The Pipeline
Dive site · Australia
Is it worth the trip?
65Good out of 100 for your dates
Best on Sat 7: Sea 0.3 m, Visibility about 8 m, Water 21 °C
Mon 2 · 69 out of 100
- Sea
- 0.4 m
- Wind
- 4 kn
- Gusts
- 10kn
- Air
- 24°C
Tue 3 · 69 out of 100
- Sea
- 0.3 m
- Wind
- 7 kn
- Gusts
- 17knboats in
- Air
- 24°C
Wed 4 · 67 out of 100
- Sea
- 0.4 m
- Wind
- 6 kn
- Gusts
- 18kn
- Air
- 23°C
Thu 5 · 67 out of 100
- Sea
- 0.4 m
- Wind
- 9 kn
- Gusts
- 18knboats in
- Air
- 21°C
Fri 6 · 66 out of 100
- Sea
- 0.6 m
- Wind
- 5 kn
- Gusts
- 13kn
- Air
- 22°C
Sat 7 · 70 out of 100
- Sea
- 0.3 m
- Wind
- 1 kn
- Gusts
- 13knboats in
- Air
- 28°C
Sun 8 · 26 out of 100
- Sea
- 0.9 m
- Wind
- 13 kn
- Gusts
- 29knboats in
- Air
- 17°C
Tap a day for sea, wind and water. Full forecast
Forecast: next 10 days
Full forecast- Sun 166, good
- Mon 269, good
- Tue 369, good
- Wed 467, good
- Thu 567, good
- Fri 666, good
- Sat 770, good
- Sun 826, poor
- Mon 962, good
- Tue 1068, good
The site in four facts
- From the shorehow you get in
- Open Waterand up
- Water 21 °C5 mm wetsuit
- Faces Nswell from there reaches it
Full forecast
every day, every number
The score doesn't know currents, the visibility on the day or your certification.
Suits Open Water divers and up, as a dive guide states it. Scored for Advanced divers.
| Day | Score | Sea | Wind | Gusts | Air |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun 1Nov | 66, good | 0.4 m | 7 kn | 24kn | 27°C |
| Mon 2Nov | 69, good | 0.4 m | 4 kn | 10kn | 24°C |
| Tue 3Nov | 69, good | 0.3 m | 7 kn | 17knboats in | 24°C |
| Wed 4Nov | 67, good | 0.4 m | 6 kn | 18kn | 23°C |
| Thu 5Nov | 67, good | 0.4 m | 9 kn | 18knboats in | 21°C |
| Fri 6Nov | 66, good | 0.6 m | 5 kn | 13kn | 22°C |
| Sat 7Nov | 70, good | 0.3 m | 1 kn | 13knboats in | 28°C |
| Sun 8Nov | 26, poor | 0.9 m | 13 kn | 29knboats in | 17°C |
| Mon 9Nov | 62, good | 0.6 m | 7 kn | 21kn | 19°C |
| Tue 10Nov | 68, good | 0.5 m | 3 kn | 13kn | 24°C |
| Wed 11Nov | 68, good | 0.6 m | 1 kn | 10kn | 23°C |
Sea is the waves near the site, in metres; wind and gusts in knots. "Boats in": gusts that keep dive boats in. More
Tide
- Sun 1 NovHigh 01:49 +0.2 mLow 07:07 −0.4 mHigh 13:52 +0.8 mLow 20:54 −0.6 m
- Mon 2 NovHigh 03:07 +0.3 mLow 08:26 −0.3 mHigh 15:03 +0.7 mLow 22:02 −0.6 m
- Tue 3 NovHigh 04:19 +0.3 mLow 09:49 −0.3 mHigh 16:13 +0.7 mLow 23:01 −0.6 m
Local clock times; heights about mean sea level. On open coasts the times are usually within a quarter of an hour; in bays, estuaries and on the Gulf of Mexico they can be an hour or more out. Slack water, the safest time to dive where there is current, is about half an hour either side of each high and low. Tide: EOT20 global ocean tide model, Hart-Davis et al. 2021, DGFI-TUM (doi:10.17882/79489), CC BY 4.0. Times and heights computed by us. A model, not a tide table: check a local table before you go.
Forecast updated . It refreshes every three hours. Forecast data: ECMWF, DWD, Météo-France and NOAA, served by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0). Changed by us. Generated using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information.
Best time to go
No month stands out
Good diving days in a typical week, each month, for Advanced divers, from 2016 on (ERA5 history scored the same way).
- Jan6of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Jan
- Feb5of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Feb
- Mar5of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Mar
- Apr6of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Apr
- May5of 7: a trip from Sat 1 May
- Jun5of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Jun
- Jul4of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Jul
- Aug5of 7: a trip from Sat 7 Aug
- Sep6of 7: a trip from Sat 4 Sept
- Oct5of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Oct
- Nov6of 7: a trip from Mon 2 Nov
- Dec6of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Dec
Tap a month to see this spot for a trip then.
