An enormous bay that is famous for its marine biodiversity, Shark Bay is filled with not only its namesake sharks (mainly reef and nurse sharks), but dolphins, dugongs, and every fish imaginable. The Shark Bay Marine National Park is considered to be one of the top diving destinations in the entire world, and no wonder! Its shallow waters are home to exquisite flora and fauna, as well as sea wrecks, lagoons filled with turquoise water, and beautiful dunes and beaches– there’s even a deserted mining town in the area, a black pearl farm, and dolphin feeding areas.
The area is a refuge for endangered species, and is home to an unusual “living fossil” called a stromatolite. These microscopic organisms create interesting formations along the beaches in the area.
There’s so much to see and do in the area that it’s hard to narrow down the best activities. But when it comes to scuba diving, the following dive sites are favorites for many:
South Passage
In this active diving area, you’ll find a good deal of sheltered marine life. Sea snakes, reef sharks, rock lobsters, turtles, wobbegongs, gropers, rare shovelnose rays, and reef fish roam the area, as well as an occasional dugong. The maximum diving depth here is only 7 meters, and the waters can be cloudy at times and pulled by currents. But it’s always worth a look, just for the variety of sea creatures you can see.
Monkey Rock
This popular site has notable features between 12 to 15 meters, with a large swim-through that is coated in colorful life. Here, you’ll find a diverse array of all kinds of organisms, including lionfish, wrasse, parrotfish, damsels, butterfly fish, sweetlips, hawkfish, sea stars, puffer fish, and large cod.
Steep Point
Featuring low coral broken bottoms and descending walls of coral, which get deeper the further out to sea you go, Steep Point has lots to see in depths ranging from 6 meters to 30 meters. You’ll spot whale sharks here, along with large cod, grouper, tuna, and tropical reef fish. The current can be tricky; this is not a good site for beginners.
Bernier Island
On the eastern side of the island, you’ll find an impressive array of fish life, including angelfish, anemone fish, puffer fish, surgeon fish, damsels, filefish, gobies, blennies, trevally, wrasse, coral trout, gropers, and rock code. Reef sharks, turtles, and sea snakes are also spotted here. Maximum depth is four meters. If you are lucky, you might spot one of the rare Banded Hare-Wallabies that live on the island. Bernier Island is the site of one of only a few remaining colonies of these creatures.
Point Quobba
You’ll find beautiful coral gardens at this locale on the northern end of the bay. The water here is only 2 meters deep, so many divers prefer to simply snorkel and sightsee. Along with many varieties of hard coral, look for anemones, sea stars, parrotfish, gobies, moray eels, stingrays, and nudibranchs. While in the Quobba area, also look for the unusual water eruptions of the blowholes– up to 20 meters high! The protected beach area looks out on very clear water here, and nearby is the 1988 Korean Star ship wreck. Sharks have been known to get into feeding frenzies around the wreck.
Dorre Island
With diving depths up to 20 meters, the eastern side of the island provides an excellent dive. You’ll find some of the area’s best coral growth in this spot, including hard and soft coral. Other marine life includes coral trout, reef sharks, gropers, batfish, stingrays, trevally, reef fish, and rock lobsters.
Because the bay area is so shallow and sheltered, you get a diving experience here that’s a bit different from the norm, including the huge array of marine life that benefit from the sheltered waters. Bracing deep reef dives have their admirers, but there’s also something to be said for a dive in shallow, sheltered waters, where marine life is spread out for you to easily see and enjoy at your leisure.