Best Places To Freedive Around Wollongong

Wollongong is known for its stunning beaches and epic surf breaks. What isn't so well known are some of the epic dive sites it is home to, all within a 40 minute drive.

So have a read of this article, grab your fins, mask and wetsuits, and get on down to explore these epic locations.

1.Bushrangers Bay - Grey Nurse Sharks

We are going to start of the list with my personal favourite, the dive site that got me hooked on freediving, Bushrangers Bay.

Bushrangers Bay is the diving capital of the Illawarra, situated 30 minutes south of Wollongong, this popular dive site is a must see.

The biggest draw card are the school of Grey Nurse Sharks which can be spotted year round. Usually these friendly sharks are cruising in about 8m of water, and they're extremely placid with freedivers.

The bay is super protected and often has better viz than the surrounding areas, with a shallow inner bay which is filled with reef fish, stingrays, eels, and the odd octopus - it's great for the whole family!

2. Sandon Point - Wobbegong and Port Jackson Sharks

Sandon Point is THE best break in Wollongong, and possibly the South Coast. But what people don't know is that below this epic point break, lays an incredible reef with a couple of fun swim throughs - for confident divers only, and a couple of overhangs which can house up to 7 Wobbegong Sharks at a time, and you'll often find the much loved, Port Jackson Shark and Blind Shark.

3.Wollongong Lighthouse - Swim Throughs and Structure

Just off of the picturesque Wollongong Lighthouse is a beautiful dive site that is a must see for anyone who's in the area.

Right off of the pool is a fun swim through with multiple exit points, so it is suited for both intermediate and advanced freedivers. Around the dive site there are tonnes of awesome cracks and canyons in the bombies. As for marine life, you will see lots of reef fish, port jackson shark, and stingrays.

4.Sea Cliff Bridge - Spectacular backdrop

Whilst this dive site hasn't got the most marine diversity on this list. The sheer beauty of diving to the backdrop of the sea cliff bridge and the Illawarra escarpment isn't to be missed.

5.Kiama Blowhole - World class dive site

This dive site is for advanced freedivers only. Due to the current, swell and surge, it is a hazardous dive site, and should only be dived when conditions are extremely calm.

If you are an underwater photographer and want to capture some incredible content, this is the best dive site for you. At just about 8m of water, with the light entering various points, there are tonnes of cool angles to play with when capturing your photos and video.

6.Lilli Pilli - Great for depth training

If there is one thing Wollongong doesn't have much of, it's easily accessible depth diving. So for those of you who want to do some line training and work on their depth - Lilli Pilli is the best freediving location for you!

Depending on tide, you can get up to 24m of depth at Lilli Pilli, and this epic location is almost always calm and protected from big swells and strong winds. The one downside, is vis is mostly on the lower end, expect to have about 5m viz on average.

If you are interested in training depth, feel free to send us an email or book a line training session with us here.