Seal Rocks

Seal Rocks Grey Nurse Sharks, NSW

By ScubaDownUnder Team · 2026-07-17

At Seal Rocks, the sharks are almost a certainty. Drop onto the gutters of Big Seal or circle the caves of Little Seal and, more often than not, the grey nurse sharks are already there, hanging in the current with the unhurried menace that makes them the most photographed shark in Australia. This scatter of rocky islets off the mid-north coast of New South Wales is one of the very few places in the country where divers can expect to see grey nurse sharks on almost any day of the year, and the aggregations that build here are among the most important for the species anywhere on the east coast.

Seal Rocks sits off Sugarloaf Point, on a wild and lightly developed stretch of coast within Myall Lakes National Park. The waters around the rocks, along with The Pinnacle offshore, are protected as critical habitat and sanctuary zones for the grey nurse shark, a species listed as critically endangered on the east coast and reduced to only a few hundred breeding animals. The Cavern in the western gutter of Big Seal is recognised as one of the most important grey nurse aggregation sites in Australia, and the protections here exist precisely because what gathers in these gutters cannot easily be replaced. There is no dive shop and almost no services at the tiny village of Seal Rocks itself, which is part of why the sites have stayed as good as they are.

The diving centres on three main sites. Big Seal Rock is an extensive reef explored between about 16 and 25 metres, sloping to sand at 30 to 40, with a pronounced overhang to the south-east known as the Eastern Gutter that is a reliable grey nurse aggregation, often holding a dozen or more sharks. Little Seal Rock, best dived as a circumnavigation between 16 and 25 metres, is a maze of overhangs, caves and gutters that shelter sharks, rays and turtles. Further offshore, The Pinnacle rises from deep water to within 25 metres of the surface and falls away past 45, a true seamount that has been rated among the best dives in the country, where 40 to 50 grey nurse sharks can patrol the peak amid swirling schools of pelagic fish. The terrain throughout is dramatic, with walls, swim-throughs and sand gutters that channel both the current and the sharks.

The grey nurse sharks are the reason divers come, and at Seal Rocks they are unusually relaxed, often holding their position as divers settle nearby and sometimes drifting in for a closer look. Numbers swell through the cooler months and into spring, when the gutters and the Cavern can be packed, but the sharks are present in some number through most of the year. Around them the water is thick with life: wobbegongs lie folded under the ledges, bull rays and eagle rays cruise the sand, green and loggerhead turtles work the reef, and huge schools of yellowtail kingfish, mulloway, teraglin, trevally and bonito wheel through the blue, especially at The Pinnacle. Port Jackson sharks appear in winter, gropers patrol the reef, and the rock faces carry nudibranchs and invertebrate life for divers who slow down between shark encounters.

Seal Rocks is exposed offshore diving and the conditions are famously hard to predict. Visibility is the great variable, and local divers are only half joking when they say you might surface having dived in two metres or twenty-five. The clearest water tends to come when the East Australian Current pushes warm, clean water down the coast, and the murkiest after heavy rain or big swell. Water temperature runs from around 18°C in winter to 24°C in summer, so a 5mm to 7mm wetsuit suits most divers. Current is the other defining feature, often strong and sometimes unpredictable around the rocks and especially at The Pinnacle, which is why almost all diving here is boat-based and guided, and why a surface marker buoy and good drift-diving skills are essential. The sites dive year-round, weather permitting, with the trade-off that the best shark months can also bring cooler, greener water.

Beyond the sharks, the rocks reward divers who explore their structure. The caves and overhangs of Little Seal are worth a slow, careful look, the deep sand gutters off Big Seal hold rays and the occasional larger visitor, and the historic shipwreck of the SS Catterthun lies deep offshore for technically qualified divers chasing maritime history. Photographers find the combination of dependable large animals and dramatic terrain hard to beat, and the lack of crowds, a function of the remote access, means the sharks are rarely disturbed.

Seal Rocks asks for a boat, a willingness to drive to the middle of nowhere and a tolerance for whatever the visibility decides to do on the day. In return it offers something genuinely rare: a near-guarantee of time spent in the water with grey nurse sharks, animals that have nearly vanished from the coast and that gather here as if the rocks remembered a time before they were endangered. For many Australian divers, a day at Seal Rocks is the day the sharks stopped being a hope and became a certainty.

## Site Access and Logistics

Seal Rocks is a boat dive only, and with no dive services in the village itself, trips are run from Forster, about 42 kilometres and a 35 to 40 minute drive away, where the established dive operators are based. Charters run out to Big Seal, Little Seal and, conditions allowing, The Pinnacle, and the offshore, current-prone nature of the sites makes a guided boat dive the only sensible way to dive them.

Given depths of 25 metres and more, real current and an exposed setting, Advanced Open Water certification with genuine experience in deeper water and drift conditions is the working standard, and The Pinnacle in particular suits experienced divers. A surface marker buoy is essential, and divers should be comfortable deploying one mid-water. As a grey nurse critical habitat, the sites carry a clear expectation that divers keep their distance, never block the gutters or cave exits the sharks use, and let the animals move on their own terms.

Charters, gear and guiding are available from Forster operators including [Forster Dive Centre](https://www.forsterdivecentre.com.au).

## Sources

- Forster Dive Centre, Little Seal Rock dive site: [https://www.forsterdivecentre.com.au/Little-seal.html](https://www.forsterdivecentre.com.au/Little-seal.html) - Abyss Scuba Diving, diving Forster and Seal Rocks: [https://www.abyss.com.au/blog/travel/diving-forster-seal-rocks](https://www.abyss.com.au/blog/travel/diving-forster-seal-rocks) - Professional Dive Services, grey nurse shark aggregations at Seal Rocks: [https://www.professionaldiveservices.com.au/grey-nurse-shark-overload-at-seal-rocks-forster-n-s-w/](https://www.professionaldiveservices.com.au/grey-nurse-shark-overload-at-seal-rocks-forster-n-s-w/) - PADI, Big Seal dive site: [https://www.padi.com/dive-site/australia/big-seal/](https://www.padi.com/dive-site/australia/big-seal/) - Dive Forster, dive sites: [https://www.diveforster.com.au/Dive-Sites](https://www.diveforster.com.au/Dive-Sites)