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Exmouth Diving Centre & Dive Site Review
| Exmouth
Diving Centre has been operating for many years and is Exmouth's
original dive centre. Rick, Dave and Kristin, owners & operators,
live, dive and work here all year round and the staff are all
long-term Exmouth residents with a passion for the Ningaloo Reef and
North West Cape. |
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 Exmouth
Dive is the Ningaloo's only PADI 5 Star Instructor Development (IDC)
Centre, We are full government sanctioned, D.E.C. Licenced and insured.
We offer a complete diver training service: from Open Water to
World Exclusive Whale Shark & Manta Ray Specialties to professional
level Dive Master & Instructor Training. We offer the best range of
dive sites and marine animal interaction tours possible all year round
and have sites suitable for all level of divers.
Our long-term
commitment to the Ningaloo Reef allows us to know where to find the very
best diving and to have the most reliable and exciting interactions with
the myriad of creatures that call this area home. Have
special interests? Just let us know and we can help with all of
your diving holiday needs!
We are open 7 days
a week for sales and service, dive tours, equipment hire, air fills and
PADI Diving Courses.
Exmouth Diving Centre operates
several fully surveyed dive boats, giving us access to a great range of
dive sites around the North West Cape. Our boats are comfortable,
speedy and equipped with all of the necessary safety and first aid gear
(and knowledgeable, experienced crew!)
We have dive sites to suit
both beginners and more advanced divers. To maintain our high standard
of safety and to ensure that everyone has an enjoyable dive, all our
dives are escorted by our professional staff.
Check out our Flickr
page here and our the Exmouth Diving blog
here
 Diving on The Ningaloo Reef with the Exmouth
Diving Centre
Mention the Ningaloo Reef and automatically people think of
diving with the awesome Whale Sharks. These massive creatures congregate
in large numbers off Ningaloo Reef, the world's largest fringing reef
and Australia's second largest marine park encompassing over 5,000
square kilometres of ocean. Ningaloo Reef has become synonymous with the
phrase "home of the Gentle Giant", but it has a lot more to
offer the adventurous diver than experiencing the mighty Whale Sharks.
Approximately 1,270 km north of
Perth, WA, Exmouth Diving Centre provides the opportunity for
diving adventure with a great selection of fascinating dive locations.
Below is a sample of some of our great dive areas - please note that
we will choose the very best sites for our daily tours based on the
conditions each day and this list is simply an overview...it is by no
means comprehensive!
SPONGE
GARDENS & EXMOUTH GULF
At the entrance to the Exmouth
Gulf, east of the Navy Pier, the Sponge Garden Drift dive is a
must do for the experienced diver. A majestic drift over a
diverse collection of large sponges, gorgonians, and sea whips
is an excellent way to experience the sea bed devoid of rock
structures and coral bombies. The enormity and colours of the
sponges and corals in this garden are impressive in their
elegance.
Less experienced divers can
enjoy this dive with one of our instructors by taking the PADI
Advanced Course or the Deep & Drift Adventure dives with
us - ask for more complete details!
BUNDEGI
SANCTUARY & the GULF
With over 220 different species
of coral and no less than 500 species of fish to be found on the
Ningaloo Reef, the Bundegi Bombies provide the diver with the
opportunity to explore the splendour of this reef sanctuary.
Bundegi provides protection for a wide variety of species who
use this area as a nursery so expect to see everything from big
to little here! This is a shallow dive that can be
explored by snorkel or scuba. With the incoming or outgoing
tides one can meander along the reef at a leisurely pace; at
slack tide you can dedicate yourself to one area - you'll never
run out of things to see. The natural light of this dive allows
the opportunity for excellent amateur and professional
photography.
NOR-WEST
REEF
Nor West Reef can only safely be
dived when the tides, swell and sea conditions are right so it
isn't often we get out there! A reef whose ruggedness has
brought grief to a number of our early mariners, Nor-West Reef
lies about 1.3nm off the Cape. The eastern edge of the reef
provides a dive complete with the complexities of ledges,
overhangs, coral bombies, gullies and small caves. It provides
shelter for large tawny nurse, and reef sharks. Turtles, manta
rays, eagle rays and the occasional potato cod are often sighted
on this dive. This site is usually reserved for experienced
divers and those who have dived with us on other sites.
LIGHTHOUSE
& VLF BAYS
Nestled on the western side near
the top of the Cape, Lighthouse Bay & VLF Bay offer incredible
diving all year round. There are many sites in this area from
ridges of limestone reefs supporting a wonderful range of large and
small creatures to excellent drift dives allowing you to cover a
great area of diverse ecosystems.
Turtles, batfish, anemones &
clownfish, white tip reef sharks, large groper, bull rays, moray
eels, schools of snapper, threadfin pearl pearch, lion fish, sea
snakes, rankin cod, angelfish, nudibranchs, blue-spotted stingrays,
wobbegongs and octopus all call this area home. Dugongs,
dolphins, manta rays, leopard sharks and other big guys add an extra
dimension of excitement on many dives.
The dive sites in these two areas
always have an outstanding variety and number of fish and creatures -
you can never dive here enough!
MUIRON
ISLANDS
Surrounded by an abundance of
coral gardens, rocky ledges and intriguing dive sites, the Muiron
Islands are located about 10nm north east of Exmouth. Keep your eyes
open during the 45 minute trip across to the Islands for ospreys,
shearwaters, turtles, manta rays, dolphins, dugongs, and during their
migration, humpback whales.
Once to the Islands there is a wide range of
sites. With a maximum depth of 20m and usually only gentle
currents, the dive sites around the Muiron Islands are suitable for all
levels of divers. Swim-throughs and ledges provide plenty of
places to search for shrimps, nudibranchs, eels, juvenile angelfish and
other timid creatures. In mid-water and against the reefs look for
friendly potato cod, large rankin cod, turtles, nurse sharks, soft coral
gardens, anemones, clams and 1000's of darting, colourful reef fish.
Late in the year, manta rays grace several of our dive sites, too.
From about November, the turtles head for the shallows
at the Islands to mate and nest. On your trip with us we spend our
lunch break at the beach where you can watch the turtles in the water,
see their tracks in the sand and enjoy a fabulous drift snorkel over
lively corals. In mating season it is possible to see the mating
turtles in the water, too. Your crew on the day will give you tips
on how to watch without disturbing them.
THE
WEST COAST & MANDU WALL
Ningaloo Reef extends for 260km along the coast of
Western Australia. Being the nearest point on the continent to the
Continental Shelf accounts for the abundance and variety of fish and
other marine life in the surrounding waters. There are many dive sites
on the west coast of the Cape to explore and we are constantly finding
new ones.
The diving here ranges from shallow to 35m and the
reef structures are all hard coral. The marine life is abundant
and diverse with each area seemingly specialising in something!
Some sites are covered in moray eels of all sizes; others are known for
the friendly potato cod that come up and say howdy. Several
areas have active manta cleaning stations - the best time for mantas on
these sites is from late May through August. 220 species of
corals, plentiful schools of pelagics, abundant colourful Angel,
Butterfly and Parrot fishes, numerous turtles, masses of bait fish,
yellow and silver flutemouths...it's all here!
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