Pipeline Dive Site, Nelson Bay, NSW

Site Overview
Site Type: Expansive, shallow macro photography area
Depth: Median: 7M Bottom: 11M
Location: West of the Marina, accessed via Teramby Road

Pipeline dive site is about 100 m x 100 m and shelving to no more than 12 m all to the east of the submarine cable that runs due north from the sign on the shoreline.

Various man-made items like tyres, lobster pots, and pipes dot the site and act as navigational aids, but you can wander randomly around knowing that the exit is simply up the slope.

If you’re the kind of diver the likes a map, ask for one at the local friendly Let’s Go Adventures dive shop.

The area is littered with cuttlefish. Observe one for a whole and you might be treated to a display of a number of ‘moods’

Looking for a Dive Destination with big Grey Nurse Sharks & Blue Gropers and small stuff like seahorses and nudis. Start diving Nelson Bay – it has them all

This perfectly formed Seapen makes a great subject for photography – sure to hold perfectly still for as long as you want.

Seapen from the top at Pipeline dive site diving Nelson Bay NSW Australia by Diveplanit

The nudis too are plentiful and sufficiently slow moving to capture in all their splendour.

Nudi yellow with blue spots at Pipeline dive site diving Nelson Bay NSW Australia by Diveplanit

It pays to be very careful as you move around the site – there is always something below you – so it is never really safe to rest on what appears to be just sand.

Pipefish at Pipeline dive site diving Nelson Bay NSW Australia by Diveplanit

Some of the sea horses to be found include Whites.

Seahorse at Pipeline dive site diving Nelson Bay NSW Australia by Diveplanit

If you come across one of the tyres check it out indie and out! It’s a favourite resting place for both Blind Sharks…

Blind shark resting inside the tyre at Pipeline dive site diving Nelson Bay NSW Australia by Diveplanit

And Octopus.

Octopus at Pipeline dive site diving Nelson Bay NSW Australia by Diveplanit

Car access is via Teramby Road behind the marina to a paid car park. Access to the Pipeline dive site is at the western end of the man-made marina wall where local divers have built steps into the site. It’s pretty much the only entry and exit point too.