Fuel Buoys takes its name from the Australian Navy's refuelling buoys moored off the shore, which ships use to take fuel from the large storage tanks visible on the rocky coastline. There are at least two buoys, and dive operators and guides refer to them as Fuel Buoy 1 and Fuel Buoy 2; Diveplanit's site report covers Fuel Buoy 2, while the Tourism Association and Wet'n'Dry simply list Fuel Buoys.

The reef here runs from about 5 m down to 24 m and is dominated by healthy Acropora and brain corals, some of the brain corals forming great toadstool-shaped mounds. The oddity of the dive is the anchor chain: each link the size of a dinner plate, it has been dragged back and forth by the buoy until it has cut a dead-straight, foot-wide trench through the living coral and into the limestone beneath – an unnatural line running through otherwise pristine reef. Everywhere else the coral is alive and fragile, so good buoyancy matters, particularly for photographers.

Fish and invertebrate life is dense for a site so close to the harbour. Sea stars, sea fans, hydrocorals and feather stars decorate the reef, and several lionfish usually hang in small caves and overhangs. Reef fish include butterflyfish, angelfish including the endemic Christmas Island (Cocos) angelfish, surgeonfish, triggerfish and groupers, and turtles and reef sharks pass along the slope.

Fuel Buoys is a relaxed, moderate-depth reef dive that suits all levels and is handy as a second dive or when the swell keeps boats close to the cove. It is not somewhere to dive when a ship is refuelling – operators avoid it when the buoys are in use.

Fly from Perth (about 4 hours, two to three flights a week, some via Cocos Islands) and hire a car – there is no public transport. Both dive centres are in The Settlement and launch their boats from the jetty/boat ramp at Flying Fish Cove, normally at about 8 am for a two-dive morning trip. From the cove the boat runs west out of the cove along the coast for roughly 3–5 minutes to the refuelling buoys, which are moored below the fuel tanks visible on the shoreline.

There is no land access to the dive, and the vertical sea cliffs mean no exit other than the boat. Operators choose sites on the morning according to swell and wind.

On the north coast, which is in the lee of the south-east trade winds from roughly April/May to November – that is the calm, reliable season here with glassy seas and 30 m+ visibility. From about December to March/April the north-west monsoon brings northerly and north-westerly swell (and occasional cyclone-generated swell) that can make the north coast undiveable and the Flying Fish Cove ramp unusable for days; Extra Divers treat February–April as peak swell season when trips are often cancelled. Any swell over about 1.5 m from the north-west quarter usually cancels the site.

Visibility dips after heavy rain run-off from the plateau and during red crab spawning (Oct–Jan) when plankton blooms. Tides are small (about 1 m) and rarely matter, but currents along the coast can pick up without warning.

Descend near the buoy to the reef at about 15 m, follow the line of the mooring chain trench down to 20–24 m, then work back up across the reef looking into small caves for lionfish. Keep well clear of the chain and buoy, and finish at 5 m on the reef top.

CI Wet'n'Dry Adventures – lists Fuel Buoys among its regular sites; Extra Divers Christmas Island – dived as a short boat dive. Often used as a second dive close to the cove.