swimmingpooldivein
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Overview
Dive Report: Rowley Shoals, Australia
Liveaboard: Odyssey Expeditions (booked directly)
When: November, 2022
Context: I'm PADI AOW, 144 dives across 9 countries.
(Thank you, as always, to the entire community for helping me research what I had wanted to dive and how!)
Review of diving
We did 20 out of a possible 21 dives. I, and several other diving passengers with much more experience than me, believe that the Rowley Shoal is one of the best dive sites in the world. I cannot fully describe the absolutely incredible, pristine, and vast coral at the dive sites. Beautiful and healthy coral as far as the eye can see in a 360° view. Nothing is like this. Our liveaboard went to Clerke Reef for half the dives, then Mermaid Reef. (Imperieuse Reef is apparently very difficult to access.) Most dive sites were drift dives, and some were along walls. I found the drifting to be exhilarating, especially one that reached 10+kmph. I felt a passenger in a spaceship, flying by beautiful environments, taking everything in during a one-way trip. Another dive went as deep as 300m.
Besides the spectacular coral being a massive highlight, the fish highlights were a leopard shark; about 30 whitetip sharks; school of 9 juvenile blacktip sharks; manta ray; black-blotched stingray; shoal of 500 big eye trevally; shoal of 200 paddlefish; schools of black trevally; giant trevally; bluefin trevally; brassy trevally; northern bluefin tuna; dogtooth tuna; great barracuda; schools of bumphead parrotfish; humphead Maori wrasse; school of sailfin snapper; school of teira batfish; field of about 70 garden eels; turtles; and several fish cleaning stations. (Don't bother looking for nudibranches - they're pretty rare, and you're usually moving fast.)
Besides the 19 daytime dives, we also did 1 nighttime dive. I personally found the nighttime dive to be very boring. There were very little critters.
Review of non-diving activities
At two opportunities, you could go fishing instead of diving. A few people took these opportunities, but not me. For me, the heatray of the sun would’ve been too intense, but the people who went said it was great. (Fishing rod was provided.) One of them caught a longnose emperor, which the chef prepared for dinner the next day - yum.
Two more activities were drift snorkeling. This didn’t sacrifice a dive - we just did them before the dive. I’m unsure of the science, but there was an oceanic “river” that propelled us very quickly through, with an island on each side and a beautiful reef below us. This was my first time doing such an activity, and it was quite exciting. Highlights were the lovely coral, whitetip sharks, schools of bumphead parrotfish, and humphead Maori wrasse.
Another activity was a beach tour of Bedwall Island - didn’t sacrifice a dive. I didn’t participate because the quietness of an empty boat was too tempting (so peaceful!), but the joiners said they enjoyed the walk.
Review of dive operator, Odyssey Expeditions
Overall, the crew was amazing. I felt very safe during every dive. The first dive was an orientation dive to ensure everyone was ready for deeper and drift dives. They covered all safety procedures.
For diving at Clerke Reef, Odyssey Expeditions permanently leaves a small, day-trip-type dive boat called Homer at Clerke Reef. The main boat moors pretty far from the dive sites, and you ferry over from the main boat to the dive site via Homer. This ferrying takes times (15 to 30 minutes, one way), meaning less time to relax on the main boat. I am not sure if this is typical, or if other liveaboards provide better a experience. For diving at Mermaid Reef, since I was on the last trip of the season, we brought Homer with us to Mermaid Reef, and did the same procedure of ferring from the main boat to the dive site via Homer. I am unsure of the diving procedure at Mermaid Reef if you're not the last trip of the season, and whether the mooring locations of the main boat affect the possible dive sites at Mermaid Reef.
Food: every day had a continental wake-up breakfast, lunch, and dinner. On even days, there was an additional sweets breakfast; on odd days, there was an additional cooked breakfast. As I'm a perpetually hungry person, I found the even days slightly hard to stay nourished (I'm also not a sweets eater). The food was great and varying.
A big feature lacking was nitrox. Many of the dives allowed 30m depth, but only air was available, so you had to be very careful about your NDL. One guest even secretly did a deco dive. I have not researched whether other liveaboards have nitrox available.
Another issue was lack of a quiet(er) area without direct sunlight (besides your cabin). It was quite hard to relax by myself while not being restricted to my cabin.
Why is there so little info on Rowley Shoals online?
I had this same problem: the online information about Rowley Shoals is so sparse, it was a bit of a shot-in-the-dark as to the diving quality. The "why" becomes apparent once you book your own trip.
Travel requirement: All liveaboards depart from Broome, Australia. Contrary to the local Broome airport having the word “international” in its name, the airport is currently only running domestic flights [as of September, 2022]. This means all international travelers must first fly to a city on the southern side of Australia (i.e. Perth), way past Broome, then fly back north. Very inconvenient.
Time requirement: Because it's an 18hr boat ride one-way from Broome to the Rowley Shoals, there are no day trips. You either have 8 vacation days available for the trip, or you can’t go. And that’s excluding the additional time needed for traveling to / from Broome.
Cost requirement: Similar to the lack of day trips, you either need to spend minimum AUD$4000 for the trip, or you can’t go. This can be a high bar for some people, and that price tag is not including Broome flights.
Liveaboard availability: There are only about 4 liveaboards (4 boats) that travel to Rowley Shoals. This makes space limited.
Season availability: The diving season is only from October to November - only two 2 possible months to visit. My understanding is that outside of thise time window, the weather is too dangerous.
Putting this all together, there are many requirements and very limited space and time to dive at the Rowley Shoals. In fact, finding availability is difficult: you either need considerable luck for finding a spot in your current year, or buy for the following year (if there’s a spot).
I hope you've enjoyed this trip report and found it helpful!!!
