Drift Dives in Western Australia

Sites dived on the current: tidal channels like the Gold Coast Seaway, Swansea and Port Phillip Heads, and the reef passes of the Coral Sea and the Rowley Shoals. Surface marker, boat cover and slack-water timing are the essentials.

All states QLD NSW VIC TAS SA WA NT Territories

45 sites

Sort:Default Most dived Deepest Shallowest A–Z

Pinnacle/BommieMax 27 m

10 Metre Spire

Rottnest Island · WA

An offshore spire with big overhangs and a fish-packed cave, rising to 10 m off the West End.

Advanced Open WaterAdvanced

Pinnacle/BommieMax 38 mArea view

Anemone Lump (Easter Group)

Geraldton & Abrolhos Islands · WA

Anemone-covered coral bommie from 38 m to 3 m with baitfish clouds, big plate corals and curious emperors.

Deep/Advanced + experienceAdvanced

ReefMax 32 m

Beacon Island Dive Trail

Geraldton & Abrolhos Islands · WA

Pelagic action in the passages beside Batavia's Graveyard, from a trail off the Beacon Island jetty.

Deep/Advanced + experienceIntermediate

SeamountDepth not published

Bremer Canyon (orca expeditions)

Albany & Great Southern · WA

One of the largest summer killer whale aggregations in the southern hemisphere – viewed from the boat, not in the water.

Snorkel/AnyExpert/Technical

DriftMax 20 m

Cardabia Passage

Ningaloo – Coral Bay · WA

A reef passage north of Coral Bay where ocean water funnels through the reef.

Advanced Open WaterIntermediate

DriftMax 23 m

Clerke Channel Drift

Rowley Shoals · WA

A fast flood-tide drift through bommies into the lagoon.

Advanced Open WaterIntermediate

ReefMax 30 m

Cod Hole (Mermaid Reef)

Rowley Shoals · WA

Bumphead parrotfish and sharks over white sand, ending in a fast drift.

Advanced Open WaterIntermediate

DriftDepth not published

Coral Bay Manta Ray Swim (Bateman Bay)

Ningaloo – Coral Bay · WA

Year-round snorkelling with WA's largest manta population, located by spotter plane.

Snorkel/AnyBeginner

WreckMax 9 m

Crown of England

Pilbara & Dampier · WA

A cyclone-wrecked sailing ship with anchor, masts and bow above water.

Wreck specialty recommendedAdvanced

WreckMax 5 mShore

Dunster Castle Wreck (Stokes Inlet)

Esperance & Recherche Archipelago · WA

Boiler, engine and a 20 m hull section of a 1916 steamship in the surf zone of a remote national park.

Advanced Open WaterExpert/Technical

WreckMax 8 m

Eddystone

Pilbara & Dampier · WA

A triple-expansion engine and bent propeller shaft swept by giant trevally.

Wreck specialty recommendedAdvanced

ReefMax 18 mArea view

False Passage

Ningaloo – Exmouth · WA

A reef channel dive at a false passage.

Open WaterIntermediate

WreckMax 6 m

Gudrun Wreck (Cape Peron)

Kalbarri & Shark Bay · WA

A rarely dived 1901 wreck in a Shark Bay sanctuary zone, rich with groper and lionfish.

Advanced Open WaterAdvanced

ReefMax 40 m

Imperieuse Reef

Rowley Shoals · WA

The least-publicised atoll, with the Cunningham Island lighthouse.

Deep/Advanced + experienceIntermediate

WallMax 40 m

Jimmy Goes to China

Rowley Shoals · WA

Grey reefs and silvertips on a current-swept point.

Deep/Advanced + experienceAdvanced

WreckMax 42 m

Key Biscayne Oil Rig Wreck

Perth · WA

An upturned oil rig in 26–42 m of often clear blue water, known for grey nurse sharks and large fish.

Technical (decompression)Advanced

WreckMax 13 mShore

Lady Lyttleton Wreck (Emu Point Channel)

Albany & Great Southern · WA

Buried hull, windlass and whaling trypots of an 1867 barque, 15 m off Emu Point.

Advanced Open WaterIntermediate

WreckMax 2 mShore

Mandalay Wreck (Mandalay Beach, Walpole)

Albany & Great Southern · WA

An occasionally exposed 1911 Norwegian barque wreck on a wild Walpole beach – a heritage walk, not a dive.

Snorkel/AnyBeginner

DriftMax 18 m

Mermaid Passage (Dampier)

Pilbara & Dampier · WA

A macro drift over a sponge and sea-whip seabed.

Advanced Open WaterIntermediate

WallMax 40 m

Mermaid Wall

Rowley Shoals · WA

The Shoals' deepest wall, draped in red gorgonians.

Deep/Advanced + experienceIntermediate

WallMax 25 mShore

Monkey Rock (Steep Point)

Kalbarri & Shark Bay · WA

A fault-line dive at Australia's westernmost mainland point, one of Shark Bay's best-known sites.

Advanced Open WaterAdvanced

ReefMax 10 m

Montgomery Reef

Broome & Kimberley · WA

The world's largest inshore reef, draining in waterfalls on a 10 m tide.

