Diving in Western Australia

[mrtruffle]

While I cant afford to dive in Jamaca or Chille I have saved enough for a dive in Western Australia. A friend said the dives there are alot less crowded than in Queensland and you get to see alot more natural reef. It's also alot cheaper!! Which for me is a big deal.

I checked out a few sites but nothing had any real testimonials from real divers it's all brochure stuff. Has anyone dived in Ningaloo or Rottnest Island

I saw info on these places at http://www.therealaustralia.co.uk and these two places seem to be the best place to dive. Id like to see both reefs and ship wreaks if possible. Are these places any good?

Im hoping to spend half my holiday diving and the other half doing nothing but relaxing.

[BubblinStu]

Mr Truffle,

If you are going anywhere near to Bunbury, south of Perth near the Margaret River, I would recomend HMAS Swan, an artifical wreck.

History Link
http://www.totaltravel.com.au/travel/wa/southwestwa/margaretriverwine/guide/hmas-swan-wreck

Movie Link
http://www.capedive.com/swan.WMV

The wine region of Margaret River is V good too, just make sure you don't mix the two! :)

[Janos]

I have dived Rottnest, and it's not bad but not great. IMHO, it's not in the same league as the GBR.

I have heard that Ningaloo is fantastic, and better than the GBR. If you had a choice of one or the other (and not both) then I would suggest Ningaloo.

SW of Perth is very nice (non-diving) though. Fantastic caves and wines.

Janos

[Graham_Pettett]

Unfortunately I couldn't dive Rottest as I had a cold when I was there, but from talking to people I heard it was only average. I did HMAS Swan, it's about the only wreck in the area and it is artificial very new and pretty bland. I dived with Cape Dive, link already above, and they were very good.

Ningaloo reef is fantastic, the soft coral are amazing, the best I have seen anywhere, the hard coral is also pretty good. Fish life is mostly smaller stuff, not as prolific as other places, but quite nice. The Navy pier there is also well worth a dive or two, especially a night dive. The thing with Ningaloo Reef is the only real place to dive it from is Exmouth, which is 3 days drive (2 if you really push it) - 1800Ks from Perth, and is a very small, basic town (quite interesting to visit though). Accommodation in the area is very basic, but also can be very cheaper, lots of back packer places for about £10/night (as of 3 years ago). The actually dive operations as I re-call aren't much cheaper than anywhere else though.

Hope this helps

[mrtruffle]

thanks for the feedback. I always prefer real opinons and not a travel agent.

I will definetly be concentrating on Ningaloo now and it's good to know there are other things to enjoy (wine) for when i need to dry out a bit, well dry out on the outside :)

I would have concsidered the GBR but I wanted something a little less commercial and with less tourists.

Now I just need to get my work leave form approved and I'm there!!! :)

[Sophie]

Hi there,
I have dived Rottnest (similar to UK - kelpy etc), the Rowley Shoals out of Broome (Liveaboard, expensive but ace diving),and Ningaloo Reef. Ningaloo reef is in my opinion much better than the GBR as you can swim out to it. Max depth is about 22 metres but if you go April time you may be able to coincide it with seeing whalesharks. If you want any more info type ningaloo diving into google and it should give you all the info you need. It is a 14 hour drive or 2 hour flight north of Perth.

Sophie