Get ready to grab your goggles and dust off your camera—Northern Beaches Council’s much-loved Underwater Photography Competition is back for its 5th spectacular year.

From Thursday 24 July to Sunday 18 August, shutterbugs of all stripes are invited to plunge into the turquoise depths and snap their way to a share in the impressive $4000 prize pool.

This year’s theme, Wonder, sustaining what sustains us, pairs perfectly with the World Ocean’s Day theme and invites photographers to capture the magic of the Northern Beaches’ five aquatic reserves.

The Northern Beaches are basically a photographer’s paradise and this is a golden opportunity to show off the beauty and resilience of our local underwater world—while vying for those serious bragging rights and cash rewards.

Everyone from seasoned lens masters to weekend dabblers can take the plunge, snap their best shots, and help share the story of this extraordinary marine playground.

With 8 categories plus a major award - The Valerie Taylor Underwater Photography Award for Excellence, entrants can enter up to 3 images. Videographers can submit one reel.

The People’s Choice voting opens Thursday 28 August and runs through to Sunday 21 September with winners announced in November. If you’re keen to dive a little deeper, check out the Council’s website.

Categories:

1. Behaviour: Capturing natural behaviour of marine life.
2. Macro: Getting up close to the subject matter.
3. Threatened Species: Portraying the vulnerability of a threatened species found, for example: black rod cod, grey nurse shark, green turtle.
4. Human Connection: Capturing the positive or negative connection between a person/s and marine life (flora / fauna / megafauna). This could include monitoring citizen science projects or research undertaken in one of the Northern Beaches aquatic reserves.
5. Seascapes (wide angle): Capturing the raw beauty of the underwater vista in one of the Northern Beaches aquatic reserves.
6. Youth: For the budding young photographers aged 12 to 17 years old. The winner will be recognised as the Underwater Youth Photographer of the Year 2025.
7. Reels: Capturing the wonder of the biodiversity in our underwater world. Reel length is 15 to 30 seconds duration.
8. People’s Choice Award: public can vote online for their favourite finalist image.