Kingscote is the main town on Kangaroo Island and the base for diving in the surrounding Southern Ocean waters. Four sites range from the sheltered shallows of Kingscote Jetty and Emu Bay to the deeper reef at Pissy Boy Bay, covering seagrass, artificial reef, and rocky reef habitats. The water is cold by Australian standards, dropping to the mid-teens in late winter and rising to around twenty degrees in summer. Leafy seadragons, pot-bellied seahorses, spotted and ornate wobbegong, long-nosed fur seals, and fiddler rays are all recorded here. The north coast sites are sheltered from prevailing swell for much of the year, and all sites are accessible to beginners.
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Monthly water temperature across Kingscote's sites, from satellite sea-surface data corrected for depth. The band shows the site-to-site spread.
Water temperatures fall to the mid-teens in late winter and remain cool through spring before climbing to around twenty degrees in summer. The cooler months tend to bring clearer water, which benefits macro photographers searching for leafy seadragons and seahorses at the jetty sites. A seven-millimetre wetsuit or drysuit is advisable for the winter and early-spring months.
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Water temperature around Kingscote ranges from about 14°C in August to 20°C in February, based on satellite sea-temperature data for its dive sites.
In the warm season (about 20°C) a 5mm suit is comfortable in Kingscote; in the coldest months (about 14°C) step up to a 7mm or semi-dry suit.
Fin maps 4 sites in Kingscote (4 scuba diving sites and 2 snorkelling spots, with some suited to both).
Across Kingscote's dive sites, January, February and December are most often reported as the best months to visit.
3 more sites to explore
