Cabbage Tree Bay
1,000+ species
call this place home.
Your complete guide to every species at Sydney's best swim spot. Learn about, log, and share what you discover.
Share your adventures
Log your sightings after each swim and we'll build you a swim card you can share with your swim group.
Shareable swim report
You saw 8 species
Cabbage Tree Bay · April 13, 2026
Your underwater gallery
We've picked 197 species you might find at Cabbage Tree Bay. How many can you discover?
0 of 197 spotted
Keyhole Angelfish
White-ear
Blacklip Butterflyfish
Yellowfin Bream
Swimming this month? Look out for these visitors.
Goldstripe Goatfish
Mulloidichthys vanicolensis
Carpet Sea Star
Meridiastra calcar
Dot-and-dash Butterflyfish
Chaetodon pelewensis
Painted Rainbow Wrasse
Suezichthys arquatus
Terry's Pygmygoby
Eviota teresae
Chameleon Parrotfish
Scarus chameleon
Pale Surgeonfish
Acanthurus mata
Bluespot damsel
Pomacentrus grammorhynchus
Is there a species you're waiting to see?
We'll alert you when they're in town
Step 3 of 5
How big was it?
Tiny
Shrimp / nudibranch
Small
Hand-sized
Medium
Forearm length
Large
Arm length
Very large
Body+
Saw something different?
Find out what it was.
Answer five quick questions — size, colour, habitat, when and where — and we'll match it against every species recorded at Cabbage Tree Bay.
Identify a speciesDeep Dives
Get to know the locals
Every species has a story — what they eat, where they hide, why they're here. Dive into the field guide.
About the reserve
Cabbage Tree Bay Aquatic Reserve is a fully protected no-take zone on Sydney's Northern Beaches. The marine life here is extraordinary — blue gropers swim up to you, cuttlefish hover in the shallows, and sea turtles feast on the sea grass.
An entry from South Manly makes it one of Sydney's most popular swim spots. Walk in off the sand at Shelly Beach and you're surrounded by hundreds of species within minutes.