Ranked for photographers who shoot small: sites recording seadragons, seahorses, pygmy pipehorses, nudibranchs, frogfish and cephalopods, weighted toward the sheltered piers and shore reefs where you can spend an hour on one pylon.
Updated daily from the directory. 30 sites listed.
1. Albany & Great Southern · WA
Little Boat Harbour Dive Trail (Bremer Bay)
WA's premier leafy seadragon shore dive, with weedy seadragons, cuttlefish and nudibranchs in under 10 m.
2. 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.
3. Ningaloo – Exmouth · WA
Exmouth Navy Pier
A working naval pier that shelters more fish per square metre than almost any site in Australia: grey nurse sharks, wobbegongs, giant gropers and frogfish.
4. 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.
5. Perth · WA
Rockingham Wreck Trail
Perth's most-dived shore site: two light aircraft, small scuttled boats and steel structures joined by rope lines in 10–17 m, sheltered in almost all weather.
6. Perth · WA
Robb Jetty
A quiet line of historic jetty pylons in 5–8 m off the CY O'Connor statue, with good macro life, seagrass edges and better average visibility than Ammo Jetty.
7. Perth · WA
Woodman Point Groyne
A sheltered boulder-wall dive with a choice of sides for the wind, useful as a second dive after Ammo Jetty or as an easy night dive.
8. Geographe Bay & Busselton · WA
Busselton Jetty
A 1.8 km jetty with an underwater observatory, coral-encrusted pylons and easy diving.
9. Perth · WA
Kwinana Grain Terminal Jetty
An 800 m working jetty whose pylons are densely encrusted and full of macro life, with deeper, fish-filled structure at the T-head.
10. Rottnest Island · WA
Roe Reef
Limestone arches, caverns and maze-like swim-throughs at 10-15 m, a short run from Thomson Bay and sheltered from the south-west swell.
11. Perth · WA
Bicton Baths (Swan River)
Perth's classic river macro and night dive, with seahorses on the pylons and weed at the Point Roe narrows.
12. Esperance & Recherche Archipelago · WA
Esperance Jetty
Leafy seadragons and a dedicated dive trail at the end of Esperance's new 415 m jetty, a short walk from the dive shop.
13. Albany & Great Southern · WA
Seal Island (King George Sound)
Sheltered granite reef beside the HMAS Perth with pineapple fish and blue devils – one of Albany's best night dives.
14. Rottnest Island · WA
Fay's Bay
A quiet bay with seagrass and shallow limestone caves and channels, 2 km from the settlement.
15. Rottnest Island · WA
Little Armstrong Bay
Calm, shallow seagrass maze in the Armstrong Bay Sanctuary Zone - an easy north-coast snorkel.
16. Perth · WA
MAAC Dive and Snorkel Trail
A 400 m interpretive underwater trail with about 20 plinths, weedy seadragons and a wheelchair-accessible entry.
17. Perth · WA
ALC40 & Gay Dragon Wrecks (Bicton)
A WWII landing craft and a sunken junk-style pleasure boat that together are the Swan River's most reliable seahorse site.
18. Perth · WA
Bulk Jetty (Kwinana)
A sheltered industrial jetty with gently sloping pylons, heavy encrustation and some very large sea stars; a dependable bad-weather shore dive.
19. Geographe Bay & Busselton · WA
Lena Wreck
A 55 m toothfish poacher captured by the Navy, now an upright artificial reef at an easy 8-18 m with open holds and engine room.
21. Perth · WA
Point Peron
Perth's best natural shore dive in the south: limestone pinnacles, arches, caves and swim-throughs in 3–10 m, with sheltered seagrass on the eastern side for beginners.
22. Perth · WA
Saxon Ranger Wreck
An intact 38 m trawler scuttled as a dive wreck in 18–20 m, with public moorings and cut access holes, only minutes from the Safety Bay ramp.
23. Perth · WA
Seal Island (Shoalwater)
Shallow reef around a sea lion haul-out in sheltered Shoalwater Bay, with sea lions often coming out to investigate snorkellers.
24. Esperance & Recherche Archipelago · WA
Tanker Jetty Artificial Reef ('The Island')
A no-fishing tyre-module reef at the old Tanker Jetty's end – seadragons, seals and relaxed fish.
25. Perth · WA
Blackwall Reach (Swan River)
A river dive in Perth's suburbs with cliffs, caves and unexpected marine life.
26. Mandurah & Peel · WA
Blue Bay (Halls Head)
Mandurah's most accessible reef: swim-throughs and caves close to shore, plus rock pools for children at low tide.
27. Perth · WA
D9 Dredge Wreck
An intact, upright 51 m dredge in 12 m in the shelter of Cockburn Sound, with good fish life and a strong reputation as a night dive.
28. Perth · WA
Jervoise Bay Groyne & Boat Ramps
A rough-weather option with surprisingly good walls of zoanthids and fan sponges, and plenty of inquisitive toadfish and cuttlefish.
29. Perth · WA
Rocky Bay (Swan River)
A steep river drop-off close to Fremantle with seahorses and toadfish, useful when the coast is closed.
30. Ningaloo – Exmouth · WA
Tantabiddi North Reef Break
An ocean gap in North Reef with outer-reef clarity close to Tantabiddi.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the best macro diving in Australia?
The piers of the Mornington Peninsula (Blairgowrie, Rye, Portsea, Flinders), the Yorke Peninsula jetties (Edithburgh), Nelson Bay's Fly Point and the Pipeline, and Sydney's Kurnell, Bare Island and Clifton Gardens.
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