Million Dollar Bommie is one of the island's favourite photography dives. On a coast where coral usually grows almost to the surface and the reef quickly becomes a wall, this site is unusual: between the cliff and the dive there is a stretch of sand and rock bottom, and on it sits a single bommie about 7 m high on a 26 m base. Extra Divers describe a shallow bommie system from 3 m to 17 m, and Diveplanit's report puts the bommie's top at about 19 m and its base at 26 m – in practice divers can make it anything from a shallow reef dive to a deeper circuit of the pinnacle.

The sand holds what Extra Divers call a famously dense garden eel colony, which rises and sways in the current. The bommie itself is thick with life: sea fans tucked beneath overhangs, and fish congregating both on the summit, where they graze algae in the light, and in its crevices. Species recorded include velvet surgeonfish, Meyer's butterflyfish, lyretail hogfish, mimic surgeonfish, red fire gobies, coral trout, parrotfish, moray eels and octopus. Occasional megafauna pass through, and snorkellers have seen manta rays go by.

The combination of a compact, well-lit structure, lots of fish and a sandy backdrop makes it a favourite for underwater photographers – the summit in particular. It is equally good for first-timers, who can stay shallow, and for experienced divers who want a relaxed but fish-rich dive. The name is a local joke that the encounters here are priceless. It is dived in the calm south-east trade season and is one of the standard sites on the run west along the north coast.

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 from the cove past Smith Point and then south-west along the north coast along the coast for roughly 5–10 minutes to the site below the water tanks.

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 over the sand and rock between the cliff and the bommie, visit the garden eels on the sand, then circle the bommie from its 26 m base up to the top at about 19 m, checking the fans under the overhangs. Spend the latter part of the dive working back across the shallower reef towards the cliff for the safety stop.

Extra Divers Christmas Island – regular boat dive; CI Wet'n'Dry Adventures – regular site, popular with photographers. Snorkellers are sometimes taken for the shallow reef.