Club dives

If you are looking for dive buddies, you should join a club dive. There are free shore dives every week, normally advertised on Facebook. UWA Underwater Club and the DiveTub run free night dives on Wednesday nights, and dive shops like Dolphin Scuba and Perth Scuba offer Sunday morning dives. These often come with a free BBQ...

This week the sites are classic club dive spots - safe, approachable and reliable. You also don't have to wait for a club - head along when it's a bit quieter! Kwinana Grain Terminal is easily one of the most popular sites in Perth, and the Coombe is diveable every day of the year.

Kwinana Grain Terminal

Cockburn Sound. Depth 2-15m. Snorkel or Dive.
Reasonable swell. Easterly or southerly wind.

Kwinana Grain Terminal is a working jetty in Rockingham, where grain is loaded onto ships for export. Fortunately, the 800m long jetty is also accessible for almost its entire length - more than you can do in one dive.

Conditions can vary, but it is almost always diveable. The site is best for small sea life, which makes it a staple for macro photographers. All the usual jetty life is here, including very photogenic nudibranchs and octopuses.

There is a public carpark right on the terminal, where you can gear up. It's a short walk down, and a short swim out to diveable depths. Snorkellers would also enjoy the shallows. It's mostly the same for the entire length - so take it slow and look carefully.

In the last hundred metres it gets much deeper and darker. You won't make a return trip on a single tank if you start at the shore, so surface swim a few hundred metres out if seeing this is your aim. It gets colder and much deeper - but there are large schools of fish to see. I've always turned back before reaching the very end - it really is quite spooky down there after a few minutes. If you brave it, best to bring a torch.

However you dive it, turn back at half-air and swim back underwater. It always seems to be the way back when you see bigger fish and rays!

The Coombe Shallow Wrecks

Swan River. Depth 7-12m. Dive.
All conditions.

The Coombe Shallow wrecks are the remains of motorboats, now resting on the riverbed off Mosman Park. It's a popular training and club dive site because it's shallow, not subject to ocean conditions, and there's some interesting things to see.

A pole trail from shore now connects the two motorboats, a dinghy, and a seahorse habitat. The motorboats are both in 9m of water, and Coombe Shallow Wreck 2 is just 10m north of mooring 754. It can get very murky, but you can always find your way with the pole trail, and by watching your depth! For more information, Dave Jackson has the detailed practical guide to diving these shipwrecks.

This site is where I first properly practiced my underwater photogrammetry skills. The poor visibility means you rarely see the shipwrecks in their entirety, until you 3D scan them piece by piece and view them on your computer. Below is an image of the Coombe Shallow Wreck 2 accross 3 different years. Notice the engine block, partly intact hull, debris field and barrels. Also note the change to the site over time - particularly the end near the barrels that was damaged between 2018 and 2019.

If you are looking to practice other skills, such as navigation or macro photography (of sea horses!), then the Coombe is always a good bet. If you're looking for something deeper, the Coombe Deep wrecks are a short swim away.

Every Thursday this summer I will be writing about one dive and one snorkel site around Perth.

Next week's theme is: 'Rottnest Limestone'.

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