Manta Ray & Whale Shark Sites in External Territories

The big filter feeders: manta cleaning stations at Lady Elliot, Coral Bay, Lady Musgrave and North Stradbroke, and whale sharks at Ningaloo (March–July) and Christmas Island (November–January).

All states QLD NSW VIC TAS SA WA NT Territories

26 sites

Sort:Default Most dived Deepest Shallowest A–Z

ReefMax 22 m

Cannons

Cocos (Keeling) Islands · External Territory

Old cannons among Porites corals on sand, with garden eels and gobies – and a chance of dugong, dolphins and mantas.

Advanced Open WaterBeginner

Shore/Rock PlatformMax 25 mShore

Flying Fish Cove

Christmas Island · External Territory

Arguably Australia's best shore dive: a pristine coral slope and wall 50 m from the car park, endemic and hybrid reef…

Advanced Open WaterBeginner

DriftMax 8 mShore

The Rip (Direction Island)

Cocos (Keeling) Islands · External Territory

A fast, coral-lined drift channel from the ocean into the lagoon, full of sharks, humphead parrotfish and Napoleon…

Snorkel/AnyIntermediate

WallMax 30 mShore

Admin Wall

Christmas Island · External Territory

A sheer, effectively bottomless wall reached from the beach, with trevally, reef sharks and seasonal whale sharks.

Advanced Open WaterIntermediate

WallMax 40 m

Admiralty (Osprey Reef)

Coral Sea · External Territory

A coral village of huge bommies with a centuries-old anchor in a swim-through, flashlight fish at night and a sheer…

Deep/Advanced + experienceIntermediate

DriftMax 35 m

Around the Bend (Osprey Reef)

Coral Sea · External Territory

Osprey's most challenging drift, where current brings barracuda, hunting predators and mantas to a cleaning station.

Deep/Advanced + experienceAdvanced

Cave/CavernMax 16 m

Boat Cave

Christmas Island · External Territory

A sea cave big enough to park the boat in, with a floor carpeted in plate corals and colourful whips on the walls.

Open WaterIntermediate

WallMax 40 m

False Entrance (Osprey Reef)

Coral Sea · External Territory

Spectacular bommies and blue-water swim-throughs in a blind gully, with schooling trevally and barracuda and dense grey…

Deep/Advanced + experienceIntermediate

DriftMax 25 m

Leanne's Leap

Christmas Island · External Territory

An easy one-way drift from drop-off into a lush coral garden, often linked with Submarine Rock.

Advanced Open WaterIntermediate

ReefMax 12 mArea view

Manta Service Station

Cocos (Keeling) Islands · External Territory

A shallow manta cleaning station at about 9 m where Cocos' resident reef mantas come in to be cleaned, with excellent…

Open WaterBeginner

Pinnacle/BommieMax 26 m

Million Dollar Bommie

Christmas Island · External Territory

A solitary coral bommie rising from sand, with a dense garden eel colony and outstanding photography on the summit.

Advanced Open WaterBeginner

WallMax 40 m

North Horn (Osprey Reef)

Coral Sea · External Territory

Australia's most famous shark dive – 10–30 reef sharks around a controlled feed in a 12 m amphitheatre at the top of a…

Deep/Advanced + experienceIntermediate

WallMax 40 m

North Horn Wall (Osprey Reef)

Coral Sea · External Territory

A sheer drift along a wall dropping more than 1,000 m, with caves, overhangs, mantas and tuna.

Deep/Advanced + experienceAdvanced

WallMax 40 m

Perpendicular Wall

Christmas Island · External Territory

A true vertical wall into the abyss at the island's north-western tip, with colourful fans, schooling fish and a real…

Deep/Advanced + experienceAdvanced

ReefMax 20 m

Resort Lagoon / Waterfall Bay

Christmas Island · External Territory

Scenic ledges, boulders and a drop-off on the east coast – a wet-season refuge when the north coast is blown out.

Advanced Open WaterBeginner

WallMax 36 m

Rhoda Wall

Christmas Island · External Territory

Coral slope, sheer wall and a quarry-like ramp, with schooling grey reef sharks and some of the island's closest whale…

Deep/Advanced + experienceIntermediate

WallMax 30 m

Secret Caves (Osprey Reef)

Coral Sea · External Territory

Caves along Osprey's walls, especially good in the late afternoon and at night.

Advanced Open WaterIntermediate

WallMax 30 m

Submarine Rock

Christmas Island · External Territory

A submarine-shaped reef and 50 m drop-off with healthy boulder corals and passing mantas, eagle rays and grey reef…

Advanced Open WaterIntermediate

ReefMax 25 m

Two Ridges

Cocos (Keeling) Islands · External Territory

Two parallel coral ridges shaped like an upturned catamaran hull; a regular spot for manta rays and, historically, the…

Advanced Open WaterIntermediate

ReefMax 15 mShore

West White Beach

Christmas Island · External Territory

Shallow coral reef with anemone fields off a remote rainforest beach, where whale sharks and dolphins are regular…

Open WaterBeginner

WallMax 40 m

Chicken Farm

Christmas Island · External Territory

A vertical north-coast wall with exceptionally large gorgonian fans below 33 m.

Deep/Advanced + experienceAdvanced

WallMax 22 m

Egeria Point

Christmas Island · External Territory

Rated one of the island's best shark dives, with open-ocean pelagics and 40 m+ visibility at the south-west corner of…

Advanced Open WaterAdvanced

Cave/CavernMax 25 m

Lost Lake Cave

Christmas Island · External Territory

Entrance zone of one of Christmas Island's largest submarine cave systems, with overhangs, gullies and light shafts.

Advanced Open WaterIntermediate

WallMax 30 m

Lost Lake East

Christmas Island · External Territory

Typical north-coast reef and wall with dense fish life, next to the Lost Lake caves.

Advanced Open WaterIntermediate

ReefMax 14 m

North West Point

Christmas Island · External Territory

Sandy reef ledges with sleeping reef sharks and dense schools – the gentler companion dive to Perpendicular Wall.

Advanced Open WaterIntermediate

WallMax 30 m

Steep Point

Christmas Island · External Territory

An exploratory east-coast headland with a steep drop-off – rarely dived.

Advanced Open WaterAdvanced