Dive Report: Rowley Shoals, Australia
Liveaboard: Odyssey Expeditions (booked directly)
When: November, 2022
Context: I'm PADI AOW, 144 dives across 9 countries.
(Thank you, as always, to the entire community for helping me research what I had wanted to dive and how!)
Review of diving
We did 20 out of a possible 21 dives. I, and several other diving passengers with much more experience than me, believe that the Rowley Shoal is one of the best dive sites in the world. I cannot fully describe the absolutely incredible, pristine, and vast coral at the dive sites. Beautiful and healthy coral as far as the eye can see in a 360° view. Nothing is like this. Our liveaboard went to Clerke Reef for half the dives, then Mermaid Reef. (Imperieuse Reef is apparently very difficult to access.) Most dive sites were drift dives, and some were along walls. I found the drifting to be exhilarating, especially one that reached 10+kmph. I felt a passenger in a spaceship, flying by beautiful environments, taking everything in during a one-way trip. Another dive went as deep as 300m.
Besides the spectacular coral being a massive highlight, the fish highlights were a leopard shark; about 30 whitetip sharks; school of 9 juvenile blacktip sharks; manta ray; black-blotched stingray; shoal of 500 big eye trevally; shoal of 200 paddlefish; schools of black trevally; giant trevally; bluefin trevally; brassy trevally; northern bluefin tuna; dogtooth tuna; great barracuda; schools of bumphead parrotfish; humphead Maori wrasse; school of sailfin snapper; school of teira batfish; field of about 70 garden eels; turtles; and several fish cleaning stations. (Don't bother looking for nudibranches - they're pretty rare, and you're usually moving fast.)
Besides the 19 daytime dives, we also did 1 nighttime dive. I personally found the nighttime dive to be very boring. There were very little critters.
Review of non-diving activities
At two opportunities, you could go fishing instead of diving. A few people took these opportunities, but not me. For me, the heatray of the sun would’ve been too intense, but the people who went said it was great. (Fishing rod was provided.) One of them caught a longnose emperor, which the chef prepared for dinner the next day - yum.
Two more activities were drift snorkeling. This didn’t sacrifice a dive - we just did them before the dive. I’m unsure of the science, but there was an oceanic “river” that propelled us very quickly through, with an island on each side and a beautiful reef below us. This was my first time doing such an activity, and it was quite exciting. Highlights were the lovely coral, whitetip sharks, schools of bumphead parrotfish, and humphead Maori wrasse.
Another activity was a beach tour of Bedwall Island - didn’t sacrifice a dive. I didn’t participate because the quietness of an empty boat was too tempting (so peaceful!), but the joiners said they enjoyed the walk.
Review of dive operator, Odyssey Expeditions
Overall, the crew was amazing. I felt very safe during every dive. The first dive was an orientation dive to ensure everyone was ready for deeper and drift dives. They covered all safety procedures.
For diving at Clerke Reef, Odyssey Expeditions permanently leaves a small, day-trip-type dive boat called Homer at Clerke Reef. The main boat moors pretty far from the dive sites, and you ferry over from the main boat to the dive site via Homer. This ferrying takes times (15 to 30 minutes, one way), meaning less time to relax on the main boat. I am not sure if this is typical, or if other liveaboards provide better a experience. For diving at Mermaid Reef, since I was on the last trip of the season, we brought Homer with us to Mermaid Reef, and did the same procedure of ferring from the main boat to the dive site via Homer. I am unsure of the diving procedure at Mermaid Reef if you're not the last trip of the season, and whether the mooring locations of the main boat affect the possible dive sites at Mermaid Reef.
Food: every day had a continental wake-up breakfast, lunch, and dinner. On even days, there was an additional sweets breakfast; on odd days, there was an additional cooked breakfast. As I'm a perpetually hungry person, I found the even days slightly hard to stay nourished (I'm also not a sweets eater). The food was great and varying.
A big feature lacking was nitrox. Many of the dives allowed 30m depth, but only air was available, so you had to be very careful about your NDL. One guest even secretly did a deco dive. I have not researched whether other liveaboards have nitrox available.
Another issue was lack of a quiet(er) area without direct sunlight (besides your cabin). It was quite hard to relax by myself while not being restricted to my cabin.
Why is there so little info on Rowley Shoals online?
I had this same problem: the online information about Rowley Shoals is so sparse, it was a bit of a shot-in-the-dark as to the diving quality. The "why" becomes apparent once you book your own trip.
Travel requirement: All liveaboards depart from Broome, Australia. Contrary to the local Broome airport having the word “international” in its name, the airport is currently only running domestic flights [as of September, 2022]. This means all international travelers must first fly to a city on the southern side of Australia (i.e. Perth), way past Broome, then fly back north. Very inconvenient.
Time requirement: Because it's an 18hr boat ride one-way from Broome to the Rowley Shoals, there are no day trips. You either have 8 vacation days available for the trip, or you can’t go. And that’s excluding the additional time needed for traveling to / from Broome.
Cost requirement: Similar to the lack of day trips, you either need to spend minimum AUD$4000 for the trip, or you can’t go. This can be a high bar for some people, and that price tag is not including Broome flights.
Liveaboard availability: There are only about 4 liveaboards (4 boats) that travel to Rowley Shoals. This makes space limited.
Season availability: The diving season is only from October to November - only two 2 possible months to visit. My understanding is that outside of thise time window, the weather is too dangerous.
Putting this all together, there are many requirements and very limited space and time to dive at the Rowley Shoals. In fact, finding availability is difficult: you either need considerable luck for finding a spot in your current year, or buy for the following year (if there’s a spot).
I hope you've enjoyed this trip report and found it helpful!!!
