Perth Scuba

Yanchep Dog Beach

This is a fair weather shore dive touted for crays but don’t get too excited as they are mostly under-size or very well concealed but there are a few well over size too towards the outer edge but not on the outer edge of the reef. If the sea has been calm for a few days you’ll get good Viz.

Entry is easy via a 180m track (gear up in the car park). There are two options; a short swim over very shallow reef to the North to 4m marked above, or a longer track which is about 550m out to the outside of the outer reef which maxes out at 10m.If you do this track travel South along the reef for 200m (make sure you penetrate the reef occasionally to make the most of it), then swim 550m back.

The geology is limestone and there is plenty to see including; sea urchins, anemones, turban shells, sea stars, octopus, prawns, cray fish, cuttlefish, blue devils and ox eyes, juvenile pink snapper, hard and soft corals, nudibranchs and even lionfish! Take a torch for the overhanging ledges and move the kelp out of the way to peer underneath – Wear gloves! Caves, such as they are, are tight. Be careful of overhead environments.

Thanks to Nigel Barker who mapped this site. Click here for a Dive Site Information Sheet.

North Mole

North Mole Drive, North Fremantle

Turn right from Rudderham Drive onto North  Mole Drive, and follow it all the way to the end  (light house) where you will reach a small car park and public toilets.

Across from the toilets you will see a small ramp and concrete platform on the northern side of the mole. This is disabled persons’ fishing platform and it the easiest way to gain entry to the water.

Caution must be taken, the rocks can be quite slippery when wet.

Point Peron

This is a fair weather dive site with many swim throughs and one or two larger caves. Popular for snorkellers as well it’s a great family day out.

Entry is easy via a few steps with a hand rail into the water. There is a swim of about 130m to mushroom rocks, 300m to the suggested dive site (depth 7m) and it’s about 500m to the outer reef which lies in about 10m. There are reefs to the North which are a bit of a hike to lug equipment to but worth it if you are looking for deeper caves and swim throughs.

This site is part of the Shoal Water Islands Marine Park. An alternative entry for diving the Northern Point is the car park on the Northern side of the peninsular. But a long and boring swim over sand.

The geology is limestone and whilst largely fished out, there is nevertheless plenty to see including: Sea urchins, anemones, turban shells, sea stars, octopus, sea horses, and lots of colourful growth including hard and soft corals and bait fish which are predated upon by the penguins, etc. Take a torch for the caves but be careful of overhead environments.

Thanks to Nigel Barker who mapped this site. Click here for a Dive Site Information Sheet.

The Grain Terminal

Off Rockingham Beach Road, Kwinana

20 minutes by car

10metres

5-7metres

Open Water

7metres

Shore

The dive site consists of the mussel beds to the North East and South West fo the Jetty (These are clearly marked by floating buoys) and the pylons on which the grain conveyor is built. The Jetty is approximately 650m long from the high water mark to the loading dock. The ground is gentle sloping sandy bottom.

This is a macro site for lovers of nudibranchs but can be visited by large schools of snapper, the occasional sea lion and even penquins! If you are lucky you may even see a shark predating on snapper. Octupus, sea horses, schools of herring and lots of colourful growth on the Pylons, sponges, soft coral and sea slugs, tube worms etc.

Take a torch!

Thanks to Nigel Barker who mapped this site. Click here for a Dive Site Information Sheet.

Orizaba Wreck

Five Fathom Bank, Rockingham

25minutes by car + 15minutes by boat (from Rockingham)

12metres

7metres

Open Water

12metres

Boat

GPS: S 32°16.978, E 115°37.595

The Orizaba is arguably the biggest and most spectacular wreck off our coast, well she would be if the ocean swells hadn’t done their work. She is a great dive though and it is hard to imagine such a large ship could collapse down to so little. Her history is amazing, the coast hidden by a haze of bush fires, her skipper actually thought he was entering in towards Fremantle, she crossed the shallow Five Fathom Bank, then when he realised his mistake he turned around to head back out to deeper water and THEN got stuck on the reef… talk about a sad tale! She was a 3325 ton Orient Liner and was visible off the coast for many years until salvage and erosion finally took her below the water line. Beware if you are doing this wreck in seas above 1mtr swell, as this is the shallowest rise this side of Africa, the smallest swell causes tremendous surge and if you go sticking your head in a hole, you may just get sucked in or hurt badly. We prefer this site around March/April on a day when the swell has been less than 1mtr for about a week.

D9 Wreck

Woodman Point Ammunition Jetty

Woodman Point Recreation Reserve

20 minutes by car

11metres

5metres

Open Water

8metres

Shore

The jetty is about nine kilometres south of the mouth of the Swan River at the Woodman Point recreation reserve off Cockburn rd in Coogee.

The dive is easy and great if you just want to get wet and blow bubbles. The marine life is more diverse on on the northern side of the jetty. You’ll find a variety of fish feeding and sheltering amongst the invertebrates. Old Wives, Damselfish, Leatherjackets, Blennies, Yellowtails and Boxfish are all found in large numbers. I’ve also seen some Octopuses at times if you look real hard. Just a word of caution on the large number of fishing lines and hooks that lay on the bottom.

Robb’s Jetty