Sites where a certified diver, a snorkeller and a nervous first-timer can all get in at the same beach: shallow, sheltered, easy entry, plenty to see in the top five metres, and usually a car park, toilets and a café nearby.
Updated daily from the directory. 30 sites listed.
1. Perth · WA
Ammo Jetty
Perth's classic easy shore and night dive: century-old pylons encrusted with sponges and corals that hold excellent macro life, in a sheltered bay that is diveable when most other sites are not.
2. Perth · WA
MAAC Dive and Snorkel Trail
A 400 m interpretive underwater trail with about 20 plinths, weedy seadragons and a wheelchair-accessible entry.
3. Perth · WA
Omeo Wreck & Coogee Maritime Trail
A 1858 iron steamer lying 25 m off the beach in 3 m of water, with a 200 m trail of reef modules and sculptures running seaward from it: one of the best-developed underwater trails in WA.
4. Albany & Great Southern · WA
Greens Pool & Elephant Rocks (William Bay)
A turquoise granite-sheltered pool with easy, shallow snorkelling – one of WA's best-known beaches.
5. Perth · WA
Mettams Pool
A sheltered, accessible lagoon for families and an outer reef with swim-throughs, ledges, an arch and colourful sea fans.
6. Ningaloo – Exmouth · WA
Oyster Stacks
Oyster-encrusted rock stacks swarming with fish a few metres from shore.
7. Rottnest Island · WA
Parker Point Snorkel Trail
Snorkel trail with seabed plaques over the southernmost pocillopora coral reef, in a sanctuary zone 5 km from the ferry.
8. Perth · WA
Peters Pool (North Cottesloe)
A reef-ringed sandy lagoon straight off North Cottesloe Beach, one of Perth's most popular and easiest snorkels.
9. Geographe Bay & Busselton · WA
Busselton Jetty
A 1.8 km jetty with an underwater observatory, coral-encrusted pylons and easy diving.
10. Esperance & Recherche Archipelago · WA
Twilight Beach (Esperance)
Clear turquoise water over white sand with granite and an offshore rock – one of Australia's best beaches.
Shore/Rock PlatformMax 6 mBeginnerSnorkel/AnyShore accessMore in Esperance & Recherche Archipelago →
11. Kalbarri & Shark Bay · WA
Blue Holes (Kalbarri)
Sheltered, fish-filled lagoon pools in a no-fishing protection area, minutes from Kalbarri town.
12. Rottnest Island · WA
Little Salmon Bay
A sheltered south-coast lagoon with coral bommies in a few metres of water and a snorkel trail, diveable in most winds.
13. Rottnest Island · WA
Fay's Bay
A quiet bay with seagrass and shallow limestone caves and channels, 2 km from the settlement.
14. Ningaloo – Exmouth · WA
Lakeside Sanctuary Zone
A calm, buoyed sanctuary-zone snorkel with turtles, rays and reef sharks just off the beach.
15. Rottnest Island · WA
Little Armstrong Bay
Calm, shallow seagrass maze in the Armstrong Bay Sanctuary Zone - an easy north-coast snorkel.
16. Rottnest Island · WA
Pinky Beach
A wide, sheltered beach with an undulating coral reef beside the Bathurst Lighthouse, ten minutes from the ferry.
18. Geographe Bay & Busselton · WA
Busselton Jetty Underwater Sculpture Park
Thirteen WA artworks on the seabed at 8 m beside Busselton Jetty, visible to snorkellers and slowly becoming reef.
19. Rottnest Island · WA
Geordie Bay
Deeper north-coast snorkelling with limestone caves, octopus and stingrays beside the Geordie Bay settlement.
20. Rottnest Island · WA
Salmon Bay
A broad south-coast bay with shallow coral ledges and schools of bream, excellent in easterly winds.
21. Rottnest Island · WA
Shark Hopper Barge (Henrietta Rocks)
A 1939 hopper barge sitting partly out of the water a few strokes from the beach - an easy and photogenic wreck snorkel.
22. Rottnest Island · WA
The Basin
A reef-ringed natural pool of clear, shallow water 20 minutes' walk from the ferry - Rottnest's easiest snorkel.
23. Rottnest Island · WA
Uribes Wreck
A 1942 schooner filled with sand in 2.5-4 m just metres from the beach - Rottnest's easiest wreck snorkel.
24. Geographe Bay & Busselton · WA
Meelup Beach
Calm, family-friendly beach with lawns, toilets and granite outcrops for easy snorkelling.
25. Ningaloo – Coral Bay · WA
Purdy Point
An easy, no-boat drift over staghorn and cabbage coral straight back to town.
26. Rottnest Island · WA
Rottnest Wreck Trail
Thirteen historic wrecks linked by plaques and plinths, with two easy snorkel wrecks and a land trail from the museum to Bathurst Lighthouse.
27. Ningaloo – Coral Bay · WA
Bill's Bay Coral Gardens
Coral gardens a few fin kicks from Coral Bay's main beach.
28. Margaret River & Augusta · WA
Hamelin Bay Jetty & Stingrays
Large smooth and black stingrays and eagle rays gliding around the old jetty piles in waist-deep water.
29. Rottnest Island · WA
Little Parakeet Bay
A tiny, calm, shallow bay with coral gardens, starfish and stingrays - ideal for young children.
Frequently asked questions
Where can non-divers join in?
Any site marked snorkel-friendly. Cabbage Tree Bay at Manly, Port Noarlunga, the Mornington piers, Tangalooma, Lady Elliot's lagoon and Tinderbox are among the easiest.
More rankings
- The 25 Deepest Dive Sites in Australia
- Australia's Most Remote Dive Sites
- The Longest Boat Rides to a Day Dive
- The Warmest Dive Sites in Australia
- The Coldest Dive Sites in Australia
- Australia's Clearest-Water Dive Sites
- The Most Biodiverse Dive Sites in Australia
- The Oldest Shipwrecks You Can Dive in Australia
- All rankings →