Diamond’s Wall

Quick Facts on our Diamond’s Wall dive

• Location: South of Sydney Harbour
• Diver Qualifications: Open Water and above
• Depth: 13m to 24m
• Recommended Gas: 21% or Nitrox
• Dive time: Generally, 35-70 mins
• Visibility: Over 10m to 30m
• What you’ll see: Giant cuttlefish, snapper, flathead, scorpion fish, fiddler rays, black bull rays, leatherjackets (six-spined, blue-lined or the horseshoe), red morwong and three-barred porcupine fish (puffer fish).
• Best season to dive: Great in all seasons

A stunning dive along a wall

One is along a shear wall which extends 100m+ depth ranges from 13m to 24m. It features long and large ledges, which extend into a small cave where we commonly see a giant cuttlefish. Good size schools of kingfish are also in view, especially earlier in the mornings.

A one-way drift to Sydney scuba nirvana

This wall dive is dived as a drift dive or one way planned dive. The master manoeuvres the vessel into a position close to the shear wall and divers do a giant stride dive in and then gather as a group descending down the face of the wall into an area of approximately 16m. Divers then travel south keeping the wall on their right side.

Depending on the speed of the current and the amount of sea life divers encounter the dive can take extend from 100m to more than 750m. The use of and carrying of surface marker buoys (SMB) are mandatory on these types of dives and a set plan for total run time is also used.

Sydney marine life on display

On the reef edge divers find large juvenile and adult snapper, large flathead, scorpion fish, fiddler rays, large black bull rays, several types of leatherjackets; colourful types such as the six-spined, blue-lined and the horse-shoe leatherjacket.

Red morwong are also found in large numbers. These fish are maroon in colour and will be congregating in the boulder fields from depths of 15m.

Large three-barred porcupine fish (commonly called puffer fish) are found throughout the dive sites. They fill themselves full of water if they feel threatened and can grow up to around 50cm.

Diamond’s Wall is an enjoyable Sydney dive site. There’s plenty of sea life close at hand and spectacular underwater vista to boot.

Diamond’s Wall

Depending on diver comfort we do a entry from the boat stern straight to the edge of the shear wall, so divers don’t descend down the anchor line but swim a few metres from the boat to meet up with their buddies or group and descend straight down with the wall on their right side to a depth of 16m. If any divers are not happy descending without an anchor line the Master will anchor near the boulder edge and divers will start their dive at the deepest point then ascending via the boulder field to a shallower depth so as to extend their bottom time and reduce gas consumption.

Once at the required depth divers will drift or slowly dive along the wall or boulder field in a southerly direction. Depending on how the group has started the dive they will either go deep down the boulder field to the flat peddle area which extends east out to sea towards the sand line or can follow the shear wall with many large ledges and swim throughs which are found at its base where large boulders are encountered. In this area of structure change beautiful soft corals and sponges are found 

With good sized schools of whiting, red morwong and all three coloured groupers, many small swim throughs can also be explored. Moray eels are commonly seen out in the open looking around for a quick bite to eat, particularly just prior to the summer season.

Descend the deep!

Depending on diver comfort we do a entry from the boat stern straight to the edge of the shear wall, so divers don’t descend down the anchor line but swim a few metres from the boat to meet up with their buddies or group and descend straight down with the wall on their right side to a depth of 16m. If any divers are not happy descending without an anchor line the Master will anchor near the boulder edge and divers will start their dive at the deepest point then ascending via the boulder field to a shallower depth so as to extend their bottom time and reduce gas consumption.

Once at the required depth divers will drift or slowly dive along the wall or boulder field in a southerly direction. Depending on how the group has started the dive they will either go deep down the boulder field to the flat peddle area which extends east out to sea towards the sand line or can follow the shear wall with many large ledges and swim throughs which are found at its base where large boulders are encountered. In this area of structure change beautiful soft corals and sponges are found 

Divers will travel anywhere from just a few 100 m to over a nautical mile, depending on the current speed. 
Best time of day to dive is morning as this is the time that the large schools of fish such as kingfish and whiting are more likely to be encountered.

Diamond’s Wall has 2 large ledges which have caves that we regularly encounter giant cuttlefish, these caves are around 16m depth and at the bottom of the shear wall we dive along, extending down to the east from this wall is a boulder field which drops off in a 45 degree angle to a maximum depth of 25m. 

The boulder field finishes into flat peddle field which if explored diver will encounter juvenile snapper, good-sized flathead and schools of kingfish which will circle the divers, divers should not shine their torch at these kingfish as the light will spook the school and they will move off quick quickly.