Typical, not a forecast: the sea and the mean wind of each day, with no gusts or rain in the history.
Map
the site, its town, photos
The Pipeline on Google Maps · Directions
Each place wears its best day on these dates: green good, amber fair, pale red poor, as the key says.
The map needs JavaScript. Every place on it is listed on this page, and each place's page links to Google Maps.
One finger scrolls the page; two fingers move the map. Pins are our own positions. Map OpenFreeMap, © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Photos of The Pipeline
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More diving near here
5 places
- Fly Point 1 km away
- Halifax 1.9 km away
- Cabbage Tree Island 8.5 km away
- SS Oakland 9.7 km away
- Looking Glass 19.1 km away
About
the place in full, sources, credits
About The Pipeline
You get in from the shore. It suits Open Water divers and up, as a dive guide states it. The coast faces N: swell from the N reaches it, and wind from the S blows out to sea. 1 dive centre or shop within 10 km, the nearest 0.6 km away. The sea is about 19°C in August, its coldest month (7 mm wetsuit and hood), and 25°C in February, its warmest (3 mm wetsuit). The town to stay in is Hawks Nest. Within 5 km we also list 5 surf spots and 2 dive sites.
- What it is No source states what kind of site it is.
- How deep No source states how deep it goes.
- Getting in From the shore.
- Who it suits Suits Open Water divers and up, as a dive guide states it.
- Dive centres 1 dive centre or shop within 10 km, the nearest 0.6 km away.
Water about 21°C: 5 mm wetsuit. Typical sea temperature for the time of year, not a forecast.
Visibility about 8 m. Typical for the time of year, estimated from ten years of NASA satellite water clarity, not a forecast. Clearest in May, Oct and Nov (about 9 m).
The score is the conditions only: the journey, the price and the partners never change it (how we score, how we earn).
Rough cost (estimate): about US$1,750–US$3,350 each
about US$1,750–US$3,350 each · 6 nights, 2 sharing: flights, hire car, stay, food.
Our estimate from typical public prices, not a quote: check the real prices before you book (where they come from). Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.
How we worked it out
| What | How we worked it out | Each |
|---|---|---|
| Flights | return MDW to SYD, estimated from distance and season, changing at LAX, full-service airlines, with a hold bag | about US$925–US$1,920 |
| Hire car | 6 days, shared | about US$147–US$241 |
| Stay | 6 nights, a mid-range double, shared | about US$355–US$596 |
| Food | 7 days eating out | about US$322–US$596 |
| Total | about US$1,750–US$3,350 |
Guided dives are not priced yet: we have no sourced price, so it is not in it. Prices from public sources, checked in 2026.
Where to stay: Hawks Nest
11 min by car · 21 places to stay
about US$134/nightcountry average
About Hawks Nest its beds, food and every spot near it
About US$134 a night is our estimate of the country's average 2-star double room that month: not each town's price, and not a quote. Drives are estimates. Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.
Getting there: about 30h 05m
About 30h 05m door to door from Chicago
Fly MDW → SYD, changing at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), then 3h 10m by road
Flights MDW → SYD on your dates · Skyscanner
An estimate, one way; the journey never changes the score.
In the water
Dives and courses in Hawks Nest · GetYourGuideDive gear hire in Hawks Nest · GetYourGuide
Dive centres nearby
Feet First Dive 0.6 km
The nearest named dive centres and shops within 25 km, in a straight line; training agencies where the map states them. Listings, not a recommendation. Dive centres: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Credits
What you might see
Animals divers and surveys have recorded within 2 km of this site in the last 15 years. A record says someone saw it here, not that you will.
Pteraeolidia ianthinaNudibranch
Seen in 3 records.
Records: OBIS (Ocean Biodiversity Information System, IOC-UNESCO), from the datasets named here, CC0 and CC BY records only. Names: WoRMS, through OBIS; common names from Wikidata. Largest datasets here: 0820b10a-5710-4e90-b9ed-a2ad7c7ec742; A photographically-vouchered global citizen science dataset of sea slugs (Mollusca: Heterobranchia) from the SEASLUG.WORLD platform since 2015; 9e54f6cc-c9a3-44cb-8b67-f2fcad6b5ccd; 00a7f490-7418-413b-a9f1-666f186769b6; d104db68-63cf-4f34-b92a-54bd55a07394. Credits
This week: visibility under 5 m, greener than usual (satellite plankton reading, 24 Oct). Estimated from the month's typical visibility and this week's satellite chlorophyll against the site's normal; heavy rain before a dive can still muddy it.
The current no free forecast gives. Ask a dive centre before you book.