Nelson Bay · Australia · Reef · Wall · Cave & cavern · Channel & pass
Broughton Island
A protected colony of endangered grey nurse sharks
Photo: Privatemusings · CC BY-SA 4.0
Broughton Island lies 14 km north-east of Port Stephens inside the Great Lakes Marine Park, where a protected colony of endangered grey nurse sharks is what most divers come for. Several sites ring the island, each with its own topography, from the shark gutters off Little Broughton to a gap that runs clean through one islet and a cave at the mouth of a cove.
Where it is and how deep
32.6173° S, 152.3201° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
Broughton is dived as a set of sites rather than as one, among them Cod Rock, The Steps, Spider Cave, Bubble Cave and the Little and Big Shark Gutters. Big Shark Gutters, off the south-eastern corner of Little Broughton Island, is the grey nurse dive: the sharks are seen in the gutters, and the island's status as a sanctuary for the protected colony is what makes a close, unhurried look at them possible.
The other sites trade sharks for topography. The Looking Glass, at Looking Glass Island, is a gap that runs right through the small island; PADI's entry for it gives a maximum depth of 18 m and lists wall and channel diving with sharks, groupers, trumpetfish and turtles. Bubble Cave sits at the mouth of Esmeralda Cove. Around them the marine park holds a spread of life that runs from huge stingrays down to the elusive blue devilfish, which is a find rather than a given on any one dive.
Marine life and season
- Sand tiger sharks
- Stingrays
- Sea turtles
- Groupers
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Good |
Season follows Nelson Bay: Apr–Aug is clearest and coldest, with giant cuttlefish courting in winter; summer runoff can drop visibility to a few metres.
Know before you go
- The grey nurse sharks here are an endangered, protected colony: stay settled on the bottom and let them pass rather than swimming at them or cutting off the gutter.
Photos from Broughton Island
Rob Freijs · CC BY-SA 3.0
Geoff & Dianne Rhodes · CC BY 2.0
Dive videos
Scuba Diving with Grey Nurse Sharks at Broughton Island · Michael Green on YouTube
Questions divers ask
Can you dive with grey nurse sharks at Broughton Island?+
Yes. The island sits in the Great Lakes Marine Park and holds a protected colony of endangered grey nurse sharks, seen most reliably in the gutters off the south-eastern corner of Little Broughton Island.
How do you get to Broughton Island?+
By boat. The island lies 14 km north-east of Port Stephens and is run as a day-boat charter, so it is the one dive in the area that is not a shore entry and it needs settled seas.
Sources
- Broughton Island — Feet First Dive
- Broughton Island (New South Wales) — Wikipedia
- Looking Glass dive site — PADI
Photo credits
- Rugged sandstone cliffs of Broughton Island rising from the sea by Privatemusings, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Broughton Island viewed across the water from the mainland coast by Rob Freijs, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Divers seated on a dive boat with Broughton Island's cliffs ahead by Geoff & Dianne Rhodes, CC BY 2.0, via Openverse
More dive sites in Nelson Bay
Reef
Pineapplefish under the same ledge for at least seven years
Wall
Sponge-covered ledges to 26 m, walked in from shore
Reef
Beach entry to a jetty and a sunken barge at 12 m
Blue-lined octopus and pyjama squid along a submerged pipe
Similar dives elsewhere
Grey nurse sharks on the rock from July to October
A training-depth bay with a reef regrowing after Cyclone Debbie
Sheltered ledge from 16 m up to 5 m, thick with nudibranchs
A shore entry in the marine reserve, 4 m to a small drop-off