Western Australia’s coastline is home to unspoiled reefs, schools of fish, and coral gardens that are waiting to be explored by divers. For novice, intermediate, or experienced divers, Australia’s underwater playground has lots to offer.
This is whether you’re itching to mingle with fun marine critters or investigate interesting historical shipwrecks.
Places to go scuba diving in Western Australia
Exmouth
Exmouth was chosen by National Geographic as the second-best diving spot on earth for a few very obvious reasons. The Ningaloo Reef is a vast sanctuary of marine life that is legally protected.
It is filled with rays, sharks, whales, dolphins, and even the rare dugongs. When diving there, you’ll be searching for the “big three” of the reef. They are humpback whales, manta rays, and whale sharks.
Whale sharks only gather in one place on earth in large numbers each year. There congregate from April to July at Exmouth, Western Australia. Manta ray sightings are most common between May and September, although they occur all year round.
From August to October, this is a fantastic location for snorkelers to have a chance to dive into the Ningaloo among the enormous humpback whales.
Broome
Talking about scuba diving in Western Australia, we have to menthe Rowley Shoals Marine Park and the Mermaid Reef Marine Park are located off the imposing ochre cliffs of Broome, Australia’s northwest hub. Three coral atolls are included in this complex of two protected parks. All of them include shallow lagoons teeming with unusual marine life.
All year long, diving in any marine park will allow you to see turtles, dolphins, and rays. One of the most distinctive diving locations in all of Australia is submerging through coral-covered atolls while surrounded by enormous shoals of tropical fish.
The high-ridged reefs cause the waves to pool, producing an unrepeatable appearance of horizontal waterfalls.
Rottnest Island
The island is affectionately known merely as “Rotto” by Perth residents. It is a favoured getaway for sea-loving city inhabitants and is located only 45 minutes from Fremantle port. Numerous species, including dolphins, cuttlefish, dusty morwongs, and western blue devils, inhabit this magnificent limestone reef.
Due to its intricate network of caverns, Rottnest is a particularly alluring location for divers. Shark Cave is the most well-known and perhaps the most photographed. You’ll make your way to the surface surrounded by calm animals after descending through a tranquil maelstrom of grey nurse sharks.
More interesting cave diving opportunities on the island may be found in Crystal Palace, Opera House, and Roe Reef.
HMAS Swan Wreck
The HMAS Swan wreck lies close to the Dunsborough shoreline. It is one of WA’s easiest wrecks for divers to investigate. In 1997, the ship was deliberately sunk to serve as a recreational diving site and artificial reef.
Divers may access swim-throughs in the ship’s hull through a series of holes that have been bored into it. When you go inside, you may see around the galley, control room, laundry, bridge, and communications tower, sometimes known as the “crow’s nest.”
Diverse marine species, including schools of pike, blue devilfish, and banded sweeps, are also likely to be seen within the ship. Flathead, globefish, batfish, and nudibranchs are often seen outside of the wreck.
Navy Pier
Navy Pier at Bundegi Reef is regarded as one of the top pier diving locations in the world and is teeming with underwater coral and marine life. A short drive from Exmouth lies the 300-meter-long Navy Pier.
The pier’s pylons may be found at a maximum depth of 15 metres. They are home to a wide variety of angelfish, butterflyfish, colourful soft coral, and grey nurse sharks in the winter.
Albany
Ship graveyards dot Western Australia’s coastline, luring divers from all across the country. It is possible to investigate the skeletal remnants of East India ships from the 17th century. You can find crumbling wreckage of colonial research ships, and enormous submerged oil rigs.
One of the top places for scuba diving in Western Australia, is Albany is the state’s southwest area. Since its foundation in 1826, Albany has been a frequent site for shipwrecks. It was the first European colony in Western Australia and the country’s first deep water port.
Abrolhos Islands
This remarkable archipelago is located 100 kilometres off the coast of Geraldton. The place is made up of 122 islands.
Because of the excellent visibility, which is regarded as being among the greatest in all of Western Australia, you can see the dolphins, sea lions, stingrays, and shoals of unusual tropical fish that live on the islands. These coral reefs are the southernmost in the Indian Ocean and a fantastic place to see seabirds that are nesting.
The Dutch ship the Batavia went down in 1628. It is another well-known and horrifying catastrophe that happened on the islands. Explore the still-preserved canons that have become essential to Australia’s foundational legend while learning about the ship that is supposed to have had one of “the greatest horror tales in nautical history.”
Boyinaboat Reef
This limestone reef is six metres deep and 75 metres from Hillarys Boat Harbour’s sea wall. It is a favourite diving location for locals. The reef is a fantastic area to practise certain diving and snorkelling skills since there are so many ledges, swim-throughs, caves, and overhangs to negotiate.
The reef is home to a wide variety of fish species, such as scalyfins, leatherjackets, pikes, rabbitfish, old wives, and moonlighters. There is a lot of sea grass to explore around the reef. Read the ten underwater plaques located throughout the dive site that provide intriguing facts and information about the reef if you’re curious to discover more about the area’s flourishing flora and animals.
Ningaloo Reef
One of the most amazing diving locations in the State is the World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Reef. One of the greatest ways to enjoy this magnificent coral is on a deep-sea dive. Home to a plethora of marine life, this sea includes dolphins, humpback whales, fish, and spectacular whale sharks.
The reef is also home to more than 260 distinct types of hard corals, as well as many reef sharks, crayfish, and moray eels. Blizzard Ridge, Dibley, and Labyrinth are three of the most well-known dive sites along the reef. Depending on your favourite tour operator, you can be submerged at a number of different locations throughout the lengthy reef.
Busselton Jetty
A dive at Busselton’s famed jetty is an excellent place for novice divers to get acquainted with underwater life since it is teeming with a variety of marine life, 150-year-old wooden pylons, and stunning coral development.
One of Australia’s greatest artificial reefs, the one on the jetty is teeming with colourful tropical and subtropical sponges, fish, and invertebrates for visitors to explore and engage with.
On your dive, you’ll see amazing species including eagle rays, blennies, decorator crabs, black-headed pullers, and tiny schools of herring. The maximum depth of the sea is nine metres. Around the pylons, there are also seagrass meadows and coral reefs to explore. Once your dive is over, go over to the jetty’s underwater observatory to see the reef from several vantage points.
Final Word
The Great Barrier Reef is the first place that springs to mind when you think about Australian scuba diving. But approximately 4000 kilometres distant, on the western coast of the island, beautiful reefs and distinctive biodiversity make Western Australia an appealing destination for divers.
You will pass through humpback whales’ habitats, vast coral reefs and limestone caverns, unusual geographical occurrences, and the buried remains of old ships as you travel along Western Australia’s coast.
You’ll see whale sharks, manta rays, sea lions, and a vast array of unique fish along the route. This tour will take you to five of the top diving locations for scuba diving in Western Australia over 10,000 km of the state’s coastline.