Dive in Seal Rocks

Travel to Seal Rocks

A sleepy and isolated beach town located 310km from Sydney, Seal Rocks was named after the Australian Fur Seal colony that were often seen on the rocks just off the coast but have now moved onto a different location. It is a popular vacation spot for beach and surfing enthusiasts. 

You'll need to hire a car to get to Seal Rocks.  Fly into Newcastle and it's a 1.5 hour drive north, from Sydney it'll take you 3.5 hours and from Port Macquarie it's a 2 hour drive south.  

If you've got the cash then staying in the lighthouse cottages is a wonderful experience.  An apartment for 6 peoples is about $450 a night, minimum 3 night stay.  There are other various apartments and houses for rent but camping and caravan accommodation is cheap and set in beautiful natural surrounding so this is the way to go if you're on a budget.

Sugarloaf Point Lighthouse is a great place to visit with fabulous views over the ocean and rocks and you can stop at the waterhole along the way for a refreshing dip.  The Myall Lakes National Park and Hawks Nest and Pacific Palms has some great walks and lovely flora and fauna to discover. Surfing is great here so be sure to catch a couple of waves or relax on the beach with a book. 

There is a dive centre in Forester and the diving and snorkelling from Seal Rocks is amazing.  It's one of the best places to get up close to Grey Nurse Sharks, sometimes being surrounded by around 60 of them!  There are caves and wrecks to explore and many crazy critters that macro lovers will appreciate.  From the big to the small, Seal Rocks has it all.

The best site to get up close to the sharks is The Cavern at Big Seal Rock.  This site is controlled and no more than six divers at a time can enter the gutter, a shark experience of a lifetime and not to be missed.  The Wall dive site is a nice coral garden covered in soft corals.

Advanced divers can enjoy the wrecks the SS Catterhun which sunk in 1895 and is still fairly intact.  The SS Satara is a huge 125 metre wreck at 44 metres so keep your eye out for nurse sharks, wobbegongs and schools of morwongs.  Edith Breakers is a colourful dive site full of interesting fish and corals.

So get away from the city and explore one of the most peaceful and laid back towns of New South Wales.  There are some wonderful things to discover here.

(By Kelly Luckman)