Duke of Orleans Bay is a remote holiday spot between Cape Le Grand and Cape Arid National Parks, about an hour east of Esperance, with a caravan park, a handful of shacks and some of the clearest water on the south coast. Wharton Beach, its largest beach, is regularly ranked among the world's best beaches for its white sand, turquoise water and granite rock formation.

The caravan park lists swimming, fishing, surfing and diving among the bay's attractions, and travel writers describe ultra-clear water around Wharton's granite outcrop. Public documentation of specific dive sites is scarce: independent divers explore the granite around the beaches and, by small boat, the islands of the eastern Recherche Archipelago offshore. Expect typical Recherche habitat – granite boulders with kelp, sponges and gorgonians – and fish such as blue groper, harlequin fish, sweep, old wives, wrasse and herring, with Australian salmon schools in autumn and sea lions around the islands.

This is a destination for self-sufficient divers with their own gear (and ideally their own boat) staying at the caravan park. The nearest air fills and medical services are in Esperance. The reward is uncrowded water of exceptional clarity and a wild coastline. Fill all cylinders in Esperance before driving out, and let the caravan park know your dive plans.

From Esperance drive east on Fisheries Road through Condingup, then south on Orleans Bay Road to the Orleans Bay Caravan Park (about 83 km, 1 hour). Wharton Beach, the largest beach, is about 93 km from town; 4WD vehicles can drive to the water's edge and there is a spacious car park. Enter from the beach near the granite outcrops.

Small boats launch in the bay to reach nearby islands of the eastern Recherche.

Cape Le Grand's bays face south and east toward the Recherche islands, which break some of the Southern Ocean swell. Westerly and north-westerly winds are offshore and calm the bays; strong south-easterly sea breezes (most summer afternoons) and the 'Esperance Doctor' easterlies make them choppy and cloudy. Winter south-westerly swells produce surf in the more exposed bays.

Duke of Orleans Bay is protected by headlands and islands and its inner waters are described as tranquil; Wharton Beach is more open and can have surf in south-westerly swell. Dive on calm mornings with westerly or northerly winds.

From Wharton Beach, snorkel or dive around the granite outcrop at the beach, following the rock edge to 5-10 m. By boat, anchor in the lee of a nearby island and explore the granite reef.

No operator – independent divers. Air fills only in Esperance (Esperance Diving & Fishing).