State top ten
The Top 10 Dive Sites in Western Australia
Editorial picks from the Western Australia guide first, then the most regularly dived and best-documented sites in the state.
Ningaloo, Rottnest, the Rowley Shoals and 12,000 km of coast with almost no one on it.
Our picks come first, in the order we would send a visiting diver to them, followed by the most regularly dived, best-documented sites in Western Australia to round out the ten. Every entry links to a full site page with depths, conditions, training required and the operators that run it.
Updated daily from the directory. 10 sites listed.
1. 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.
Our takeRated among the best pier dives in the world, and the only one on a working Defence facility: a forest of pylons at Ningaloo with giant groupers, wobbegongs, grey nurse sharks, lionfish and nudibranchs in 15 m. Dived on slack water with the one licensed operator; passports required.
2. Geographe Bay & Busselton · WA
HMAS Swan Wreck
A 113 m destroyer escort scuttled off Dunsborough in 1997 with easy penetration and resident schools of fish.
Our takeThe first of Australia's prepared warship wrecks, sunk in Geographe Bay in 1997 and upright in 31 m with the crow's nest at 8 m. Flat, sheltered water most of the year and forty minutes from the Margaret River wineries.
3. Ningaloo – Exmouth · WA
Ningaloo Whale Shark Swim
Snorkelling with whale sharks off Exmouth is the most reliable encounter on earth, March to July.
Our takeNot a dive, but the reason most people come to Western Australia's coast: whale sharks on the outer reef from March to July, found by spotter plane and snorkelled with in small groups under a licensing system that works. Book ahead.
4. Rottnest Island · WA
Rottnest Ships' Graveyard
The deep-water dumping ground west of Rottnest, home to technical wrecks in 30–200 m.
Our takeFor technical divers, the frontier: dozens of scuttled ships in 46 to 200 m a few kilometres off Rottnest, most never dived. For everyone else, Rottnest's shallow reefs and the Perth wrecks are on the region page.
5. Albany & Great Southern · WA
HMAS Perth Wreck
Albany's 133 m guided-missile destroyer in cold, clear water, scuttled in 2001.
Our takeThe Vietnam-era destroyer off Albany, upright in 35 m in cold, clear Southern Ocean water with an interpretive trail through the bridge and engine room. The best-preserved of the prepared wrecks.
6. Geographe Bay & Busselton · WA
Busselton Jetty
A 1.8 km jetty with an underwater observatory, coral-encrusted pylons and easy diving.
Our takeA 1.8 km heritage jetty whose far end sits over a forest of sponge- and coral-covered piles in 8 m, with an underwater observatory beside them. Open Water, a train ride to the entry, and life that rivals the tropical piers.
7. Perth · WA
Blackwall Reach (Swan River)
A river dive in Perth's suburbs with cliffs, caves and unexpected marine life.
Our takeA river dive in the city: the deepest shore dive in the lower Swan, with sunken cars, a barge and breeding cardinalfish under the cliffs. Perth divers' training and night-dive site.
8. Nullarbor Caves · WA
Cocklebiddy Cave
One of the longest underwater caves in the world under the Nullarbor. Expedition cave diving only.
Our takeThe Nullarbor's great cave, more than 6 km of flooded tunnel, for cave-rated divers only; the first lake is an expedition in itself.
9. Ningaloo – Exmouth · WA
Oyster Stacks
Oyster-encrusted rock stacks swarming with fish a few metres from shore.
10. Ningaloo – Exmouth · WA
Lakeside Sanctuary Zone
A calm, buoyed sanctuary-zone snorkel with turtles, rays and reef sharks just off the beach.
The guide
The longest coast
Western Australia's dive sites are spread along 12,000 km of coast, from the Kimberley atolls to the Southern Ocean at Esperance, and the distances shape everything. Ningaloo is 1,200 km north of Perth; Albany is 400 km south; the Rowley Shoals are a liveaboard out of Broome. The Leeuwin Current runs warm water south along the whole coast, which is why coral grows at the Abrolhos and Rottnest and why the south coast is milder than its latitude suggests.
Our ten cover the four destinations: Ningaloo (the Navy Pier, the whale sharks, the shore snorkels), the south-west (the Swan, Busselton Jetty), Perth (Rottnest, the Swan River) and Albany (the Perth). The Abrolhos, Esperance and the Rowley Shoals are on their region pages and in the wreck and remote rankings.
Seasons and winds
Ningaloo peaks from March to July for whale sharks, June to November for humpbacks and mantas. Perth and the south-west are best in autumn (March to May), before the winter fronts, and in the mornings before the sea breeze, the Fremantle Doctor, arrives around midday in summer. Albany and Esperance are Southern Ocean diving, at their best in the summer and autumn calms.
Editorial last reviewed September 2026. The list itself is regenerated from the directory daily.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best dive site in Western Australia?
Our first pick is at the top of the list, with the reasons. The state guide explains the seasons, water temperatures and training each site needs.
When is the best time to dive Western Australia?
February – May: Perth and Rottnest at their best: warm (21–23 °C), calm mornings, good visibility. March – July: Whale shark season at Ningaloo; mantas at Coral Bay year-round. September – December: Rowley Shoals liveaboard season; humpbacks at Ningaloo August–October; Abrolhos trips in spring.
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