These are the sites few divers ever reach: Coral Sea seamounts, the Rowley Shoals, the far northern Great Barrier Reef, the Kimberley coast, Bass Strait islands and the offshore territories. Most are liveaboard or expedition access only, and the nearest recompression chamber is often a day away.
Ranked by distance offshore among sites recorded as remote or expedition-only, then by how rarely they are dived.
Updated daily from the directory. 30 sites listed.
1. Broome & Kimberley · WA
Seringapatam Reef
Offshore: 320 km · One of Australia's most remote atolls.
Our takeAn atoll 320 km north-west of Broome that most Rowley Shoals charters skip. Walls to the abyss, and a lagoon that is only entered on a high tide.
2. Broome & Kimberley · WA
Scott Reef
Offshore: 300 km · Remote oceanic atolls with walls rising from 500 m, rarely dived.
Our takeTwo oceanic atolls 300 km off the Kimberley coast where the walls fall from the surface to 500 m. A handful of charters visit each year in the October calm.
3. Rowley Shoals · WA
Blue Lagoon (Clerke Reef)
Offshore: 280 km · Sheltered lagoons with walls, coral heads and 40 m visibility — the Rowleys' easy classic.
4. Rowley Shoals · WA
Clerke Aquarium
Offshore: 280 km · A calm bommie and staghorn garden inside Clerke.
5. Rowley Shoals · WA
Clerke Caves
Offshore: 280 km · Light shafts through tunnels framed by red gorgonians.
6. Rowley Shoals · WA
Clerke Channel Drift
Offshore: 280 km · A fast flood-tide drift through bommies into the lagoon.
7. Rowley Shoals · WA
Clerke Wall
Offshore: 280 km · A vertical atoll wall with pelagics in 30 m+ visibility.
8. Rowley Shoals · WA
Cod Hole (Mermaid Reef)
Offshore: 280 km · Bumphead parrotfish and sharks over white sand, ending in a fast drift.
9. Rowley Shoals · WA
Cupcakes (Clerke Reef)
Offshore: 280 km · Cupcake-shaped bommies with curious batfish.
11. Rowley Shoals · WA
Imperieuse Reef
Offshore: 280 km · The least-publicised atoll, with the Cunningham Island lighthouse.
12. Rowley Shoals · WA
Jimmy Goes to China
Offshore: 280 km · Grey reefs and silvertips on a current-swept point.
14. Rowley Shoals · WA
Mermaid Wall
Offshore: 280 km · The Shoals' deepest wall, draped in red gorgonians.
15. Rowley Shoals · WA
Minis & Mighties (Clerke Reef)
Offshore: 280 km · Clear-water slope to a drop-off.
16. Rowley Shoals · WA
Plectropoma Pass
Offshore: 280 km · Rowley Shoals pass named after the coral trout genus Plectropoma
17. Rowley Shoals · WA
Sheer Delight (Clerke Reef)
Offshore: 280 km · Named Rowley Shoals site listed by Diveplanit and Divernet
18. Rowley Shoals · WA
South Park (Clerke Reef)
Offshore: 280 km · Named Clerke Reef site listed by Diveplanit and Divernet among Rowley Shoals dives.
19. Rowley Shoals · WA
The Bat Cave (Clerke Reef)
Offshore: 280 km · A gorgonian-covered wall plunging to 50 m.
20. Rowley Shoals · WA
The Bommie (Rowley Shoals)
Offshore: 280 km · Clerke Reef's giant coral head in 50 m visibility.
21. Broome & Kimberley · WA
Browse Island
Offshore: 180 km · WA's most remote island, ringed by reef and guano-era shipwrecks.
22. Pilbara & Dampier · WA
Tryall Wreck (Tryal Rocks)
Offshore: 150 km · Australia's oldest known shipwreck (1622), with cannons and anchors in 6 m.
23. Pilbara & Dampier · WA
Barrow Island Marine Park (Biggada Reef & Turtle Bay)
Offshore: 120 km · A fully no-take marine park with a green turtle breeding aggregation.
24. Pilbara & Dampier · WA
HMAS Plym (Montebello Islands)
Offshore: 120 km · Site of Britain's first atomic test, 1952.
25. Pilbara & Dampier · WA
Montebello Islands – North West Island Drop-off
Offshore: 120 km · A 30 m gorgonian-covered drop-off with groper and sharks on the remote Montebellos.
26. Pilbara & Dampier · WA
Montebello Islands Lagoons
Offshore: 120 km · Remote, rarely dived lagoons and reefs in a large sanctuary-zone marine park.
27. Broome & Kimberley · WA
Adele Island
Offshore: 104 km · A remote reef platform and seabird island with abundant sharks.
28. Geraldton & Abrolhos Islands · WA
Half Moon Reef (Pelsaert Group)
Offshore: 70 km · Big fish and reef sharks on the exposed seaward face of the reef that wrecked the Zeewijk.
29. Geraldton & Abrolhos Islands · WA
Zeewijk Wreck (Half Moon Reef)
Offshore: 70 km · Cannons of the 1727 Zeewijk, whose survivors built the first European boat in Australia.
30. Geraldton & Abrolhos Islands · WA
Batavia Wreck Site (Morning Reef)
Offshore: 65 km · Cannons and anchors of the 1629 Batavia – Australia's most notorious shipwreck and mutiny – in 7 m on Morning Reef.
The guide
What remote means here
The list is ordered by distance from the coast among sites recorded as expedition-only or rarely dived, so it is a list of Coral Sea reefs and the atolls off the Kimberley. That is fair: these are the most remote reefs in Australian waters, days from a port and further from a recompression chamber. But remoteness is not only distance. Bass Strait islands, the far south coast of Tasmania, the Great Australian Bight and the Nullarbor caves are remote in every practical sense and sit lower down only because they are near land.
Read the list alongside the under-the-radar ranking, which finds the quiet sites close to home, and the liveaboard category, which is how most divers actually reach the outer reefs.
How to get to the Coral Sea
The Cairns liveaboards run Osprey, Bougainville and Holmes reefs on three- to seven-night trips year-round, with the settled season from September to December. The reefs at the top of this list (Mellish, Lihou, Cato, Marion, Wreck Reef) need an expedition charter of ten days or more, typically out of Cairns, Gladstone or Bundaberg, and they are offered irregularly. Ask the Coral Sea operators about their long-range schedule a year ahead.
For the Rowley Shoals and Scott Reef, boats leave Broome from late September to November. Ashmore Reef is a Commonwealth reserve with permit access and no commercial diving. The Kimberley cruises visit the inshore reefs and the Lacepede Islands rather than the outer atolls.
Safety on an expedition
The nearest chamber to the outer Coral Sea is Townsville, often more than 24 hours away by sea and aeromedical evacuation. Boats carry oxygen, and the good ones brief conservative profiles: no decompression, 30 m limits, long surface intervals, and no diving on the last day before a long steam. Diving insurance with evacuation cover (DAN or equivalent) is a booking condition on most vessels, and it should be. The safety guide covers what evacuation from remote Australia actually involves.
Editorial last reviewed September 2026. The list itself is regenerated from the directory daily.
Frequently asked questions
How do I dive remote Australian sites?
Almost all need a liveaboard or expedition charter: Coral Sea boats from Cairns (September–December), Rowley Shoals boats from Broome (October–November), far northern reef expeditions in October–November, and Kimberley cruises in the dry season. Book months ahead and carry DAN cover.
More rankings
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- 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
- WWII and Wartime Wrecks You Can Dive in Australia
- All rankings →