Snorkel/AnyExpert/Technical

ReefMax 50 mArea view

Naturaliste Reef

Geographe Bay & Busselton · WA

A remote offshore reef with big drop-offs to 50 m, 20 nm out and rarely dived.

Technical (decompression)Expert/Technical

DriftDepth not published

Ningaloo Humpback Whale Swim

Ningaloo – Exmouth · WA

Licensed snorkel encounters with migrating humpback whales, July–October.

Snorkel/AnyIntermediate

DriftDepth not published

Ningaloo Whale Shark Swim

Ningaloo – Exmouth · WA

Swim beside the world's largest fish on licensed tours with spotter planes, March–July.

Snorkel/AnyIntermediate

DriftMax 4 mShore

Paradise Beach Drift

Ningaloo – Coral Bay · WA

A 1.8 km beginner drift ending back in Bill's Bay.

Snorkel/AnyBeginner

WallMax 25 m

Pelsaert Island & Drop-off

Geraldton & Abrolhos Islands · WA

A sanctuary drop-off with 20 m-plus visibility, crays, morays and baldchin groper.

Advanced Open WaterAdvanced

DriftDepth not publishedArea view

Plectropoma Pass

Rowley Shoals · WA

Rowley Shoals pass named after the coral trout genus Plectropoma

Advanced Open WaterIntermediate

DriftMax 5 mShore

Purdy Point

Ningaloo – Coral Bay · WA

An easy, no-boat drift over staghorn and cabbage coral straight back to town.

Snorkel/AnyBeginner

Aircraft WreckMax 14 m

Roebuck Bay Flying Boat Wrecks (deep-water Catalinas)

Broome & Kimberley · WA

WWII Catalina flying boats sunk in the 1942 Broome raid, with engines and turret still recognisable.

Advanced Open WaterExpert/Technical

DriftMax 30 mArea view

Rolland Passage (Easter Group)

Geraldton & Abrolhos Islands · WA

Drifting coral gardens in wide passages, with clownfish and butterflyfish at 28-29°S.

Advanced Open WaterIntermediate

Shore/Rock PlatformMax 8 mShore

Salmon Holes (Torndirrup)

Albany & Great Southern · WA

Dramatic granite and turquoise water in Torndirrup National Park – a flat-day snorkel only.

Open WaterAdvanced

ReefMax 40 m

Scott Reef

Broome & Kimberley · WA

Remote oceanic atolls with walls rising from 500 m, rarely dived.

Deep/Advanced + experienceAdvanced

Cave/CavernMax 26 m

Shark Cave

Rottnest Island · WA

Protected grey nurse sharks resting in an arc-shaped cave at 24-26 m off the West End - Rottnest's premier shark dive.

Advanced Open WaterAdvanced

DriftMax 20 mArea view

Sponge Gardens (Muiron Islands)

Ningaloo – Exmouth · WA

A tidal drift over a sponge and gorgonian garden.

Advanced Open WaterIntermediate

WreckMax 4 mShore

SS Mildura Wreck

Ningaloo – Exmouth · WA

A 1907 cattle steamer with boilers still breaking the surface off the tip of North West Cape.

Snorkel/AnyAdvanced

WreckMax 35 m

SS Pericles Wreck

Margaret River & Augusta · WA

Three boilers and 10 m-high engines of a 152 m Edwardian liner in 35 m off Cape Leeuwin - all 413 aboard survived.

Deep/Advanced + experienceAdvanced

ReefMax 15 m

Tantabiddi North Reef Break

Ningaloo – Exmouth · WA

An ocean gap in North Reef with outer-reef clarity close to Tantabiddi.

Open WaterAdvanced

DriftMax 20 m

The Gap (Muiron Islands)

Ningaloo – Exmouth · WA

A fast tidal drift through the channel between North and South Muiron.

Advanced Open WaterIntermediate

ReefMax 18 mArea view

The Spit (Muiron Islands)

Ningaloo – Exmouth · WA

A ledge with swim-throughs where grey nurse sharks rest.

Open WaterIntermediate

Aircraft WreckMax 1 mShore

Town Beach Flying Boat Wrecks (low-tide walk)

Broome & Kimberley · WA

Walk among WWII flying-boat wrecks on the mudflats at extreme low tide.

Snorkel/AnyIntermediate

DriftMax 5 mShore

Turquoise Bay Drift Snorkel

Ningaloo – Exmouth · WA

Australia's most famous drift snorkel: float over coral bommies with sharks and turtles, straight off a white-sand…

Snorkel/AnyIntermediate

ReefMax 30 m

West End Reefs

Rottnest Island · WA

Deep, current-swept spires and fissures at the far end of Rottnest with big fish, sharks and passing whales.

Deep/Advanced + experienceAdvanced

Pinnacle/BommieMax 35 m

Wrights Bank

Geographe Bay & Busselton · WA

A blue-water pinnacle off Cape Naturaliste with fanning corals and big pelagics - the South West's advanced reef dive.

Deep/Advanced + experienceAdvanced

WreckMax 10 mShore

Zuytdorp Wreck

Kalbarri & Shark Bay · WA

The 1712 VOC wreck at the foot of the Zuytdorp Cliffs, whose survivors may have been the first Europeans to live in…

Advanced Open WaterExpert/Technical