Western Australia offers every possible diversity of diving. The major diving destinations in Western Australia include Perth, Rottnest Island, Exmouth, Albany, Abrolhos Islands, Esperance and Busselton. The best times for diving in Western Australia are the summer and autumn months of December to May for the southern waters, and the autumn and winter months of March to August for the northern waters of Western Australia.
There are three major diving areas within the greater Perth metropolitan area. They are Marmion Marine Park, Shoalwater Islands Marine Park and Rottnest Island.
Marmion Marine Park, off Perth's northern beaches, lies between Trigg Island and Burns Rock. It contains within its boundaries a range of limestone reefs, sea grass beds and caves. Little Island is a resting place for Australian sea lions and bottle-nosed dolphins can be regularly seen in the area. All dive sites in the Park are a 10 minute trip from Hillarys Boat Harbour in Sorrento.
The Shoalwater Islands Marine Park comprises coastal waters from Becher Point (Long Point) to the Garden Island causeway. The limestone reefs, sea grass beds, sandy seafloors and numerous islands provide habitat for a diversity of marine plants and animals. The largest island, Penguin Island, has a breeding colony of little penguins and is also a resting place for sea lions.
Rottnest Island has numerous dive sites, the best of which are Porpoise Bay, Jackson Rock, Transit Reef and West End. Rottnest is well known for its coral gardens, spectacular caves and an abundance of colourful marine life. Many tropical coral and fish species live near the island because of the influence of the warm Leeuwin current. There are also a number of wrecks in the waters around the island.
Busselton, located 229 km (142 miles) south of Perth, boasts excellent jetty diving. The Busselton Jetty is 2 km (1.2 miles) long and offers diving to 7 metres. Its pylons are covered with soft coral and the surrounds are teeming with fish life.
Also in the area, there are three coral bommies in Geographe Bay, one of them made up of a species of leaf coral. Fish life is abundant around the bommies. In Geographe Bay there are also two excellent reefs that are rarely dived. The 'HMAS Swan', a sunken anti-submarine warship off Dunsborough provides excellent diving in 30 metres of clear water.
Albany, located 409 km (254 miles) south east of Perth, is a former whaling town. The islands out from King George Sound near Albany provide superb diving. To the west of Albany is Two People Bay and further west is Cheynes beach, both offering good shore diving. To the east, Torbay Head is a formidable site. Excellent boat dives in the area include the Boulders, Michaelmas Reef, Breaksea Island and Eclipse Island.
Esperance, located 725 km (451 miles) south east of Perth, is the gateway to the Recherche Archipelago which contains hundreds of islands.The islands are home to the Australian fur seal. Fish life is abundant featuring salmon, kingfish and blue groper. These islands offer a multitude of dive sites with good diving available in all weather. The granite rocks that form these islands provide majestic drop-offs from 3 to 60 metres.
The Esperance jetty is considered one of the best night dives in Western Australia. 'Sanko Harvest', the second largest dive able wreck in the world, is located in the waters off Esperance and is only dive able by experienced divers a few days each year. Esperance can be dived all year round but the best conditions are from February to April.
The Abrolhos Islands, or Houtman Abrolhos, are located 72 km (45 miles) offshore from Geraldton, 424 km (264 miles) north of Perth, and consist of three separate groups of islands extending some 80 km (50 miles) running north-south. They boast some of the finest coral gardens in the world as well as the wreck of the famous 'Batavia' which perished in 1629. The Abrolhos Islands are often rated as the amongst the best dive spots in Australia.
Exmouth, 1,264 km (785 miles) north of Perth, can act as a good base for divers wishing to experience the Ningaloo Reef and the Muiron Islands. Ningaloo Reef is a 200 km (124 mile) long coral reef ranging between 200 metres and 6 km (4 miles) from the shore. It runs along the western side of the Exmouth Peninsula and is made up of a wide variety of corals with the associated tropical marine life.
The reef is home to sharks, manta rays, sea snakes, sail fish and marlin. There is also a range of large fish such as coral cod and coral trout. Between the reef and the shore are large lagoons with white sand bottoms and coral bommies. The depth in these lagoons varies from 3 to 8 metres and is ideal for snorkelling and shore dives.
Humpback whales, whale sharks and manta rays migrate through the waters of the marine park in season and the whale shark, the largest fish in the world, appears at Ningaloo between March and May every year.
The Murion Islands and other smaller nearby islands offer a superb range of coral and marine life. On the ocean side of the islands, large gutters are carved up through heavy corals that are frequented by large fish. On the leeward side of the islands more delicate corals and bommies exist with a wide range of smaller fish.
A number of superb dive sites are situated around Coral Bay, 160 km (99 miles) south of Exmouth, a lagoon that is packed with 150 varieties of colourful coral species, including hectares of delicate blue staghorn corals. Coral Bay is 3 to 5 metres deep and is one of the best places to view the coral spawning, when all the corals release their eggs and sperm in one spectacular event over a series of nights.
Not far from Coral Bay is The Gap, where divers regularly see reef sharks, barracuda, trevally, big black rays, patches of beautiful anemones and the striking anemone fish that gain protection from predators by bathing in their stinging tentacles. Lotte's Lagoon, just south of Coral Bay, is also about 10 metres deep and draws people to view blue-spotted sting rays, abundant bailer shells, long-fingered stem coral, tubeworms and brain coral and two-metre long Queensland groper.
Those seeking a more challenging dive descend to depths of 20 to 30 metres on the outer reef. Notable marine life in this area includes delicate and colourful gorgonian or fan corals, mackerel, giant potato cods, coral trout and the beautifully patterned lionfish or butterfly cod.
The Rowley Shoals Marine Park is located 300 km (186 miles) west of Broome. It consists of independent coral atolls, each about 13 km (8 miles) long and 6.5 km (4 miles) wide. Mermaid Reef, the most north-easterly and most heavily visited of the three reefs, has a 55 metre wide passage into its central lagoon. Clerke Reef lies 25 km (16 miles) south west of Mermaid Reef and near its northern end is a sand cay (Bedwell Island) devoid of vegetation. A narrow passage on the north east side of this reef is navigable to a boat under favourable conditions. Imperieuse Reef lies 32 km (20 miles) south west of Clerke Reef and has a small sand cay that is 4 metres high and supports a lighthouse.
The isolation of these shoals mean they are one of the few areas of coral atoll in the world which can truly be described as in pristine condition. The shoals rises steeply from 220 fathoms and in some sections are almost vertical. This combined with visibility in excess of 60 metres creates very good diving. The drop offs are adorned with giant gorgonians, sponges, feather stars, soft and hard corals. Marine life at the shoals is prolific and the fish have little or no fear of divers.
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