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Rottnest Island

Rottnest Island is located 19km off the coast from Perth and is one of the most popular recreational islands only a short ferry trip away. With its relaxed atmosphere, thousands of tourists visit Rottnest everyday. It is well known for its white sandy beaches, water sports, ancient ship wrecks and quokkas (marsupial). An ideal location for swimming, snorkeling, windsurfing, skin-diving, sunbathing, surfing, boating and fishing.

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Scuba Diving In Rottnest Island

• Parker Point
  • This dive site is reminiscent of a Caribbean isle. Crystal clear waters with steep cliffs and sand dunes on two sides and a coral-limestone reef protecting all but one narrow opening. The reef is the only coral community close to the metropolitan area. Located on the south-east end of Rottnest, it extends in a northerly direction from Parker Point for approximately one kilometre at an average distance from the beach of 150 metres.
• Crystal Palace
  • Consists of three big coral-encrusted caves opening out into one another and is remarkable for it's sheer grandeur. Worth a visit!
• Transit Rocks
  • These reefs are only shallow, but very rich in marine life and a handful of shipwrecks are scattered around. The Transit reefs cover a fairly large area approximately 1.5 km north-east of the main jetty. The area is a marine reserve and as such no fish or crayfish may be taken.
    The reefs are mainly limestone, but there are odd outcrops of brain coral and some encrusting plate corals here and there. Depths vary from 3-8 metres and what the reefs lack in depth they make up for in colour and diversity of life. Even some of the larger game species such as blue grouper and yellowtail kingfish are seen frequently, especially on the outer areas were the reef and sand meet. There are also a lot of reef species living in the area - wrasse, leatherjackets, breaksea cod, blue devil and foxfish are all high on the population list.
• Kingston Reefs
  • This area is a marine reserve with strictly NO FISHING/CRAYPOTS rules. In the right conditions it is absolutely stunning, with well-lit swim-thru's full of fish, caves encrusted with colourful corals, and tons of crays every few feet.
• Roe Reef
  • Roe Reef varies in depth according to location. In one part the reef is only 3-4 metres under the surface and has some great caves and big ledges. Surrounding is lumpy limestone reef bottom with smaller ledges and caves in 12-15 metres of water. The bottom then slopes away to a depth of 20-25 metres before becoming broken on sandy bottom.
    There is substantial sponge growth on the deeper portions of reef and also some encrusting plate, brain and honeycomb corals. Fish life is made up of reef varieties like wrasse, harlequin, footballer sweep, fox fish, sea sweep, truncate coral fish and the odd ray or fiddler shark. The larger game species can be found but have felt the constant pressure of fishermen over many years.
• North Point Reef
  • These limestone reefs are riddled with caves and ledges. Many fish find shelter in them, particularly breaksea cod, WA jewfish and queen snapper. In darker holes a stingray, wobbegong or port Jackson shark may hide in the shadows. The interior of these caves are coated with the colours of an abstract painting. Red sponges, blue ascidians, orange tubastrea corals, yellow gorgonians and pink soft corals compete for each square centimetre of space. Often scarlet red harlequin fish with iridescent blue and yellow spots lie camouflaged among these sponge and coral beds.
• Little Armstrong Bay
  • A brilliant snorkelling site, there are long ledges and walls here packed with coral and fish, and numerous swim thrus. Head for the ski-jump shaped rock for the best country.
• Swirl Reef
  • Swirl reef is situated in open water approximately 1.5 km north of Abraham Point and 1.8 km west of Crayfish Rock. The shallowest section of the reef is packed with colourful corals and anemones under ledges in only 3-4 metres of water. This part of the reef is only small, covering perhaps 30 square metres. To the west of this shallow section is a sheer drop off into 16 metres to the sand/kelp weed bottom, where "jumbo" crayfish can be found under ledges on the reef face and on the surrounding bottom. WA jewfish are found here during warmer months as well.