Fairy Bower
Dive site · Australia
Advanced divers and up
Is it worth the trip?
67Good out of 100 for your dates
Best on Sat 7: Sea 0.4 m, Visibility about 15 m, Water 20 °C
Mon 2 · 71 out of 100
- Sea
- 0.4 m
- Wind
- 5 kn
- Gusts
- 7kn
- Air
- 20°C
Tue 3 · 69 out of 100
- Sea
- 0.6 m
- Wind
- 10 kn
- Gusts
- 14kn
- Air
- 21°C
Wed 4 · 64 out of 100
- Sea
- 0.4 m
- Wind
- 8 kn
- Gusts
- 11kn
- Air
- 20°C
Thu 5 · 60 out of 100
- Sea
- 0.6 m
- Wind
- 13 kn
- Gusts
- 19kn
- Air
- 19°C
Fri 6 · 70 out of 100
- Sea
- 0.6 m
- Wind
- 5 kn
- Gusts
- 10kn
- Air
- 19°C
Sat 7 · 72 out of 100
- Sea
- 0.4 m
- Wind
- 5 kn
- Gusts
- 7knboats in
- Air
- 22°C
Sun 8 · 45 out of 100
- Sea
- 0.8 m
- Wind
- 20 kn
- Gusts
- 27knboats in
- Air
- 15°C
Tap a day for sea, wind and water. Full forecast
Forecast: next 10 days
Full forecast- Sun 170, good
- Mon 271, good
- Tue 369, good
- Wed 464, good
- Thu 560, good
- Fri 670, good
- Sat 772, good
- Sun 845, fair
- Mon 955, fair
- Tue 1064, good
The site in four facts
- From the shorehow you get in
- Advancedand up
- Water 20 °C7 mm wetsuit and hood
- Faces NEswell 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.
| Day | Score | Sea | Wind | Gusts | Air |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun 1Nov | 70, good | 0.5 m | 10 kn | 14kn | 20°C |
| Mon 2Nov | 71, good | 0.4 m | 5 kn | 7kn | 20°C |
| Tue 3Nov | 69, good | 0.6 m | 10 kn | 14kn | 21°C |
| Wed 4Nov | 64, good | 0.4 m | 8 kn | 11kn | 20°C |
| Thu 5Nov | 60, good | 0.6 m | 13 kn | 19kn | 19°C |
| Fri 6Nov | 70, good | 0.6 m | 5 kn | 10kn | 19°C |
| Sat 7Nov | 72, good | 0.4 m | 5 kn | 7knboats in | 22°C |
| Sun 8Nov | 45, fair | 0.8 m | 20 kn | 27knboats in | 15°C |
| Mon 9Nov | 55, fair | 0.6 m | 14 kn | 25kn | 17°C |
| Tue 10Nov | 64, good | 0.5 m | 3 kn | 12kn | 19°C |
| Wed 11Nov | 68, good | 0.6 m | 4 kn | 13kn | 18°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 01:48 +0.3 mLow 07:13 −0.4 mHigh 13:53 +0.8 mLow 20:56 −0.6 m
- Mon 2 NovHigh 03:03 +0.3 mLow 08:31 −0.3 mHigh 15:02 +0.7 mLow 22:03 −0.6 m
- Tue 3 NovHigh 04:15 +0.3 mLow 09:54 −0.3 mHigh 16:12 +0.7 mLow 23:02 −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
- Jul5of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Jul
- Aug5of 7: a trip from Sat 7 Aug
- Sep6of 7: a trip from Sat 4 Sept
- Oct6of 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
Fairy Bower 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 Fairy Bower
More diving near here
4 places
- Shelley Beach 0.1 km away
- Blue Fish Wall 0.6 km away
- The Wall 7.6 km away
- SS Duckenfield 9.5 km away
About
the place in full, sources, credits
About Fairy Bower
You get in from the shore. It suits Advanced divers and up, as a dive guide states it. The coast faces NE: swell from the NE reaches it, and wind from the SW blows out to sea. 3 dive centres or shops within 10 km, the nearest 3.0 km away. The sea is about 18°C in August, its coldest month (7 mm wetsuit and hood), and 24°C in February, its warmest (5 mm wetsuit). The town to stay in is Manly. Within 5 km we also list 22 surf spots, 2 wind sports spots and 4 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 Advanced divers and up, as a dive guide states it.
- Dive centres 3 dive centres or shops within 10 km, the nearest 3.0 km away.
Water about 20°C: 7 mm wetsuit and hood. Typical sea temperature for the time of year, not a forecast.
Visibility about 15 m. Typical for the time of year, estimated from ten years of NASA satellite water clarity, not a forecast. Clearest in Jan, Feb, Nov and Dec (about 15 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$1,650–US$3,180 each
about US$1,650–US$3,180 each · 6 nights, 2 sharing: flights, taxi, 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 |
| Taxi | airport and back, shared | about US$47–US$74 |
| 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$1,650–US$3,180 |
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: Manly
2 min by car · 50 places to stay
about US$134/nightcountry average
About Manly 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 27h 35m
About 27h 35m door to door from Chicago
Fly MDW → SYD, changing at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), then 40 min 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 Manly · GetYourGuideDive gear hire in Manly · GetYourGuide
Dive centres nearby
Dive Centre Manly 3.0 km
Pro Dive 4.7 km
Plunge 5.8 kmPADI
Adreno (diving gear) 16 km
Deep 6 20 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.
Port Jackson shark Heterodontus portusjacksoniShark
Seen in 1000 records, mostly Jul to Sep.
Red Groper Achoerodus viridis
Seen in 11105 records.
Girella tricuspidata
Seen in 17 records, mostly Mar.
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; 8b7d13f0-7be3-434a-8e73-b8ee0aadb288; 58bb5aa2-2939-48d5-9015-b18706e26425; a0737a06-66ef-41e7-9458-9c05f53340b5; 005d0e22-36ee-4a2e-ba64-bad89192fb76. Credits
This week: visibility about 15 m, about usual for the month (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.
Saved: this link opens the same trip
The link holds the trip itself: nothing about you is kept. Check the forecast again before you book.