Getting in
As a shore dive, choose a calm day and be ready for the climb: the walk back up the cliff afterwards is hard work. The cave entrance is a short swim north of the usual entry point . On rough days it can also be reached by boat.
Inside the cave
Swim to the back along the right-hand wall. The walls glow red with jewel anemones, mixed with pale lilac sponges and yellow ascidians. Moray eels, red rock cod and starfish peer out of the cracks, and nudibranchs are common, including the occasional blue dragon. Big wobbegongs and schooling catfish shelter towards the back.
Schools of bullseyes and yellowtail hang in the chasm. Dive it in the morning and the bullseyes are lit from behind by shafts of sunlight. Blue groper visit a long-standing cleaner station where banded coral shrimp work.
Photography
The site suits both macro and wide-angle work: nudibranchs and shrimp on the walls, and the light streaming into the gutter.
Where it is
What you might see
- Jewel anemones
- Moray eels
- Wobbegong sharks
- Bullseyes
- Eastern blue groper
- Banded coral shrimp
- Nudibranchs
Nearby sites
- Shore dive · Terrigal Terrigal HavenTerrigal Haven is the small harbour beside the Skillion headland in Terrigal, with a boat ramp on its shore. It’s a shallow shore dive, and young grey nurse sharks are known to gather here.
- Boat dive · Terrigal Foggy CaveA large sea cave cut about 12 metres into the base of a cliff [OWNER: confirm Foggy Cave’s location (off Terrigal?) and that it is a boat dive]. Grey nurse sharks gather here in season, which makes it one of the area’s best-known deep dives.
- Shore dive · Swansea, Lake Macquarie Swansea BridgeSwansea Channel is Lake Macquarie’s only opening to the sea, so huge volumes of water flow through it with every tide. The pylons of the opening bridge that carries the Pacific Highway across the channel have become a fish-packed artificial reef.10 m
- Boat dive · Catherine Hill Bay Wreck of the AdvanceAn iron steam tug that sank off Catherine Hill Bay on Christmas Day 1908 after colliding with the barque she had come out to meet. She sits upright on sand in deep water.43 m
