Dive sites by state · 2026 guide

The Best Dive Sites in Western Australia

Q: How is this list ranked?

Sites are chosen from our dive-site database and ordered by how well documented they are: flagship status, the number of operators we have confirmed dive there, and the marine life recorded. Nobody pays to be listed.

Q: Can a business pay to appear here?

No. Listings and order come from our research only. Businesses can ask us to correct their details, but not to change their position.

Q: How current is this guide?

It is generated from the directory's latest research, checked in 2026. Conditions, operators and seasons change — confirm details with the operator before you book.

Western Australia has 12 dive sites in our database. These are the 10 with the strongest combination of reputation, marine life and confirmed operators.

Each entry shows the typical depth, the certification it suits and who runs trips there.

Ningaloo Reef

Ningaloo & Exmouth, Western Australia

Open Water · ≤18 m~15 m typical, 30 m maxShore dive · Boat divereef · drift

A fringing reef close enough to shore that in places you can swim to it from the beach.

For certified divers, the reef systems and offshore sites around the Exmouth Gulf provide the main scuba product, with drift diving along the reef edge and coral bommies inside the lagoon.

Look for: Green Turtle, Humpback Whale, Manta Ray, Spotted Eagle Ray

Who takes you there Exmouth Dive & Whalesharks Ningaloo Ningaloo Reef Dive Dive Ningaloo Ningaloo Blue Dive

Full Ningaloo Reef guide →

Colourful nudibranch on a sponge garden with a diver behind

Exmouth Navy Pier

Ningaloo & Exmouth, Western Australia

Open Water · ≤18 m~10 m typical, 15 m maxShore divepier

A structure dive with extraordinary fish density, on Defence land with controlled access.

The structure supports an extraordinary density of fish — grey nurse sharks, wobbegongs, giant groupers and vast schools crowded into a comparatively small area.

Look for: Grey Nurse Shark, Nudibranchs, Queensland Groper, Wobbegong

Who takes you there Exmouth Dive & Whalesharks Ningaloo Dive Ningaloo

Full Exmouth Navy Pier guide →

Manta ray gliding over a reef while scuba divers watch from a distance

Muiron Islands

Ningaloo & Exmouth, Western Australia

Open Water · ≤18 m~15 m typical, 25 m maxBoat divereef · island

Offshore islands north of Exmouth with coral gardens and reliable clarity.

Sites include coral gardens, bommies and swim-throughs, with turtles and reef sharks common.

Look for: Manta Ray, Whale Shark

Who takes you there Exmouth Dive & Whalesharks Ningaloo Dive Ningaloo Sail Ningaloo

Full Muiron Islands guide →

Neutrally buoyant underwater photographer composing an image on a temperate reef

Busselton Jetty

Busselton & Dunsborough, Western Australia

Easy · <10 m~7 m typical, 9 m maxShore dive · Boat divepier

Coral and sponge growth in temperate water, under one of the longest timber jetties in the world.

The jetty provides structure, marine life and relatively accessible diving in sheltered water, and the coral and sponge coverage on the piles is unexpectedly rich for temperate Western Australia.

Look for: soft and hard coral growth on the piles, sponges and ascidians, schooling baitfish, nudibranchs, octopus

Full Busselton Jetty guide →

Sidemount cave diver following a guideline into a clear limestone cavern

Rottnest Island

Rottnest Island, Western Australia

Open Water · ≤18 m~15 m typical, 35 m maxBoat dive · Shore divereef · cave · wall

Limestone caverns, swim-throughs, ledges and walls 18 kilometres off Fremantle.

Marine life reflects a warm-temperate mix influenced by the Leeuwin Current, which brings tropical species considerably further south than the latitude would suggest.

Look for: western blue gropers, tropical and temperate fish together, coral growth at high latitude, crayfish, rays

Who takes you there

Perth Scuba Dolphin Dive Fremantle

Full Rottnest Island guide →

Christmas Island Walls

Christmas Island, Western Australia

Advanced · 18–25 m~25 m typical, 40 m maxBoat dive · Shore divewall · reef

Vertical drop-offs beginning metres from shore, on the tip of an Indian Ocean seamount.

That geology produces wall diving of a kind that is rare in Australian territory — sheer faces with clear water and pelagic activity, accessible from small boats or in places from shore.

Look for: Whale Shark

Who takes you there

Extra Divers Christmas Island

Full Christmas Island Walls guide →

Scuba diver touring the exterior of a coral-covered shipwreck

Houtman Abrolhos Islands

Geraldton & Abrolhos Islands, Western Australia

Open Water · ≤18 m~18 m typical, 35 m maxBoat divereef · wreck · island

122 islands 60 km offshore, where coral grows alongside kelp and the Batavia was lost in 1629.

The Leeuwin Current carries warm water south along the coast, allowing coral to grow here alongside temperate kelp — an overlap that occurs in very few places worldwide.

Look for: Australian Sea Lion

Who takes you there Batavia Coast Dive & Watersports

Full Houtman Abrolhos Islands guide →

Divers preparing on the stern of a reef liveaboard at sunrise

Recherche Archipelago

Esperance, Western Australia

Open Water · ≤18 m~18 m typical, 30 m maxBoat diveisland · reef

More than a hundred granite islands off Esperance, with sea lions and extraordinary clarity.

The water here can be extraordinarily clear, and the granite terrain combined with Australian sea lion colonies makes for diving unlike anywhere else in Western Australia.

Look for: Australian Sea Lion

Who takes you there Esperance Diving & Fishing

Full Recherche Archipelago guide →

Perth Metropolitan Reefs

Perth, Western Australia

Open Water · ≤18 m~12 m typical, 25 m maxShore dive · Boat divereef · wreck

Limestone reef systems, artificial reefs and accessible shore entries along the Perth coast.

Shore entries at Mettams Pool, Point Peron and elsewhere provide accessible diving, while boat access reaches the offshore reef lines and artificial reef structures.

Look for: western blue gropers, wobbegongs, rays, octopus, crayfish

Who takes you there

Perth Scuba

Full Perth Metropolitan Reefs guide →

Scuba diver and green sea turtle above a tropical coral reef

Cocos Keeling Reefs

Cocos Keeling Islands, Western Australia

Open Water · ≤18 m~18 m typical, 30 m maxBoat divereef · drift · wall

A remote Indian Ocean atoll with clear water, drift diving and very few other divers.

The atoll provides clear water, reef diving, drop-offs and a large lagoon, with marine life influenced by both Indian Ocean and Indo-Pacific species.

Look for: reef sharks, manta rays occasionally, turtles, hard coral, schooling fish

Who takes you there Cocos Dive

Full Cocos Keeling Reefs guide →

Questions about this list

How is this list ranked?

Sites are chosen from our dive-site database and ordered by how well documented they are: flagship status, the number of operators we have confirmed dive there, and the marine life recorded. Nobody pays to be listed.

Can a business pay to appear here?

No. Listings and order come from our research only. Businesses can ask us to correct their details, but not to change their position.

How current is this guide?

It is generated from the directory's latest research, checked in 2026. Conditions, operators and seasons change — confirm details with the operator before you book.

All best-of guides →

Questions about this list

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