Brilliant snorkel spot where you can see Giant Cuttlefish, Eastern Blue Gropers, Stingrays, and Wobbegong Sharks. Cabbage Tree Bay nature reserve is protected and located in the popular tourist town of Manly in North Beaches a short 20-minutes from Sydney’s Harbour, New South Wales.
Pros
Cons

Snorkel Video

Snorkel Snaps

Where is Shelly Beach / Cabbage Tree Bay?
The popular snorkel spots and nature reserve is located in the coastal town of Manly, North of Sydney city centre, in the Australian state of New South Wales. The snorkel spot runs from the beach along the rocky coastline.
Snorkel Spot


Snorkel Review
Highlights

No Coral

3-5 Meters Average Depth

Good Visibility

Easy to Medium Difficulty

Cafe’s nearby

Free, tours $40-50 USD

Sea Urchins Present

Jellyfish can Be Present
When:
Who:
Tour Cost:
Star Rating:
Cost:
Shelly Beach is located to the Northern end of Cabbage Tree Bay nature reserve, in the coastal town of Manly, in Sydney’s Northern Beaches. Manly is a 20-minute Ferry journey from the city centre, passing the opera house and Harbour Bridge. The protected aquatic reserve is one of the most popular snorkel spots in Sydney, and New South Wales, as the protected sheltered bay is home to a breadth of diverse marine life, and accessible from the beach.

Snorkel Spot
Shelly Beach

You can access the water from the beach. there is a rocky, kelp-covered sea bed that runs along the boardwalk side of the beach. Here you can see smaller marine life swimming between the green and yellow kelp, only 5 meters from the beach. From over 20x snorkels, I’ve had in the bay, every snorkel is different and you never know what you’re going to see!
Cabbage Tree Bay

The bay has a rocky shoreline which you should avoid. The sea bed ranges from 1-5 meters in depth. The sea bed is largely covered with vibrant sea kelp, patches of boulder rocks, and sandy bottoms. The Kelp forests hug the shallower shoreline and drop down to the sandy bottoms. The different seasons bring different marine life to the bay, such as a breeding for the Giant Cuttlefish in July.

Where to enter the water
There are two entrances to snorkel at Cabbage Tree Bay, either from Shelly Beach or from the Bower stairs. It is a safer route via Shelly Beach as you start from the beach from shallow water and there is generally little wave and can make your way out.
On the other hand, Bower stairs which are further round the bay enables you to access the water via the steps. Be careful if you choose this option as the stairs and rocks can be slippery, and waves are more forceful coming in to the stairs, with a more rocky entrance.
Enter at the beach

Enter using the Bower Steps


Safety Tip:
A few safety tips include wearing flippers, as it is a large bay and flippers will make it easier to swim. There are sea urchins in the rocks and flippers will protect your feet. Entering and leaving the water can be challenging from Cabbage Tree, as are large rocks, and barnacles which can be dangerous with a wave.
Starting from Shelly Beach is a safer entry and snorkeling around the bay and then back. I’d recommend wearing a rash vest to protect you from UV rays, and jellyfish. The bay can occasionally get bluebottle jellyfish with a South Westerly wind.



Shelly Beach Marine Life







Snorkeling from the beach you meet a rocky shoreline and kelp forests on the left-hand and right-hand side. I snorkeled along the left-hand side, on the side of the boardwalk. There were mainly smaller fish swimming amongst the Kelp, and that could be spotted on the patches of sand, such as the Sergeant Baker and Scorpionfish, which were seen at a depth of 3-4 meters. There were many female Eastern Groper fish swimming within the rocks. However, I didn’t see any of the larger male blue fish.
Top Tip:
The snorkel spot can get very crowded in the water around midday, or early afternoon. If you snorkel before 9:00am-10:00am you’ll beat the crowds and be more likely to see cuttlefish, turtles, sharks, and Rays. I went for an ocean swim from Manly to Shelly at 7:00am, and saw Wobbegong, Eagle Rays, Pufferfish etc!
Cabbage Tree Bay Marine Life


















