Jan 5, 2023 4 min read Underwater Perth

Diving down south

Crows nest of the HMAS Swan, around 7m below the surface.

Like most of Perth, I'm spending my New Year's holidays down south. This week's sites are Busselton Jetty and the HMAS Swan shipwreck. Both can be done as day-trips from Perth, or part of a weekend getaway.

Busselton Jetty offers some of the most vibrant and clear-watered jetty diving in Western Australia. The HMAS Swan wreck is huge, and much more intact than any of the wrecks around the Perth metro area - with opportunity to safely explore inside.

Busselton Jetty

Busselton. Depth 9m. Snorkel or Dive.
Reasonable swell.

Busselton Jetty is the the longest timber jetty in the southern hemisphere. There is a dive platform at the very end, 1.8km out to sea. It is one of my favourite day trips, at just 2.5 hours drive south of Perth.

Scorpion fish (left), corals on the jetty pylons (right)

The jetty pylons are covered with coral, and the shelter of the jetty is home to abundant sea life. The Leeuwin Current brings warm water from the north, sustaining a remarkably tropical ecosystem for such a southerly latitude. For friends that don't dive, they can still join by touring the underwater observatory, right next to the dive platform.

The walk is the most challenging feature of this dive, especially if you are carrying dive gear. You can hire trolleys to help cart everything or buy a beach trolley from Kmart. It takes ~25 minutes each way, and you need to pay a $4 entry fee.

Diver ladder (left) and freedivers enjoying the shallow, clear waters (right).

If you are in Busselton for a holiday, make sure you book a day for it. To day-trip it from Perth, drive down early in the morning, do a dive or two, and then return in the afternoon. Before you plan the long drive down, check the conditions using the live webcam from the underwater observatory.

Busselton Jetty was my first night dive, and is still my favourite. It is easy to navigate, and much of the marine life is more active at night. The sand in Geographe Bay is host to bioluminescent plankton: if you stir it up with your fins, it will sparkle like the night sky. Dive it first during the day, then return that evening for a very different experience.

Octopus camofaluged in the jetty (left), light filtering throught the jetty from above (right).

HMAS Swan

Eagle Bay. