Question Where to Dive in Australia in April 2025

[Living4Experiences]

I have the opportunity to spend some time in Australia with an open schedule in April 2025. I want to make this the "best of" type of dive trip and hit the premium dive locations around the country. I'm purely a recreational diver, AOW and Nitrox certified with about 600 dives. No tech or rebreather, and I don't have to go deep to have fun. My dive experience includes the Caribbean, Hawaii, Mexico, Florida, Raja Ampat, French Polynesia, and Fiji, a single dive day in Sydney, and 8 liveaboards. I prefer boat diving, but I don't mind shore dives that don't involve sand or rocks; meaning launching from a pier or climbing down a ladder is fine. I have a bad knee, so sandy or rocky entries and exits are a no-go.

Ningaloo is on the list, along with the Navy Pier in WA. The Yongala wreck sounds like a good dive, but tell me more. Is it tide-dependent? Does the moon cycle have any effect on the accessibility to the site? Is April a good time to reach the wreck? Is it reachable by day boat or only liveaboard?

Some other locations I've heard about: Busselton Jetty, Lady Elliot Island, Heron Island, Rottnest Island.
I'd like to explore the unbleached areas of the GBR. Would that be the Ribbon Reef and Coral Sea? I don't know my geography very well for Australia.

So, where else should I go?

Is the month of April the peak time for school or national holidays? I want to avoid that, if possible.

TIA!

 

[DownUnderwater Dan]

Great ocean conditions at the mo
and dive on your back or backwards on a 45 degree angle like instructors do to catch the whales

dive on your back or backwards on a 45 degree angle like instructors do to catch the whales

"You must become a humpback, in order to see a humpback."



I'm going to Brisbane this week, hopefully I'll get some dives in

 

[DownUnderwater Dan]

"You must become a humpback, in order to see a humpback."



I'm going to Brisbane this week, hopefully I'll get some dives in

Beautiful winter weather flying into Brisbane, & passing over North Stradbroke Island today.

 

[Living4Experiences]

I have a defined plan now to dive in Western Australia, Perth and Exmouth, from March 31-April 11. In Exmouth, swimming with the whale sharks and diving the Ningaloo Reef and Murion Islands look very nice. Does anyone have suggestions for a good dive operator? My research has found these:
Ningaloo Whale Shark Swim
Ningaloo Whale Shark n Dive
Kings Ningaloo Reef Tours
Exmouth Dive & Whale sharks
Ningaloo Blue
Dive Ningaloo

For a town of 2,800 people, there are a lot of operators doing tours. All these ops raised their prices by $50 in the last six months, and it was already expensive. I don't know anything about boat diving in WA, but I prefer an operator that isn't a cattle boat and has Nitrox.

Transportation is a challenge in Exmouth. There's an airport shuttle bus, but there's no Uber to get around. Typically, I don't rent a car in a foreign country, but I will if I have to. Are there taxis and how expensive are they?

In Perth, I will be diving at Rottnest Island and found Bucket List Divers. Any input about this outfit? There's Uber there, so I'm covered.

TIA!

 

[fantarara]

I went to Exmouth last minute last winter so didn't book a what shark swim (because usually when in Oz, anything I wanted to do was plenty available). I ended up on everybody's wait list, and yeah, sure looks like you have the main ones in there. There is one other group: Live Ningaloo which purports smaller groups. It's much more expensive than the others though (like, 200$+ more expensive if I recall correctly).

The Exmouth town center is very compact. For the dive/whale shark swim days, I think you just show up at the shop and they arrange transport to the harbour and back. Some of them even have free pick up from your lodging. So for the days when you'll be out on the water, you don't need a car. I saw there were taxis but didn't take any (I had a rented car). You still might rent if you want to take a look at the rest of the landscape, the Cape Range National Park is really beautiful and you see some of the wildlife you can't around Perth/southern WA.

 

[Heat Miser]

I have only been there twice in the last 5 years. The best whale watching / whale shark operator is
Ocean Eco Adventures Exmouth. this is because they have their own plane for spotting the whale sharks.

I have dived the navy pier 4 times and whilst it offends my senses, having to pay big money for what is essentially a shore dive on Australian crown land (yes we the public pay to go dive our own land) it ranks as one of the best dives I have done in Western Australia.

There is a unique all female owned dive shop Dive Ningaloo that has a concession to run the Navy Peir excursions (sometimes they book out months in advance)

Have fun!!