Summary
Shelly Beach and Cabbage Tree Bay are both awesome snorkel spots if you’re staying in Manly or Sydney. The kelp forest bay is home to a range of very diverse marine life, and on each snorkel I normally see different species.
The nature reserve is home to the Giant Cuttlefish, Eastern Groper Wrasse, several Stingrays, Eagle Ray, and smaller sharks including the Spotted Wobbegong.
The bay is generally protected from large waves, but be sure to check the wave weather forecast. Snorkelling in my opinion is best at low tide as there is less sediment. The larger species such as Wobbegongs, Giant Cuttlefish, Eagle Rays, and Sting Rays can be seen close to shore in low tide, but can be very camouflaged, so you’ll need your eagle eye to spot them.
There are other snorkel spots in Sydney, such as Clovelly Beach, and Gordons Bay.
Tour Guide Options
It is free to snorkel at Shelly Beach and Cabbage Tree Bay nature reserve. There are snorkel tours and also meet-ups which range in price, at approximately $100.00 AUS dollars ($65.00 US dollars).
Best Snorkel Spot
In my opinion, the best snorkeling for seeing the Giant Cuttlefish and large Eastern Groper Wrasse is in Cabbage Tree Bay, they dart in between the large rocky seabed. For seeing unusual fish perched on the sea bed, on the corner of Shelly Beach was excellent, where you can see larger Wobbegongs, Scorpionfish, Sergeant Baker fish etc.
The best spot in the morning is in the deeper waters of Shelly Beach where you can see large marine life, such as Wobbegong sharks, Eagle Rays, and large schools of fish. If you don’t want to stay in shallow waters, then along the left-hand side off the beach, on the walkway side. This would be suitable, as you’ll see the kelp forests and smaller marine life.

Best Time Of Year
You can snorkel all year round in calm wave conditions, but conditions can be better during Australia’s Summer season which runs from April to October. The marine life can vary due to the time of the year, for example, you’re more likely to see Giant Cuttlefish in the Autumn and winter months.
From my experience of snorkeling at Shelly and Cabbage Tree Bay over 5+ times, the marine life varies nearly every snorkel. The popular marine life which is common all year round I’ve highlighted below.

Popular Marine Life

Eastern Groper Wrasse

Stingrays

Stripey

Damselfish

Black-Spot Goatfish

Australian Mado

Grey Mullet

Common Stingree

Australian Snapper

Old Wife

Kapala Ray

Rare Marine Life

Pufferfish / Toadfish

Green Turtle

Giant Cuttlefish

Blacktip Reef Shark

Hawksbill Turtle

Striped Eel Catfish

Common Octopus

Spotted Wobbegong Shark

Southern Eagle Ray

Reef Manta Ray
Shelly Beach Sign



What I Saw
(Seen on 2024, 2025)
Eastern Blue Groper Wrasse | Kapala Stingray |
Australian Mado | Rock Cale Fish |
Crescent Wrasse | Rough Leatherjacket |
Black-Spot Goatfish | Old Wife Fish |
Neon Damselfish | Tarwhine |
Sergeant Baker | Starry Pufferfish |
Old Wife | Maori Wrasse |
Common Stingree | Southern Eagle Ray |
Striped Eel Catfish | Black Sea Urchin |
Estuary Catfish | Spotted Wobbegong Shark |
Parore | Gold Spot Mullet |
Surge Demoiselle | Yellowtail Kingfish |
East-Australian Stripey | Red Rockcod |
Mosaic Leatherjacket | Eastern Hulafish |
Eastern Pomfred | Rough Leatherjacket |
Moon Wrasse | Red Morwong |
Fiddler Ray | Australian Giant Cuttlefish |
Australian Snapper | Green Turtle |
Hawksbill Turtle | White-spotted Pufferfish |
Southern Reef Squid | Australian Snapper |
Black-Margined Nudibranch | Short-tailed Stingray |
Dusky Flathead | Eastern Shovelnose Stingree |
Port Jackson Shark | Fan Bellied Leatherjacket |
Reef Manta Ray | Grey Morwong |
Blue Spotted Conetfish | Girdled Scaylfin |
Smooth Toadfish | Silver Sweep |
Yellowtail Scad | White-Ear |
Sand Mullet | Crimsonband Wrasse |
Jelly Blubber | Golden Kelp |

NSW Snorkel Reviews
