Staying Home Sucks, home
Hawks Nest - panoramio
Hawks Nest, the nearest town, 5 km away. Photo: Annette Teng, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Cabbage Tree Island

Dive site · Australia

Advanced divers and up

Is it worth the trip?

65Good out of 100 for your dates

Home sucks

Best on Sat 7: Sea 0.4 m, Visibility under 5 m, Water 21 °C

Each day of your trip, out of 100

Tue 3 · 66 out of 100

Sea
0.4 m
Wind
6 kn
Gusts
8kn
Air
23°C

Wed 4 · 66 out of 100

Sea
0.5 m
Wind
7 kn
Gusts
11kn
Air
21°C

Thu 5 · 66 out of 100

Sea
0.3 m
Wind
9 kn
Gusts
12kn
Air
22°C

Fri 6 · 65 out of 100

Sea
0.9 m
Wind
3 kn
Gusts
6kn
Air
20°C

Sat 7 · 68 out of 100

Sea
0.4 m
Wind
2 kn
Gusts
7kn
Air
23°C

Sun 8 · 56 out of 100

Sea
1.2 m
Wind
11 kn
Gusts
19kn
Air
18°C

Mon 9 · 64 out of 100

Sea
0.9 m
Wind
9 kn
Gusts
15kn
Air
19°C

Tap a day for sea, wind and water. Full forecast

Forecast: next 10 days

Full forecast
  1. Mon 266, good
  2. Tue 366, good
  3. Wed 466, good
  4. Thu 566, good
  5. Fri 665, good
  6. Sat 768, good
  7. Sun 856, fair
  8. Mon 964, good
  9. Tue 1064, good
  10. Wed 1166, good

The site in four facts

  • From a boathow you get in
  • Advancedand up
  • Water 21 °C5 mm wetsuit
  • Faces Sswell 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 Advanced divers and up, as a dive guide states it. Scored for Advanced divers.

Sea and wind forecast and score for each day at Cabbage Tree Island
DayScoreSeaWindGustsAir
Mon 2Nov66, good0.4 m7 kn8kn21°C
Tue 3Nov66, good0.4 m6 kn8kn23°C
Wed 4Nov66, good0.5 m7 kn11kn21°C
Thu 5Nov66, good0.3 m9 kn12kn22°C
Fri 6Nov65, good0.9 m3 kn6kn20°C
Sat 7Nov68, good0.4 m2 kn7kn23°C
Sun 8Nov56, fair1.2 m11 kn19kn18°C
Mon 9Nov64, good0.9 m9 kn15kn19°C
Tue 10Nov64, good0.8 m7 kn9kn22°C
Wed 11Nov66, good–1 kn15kn24°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

  • Mon 2 NovHigh 03:07 +0.3 mLow 08:25 −0.3 mHigh 15:02 +0.7 mLow 22:01 −0.6 m
  • Tue 3 NovHigh 04:19 +0.3 mLow 09:49 −0.3 mHigh 16:13 +0.7 mLow 23:00 −0.6 m
  • Wed 4 NovHigh 05:20 +0.4 mLow 11:05 −0.4 mHigh 17:17 +0.6 mLow 23:51 −0.7 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).

  1. Jan7of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Jan
  2. Feb7of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Feb
  3. Mar7of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Mar
  4. Apr7of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Apr
  5. May6of 7: a trip from Sat 1 May
  6. Jun6of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Jun
  7. Jul6of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Jul
  8. Aug7of 7: a trip from Sat 7 Aug
  9. Sep7of 7: a trip from Sat 4 Sept
  10. Oct7of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Oct
  11. Nov7of 7: a trip from Tue 3 Nov
  12. Dec7of 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 and its town

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.

More diving near here

5 places

About

the place in full, sources, credits

About Cabbage Tree Island

You get in from a boat. It suits Advanced divers and up, as a dive guide states it. The coast faces S: swell from the S reaches it, and wind from the N blows out to sea. 1 dive centre or shop within 10 km, the nearest 8.6 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 2 surf spots and 1 dive site.

  • What it is No source states what kind of site it is.
  • How deep No source states how deep it goes.
  • Getting in From a boat.
  • Who it suits Suits Advanced divers and up, as a dive guide states it.
  • Dive centres 1 dive centre or shop within 10 km, the nearest 8.6 km away.

Water about 21°C: 5 mm wetsuit. Typical sea temperature for the time of year, not a forecast.

Visibility under 5 m. Typical for the time of year, estimated from ten years of NASA satellite water clarity, not a forecast. Clearest in Jan, Jun, Jul and Dec (about 10 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 
Rough cost per person for this trip
WhatHow we worked it outEach
Flightsreturn MDW to SYD, estimated from distance and season, changing at LAX, full-service airlines, with a hold bagabout US$925–US$1,920
Hire car6 days, sharedabout US$147–US$241
Stay6 nights, a mid-range double, sharedabout US$355–US$596
Food7 days eating outabout US$322–US$596
Totalabout 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

Ad Links marked Ad may pay us if you book. You pay the same, and they never change a score. How we earn

Closest

Hawks Nest

about 10 min by car · 21 places to stay

about US$134/nightcountry average

See 21 places to stay in Hawks Nest · Booking.com

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

An estimate, one way; the journey never changes the score.

In the water

Dive centres nearby

  • Feet First Dive 8.6 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

Too few open records near this site to list its animals. Ask a dive centre what you are likely to see.

This week's visibility, the current and the life no free forecast gives. Ask a dive centre before you book.

Saved: this link opens the same trip

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The link holds the trip itself: nothing about you is kept. Check the forecast again before you book.