Shoal Bay is a Port Stephens area on the New South Wales Mid North Coast, where sheltered inlets and open ocean sites sit close together. Shore dives at Jimmy's Beach and Winda Woppa explore shallow seagrass and calm, protected water, while Halifax Cliffs and Cabbage Tree Island offer reef, wall, and drift conditions for more experienced divers. Fingal Head and Bennetts Beach extend the options further. Water temperatures are warmest in late summer and coolest in late winter. Species recorded include grey nurse sharks, spotted and ornate wobbegong, green sea turtles, mourning cuttlefish, fiddler rays, and a variety of nudibranchs.
Monthly water temperature across Shoal Bay's sites, from satellite sea-surface data corrected for depth. The band shows the site-to-site spread.
Water is warmest from late summer into autumn and drops to its coolest in late winter and early spring. The sheltered sites within Port Stephens Bay can be dived in most conditions, while exposed sites such as Halifax Cliffs and Fingal Head are subject to stronger currents and variable visibility.
Water temperature around Shoal Bay ranges from about 19°C in August to 24°C in January, based on satellite sea-temperature data for its dive sites.
In the warm season (about 24°C) a 3mm full suit is comfortable in Shoal Bay; in the coldest months (about 19°C) step up to a 5mm suit.
Fin maps 6 sites in Shoal Bay (6 scuba diving sites and 1 snorkelling spots, with some suited to both).
5 more sites to explore
