Marine Reserves

'The world's most accessible underwater wilderness' - David Doubilet, National Geographic.

The granite that forms those arresting grey peaks on the Freycinet Peninsula extends deep below the water on the eastern shores of Governor Island, where it has fractured into huge blocks that have tumbled onto each other below sheer vertical walls and overhangs.

At Ninepin Point, on the tip of the peninsula between the mouths of the D'Entrecasteaux Channel and the Huon River, tea-coloured water from the Huon overlays the seawater, reducing light and creating conditions for a fascinating array of invertebrates, fish and red seaweed usually only found in much deeper waters.

Bathurst Harbour - the only sheltered inlet on 250 kilometres of coast between Macquarie Harbour on the west coast and Recherche Bay in the south-east - is a sanctuary for relict fauna from 80 million years ago.

Tasmania has seven marine reserves, a number of which are popular scuba diving sites. But in some marine reserves all you need is a snorkel. At Tinderbox, just south of Hobart, there are even underwater interpretive signs, while at Maria Island at low tide, you can see orange, pink, white and purple jewel anemones simply by lying on the jetty and peering between the planks.

For details of all Tasmania's marine reserves, visit the Parks and Wildlife Service website.