling in Adealide

 

Best time to dive Adelaide

 

Adelaide water temperatures

 

15 degrees in the winter (August/September), up to 19-21 degrees Celsius in the summer (January / February)

 

Adelaide underwater visibility

 

Varies, anywhere from 5-20 meters, depending on depth and distance from shore.

 

Where to stay while diving Adelaide

 

Adelaide city is a good place to use as a base, and you can do daily trips to the shore diving locations. Sometimes divers will spend a night on the Yorke Peninsula near Edithburgh in order to get some early dives in the area. You can read more about shore diving with a dSLR underwater camera rig.

 

Adelaide Underwater Photography Tips

 

  • Explore the different habitats of each dive site, there's different fish species in the different surfgrass, eelgrass, and other habitats.
  • The ends of the jetties have the most concentration of marine life
  • Check tide tables to avoid strong currents
  • Most dive sites are good for macro and wide-angle
  • Shore diving is great and easily accessible

 

Adelaide Underwater Photos

 

tunicates on a pier piling at the edithburgh jetty, adelaide

Tunicates on a pier piling at the edithburgh jetty, Adelaide

 

leafy sea dragon, adelaide

Photo of the famous leafy sea dragon

 

Further Reading

 

Underwater Photography dive destinations

Dive site research and planning

Diver's delight dive shop - for rentals and Leafy dragon tours

 

 

diver and featherduster underwater at the edithburgh jetty, adelaide

Lots of invertebrate marine life at the Edithburgh Jetty

 

Further Reading

 

The Best Dive Destinations

 

Diving Milford Sound, New Zealand

SUPPORT THE UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY GUIDE:

The Best Service & Prices on u/w Photo Gear

 

Visit Bluewater Photo & Video for all your underwater photography and video gear. Click, or call the team at (310) 633-5052 for expert advice!

 


The Best Pricing, Service & Expert Advice to Book your Dive Trips

 

Bluewater Travel is your full-service scuba travel agency. Let our expert advisers plan and book your next dive vacation. Run by divers, for divers.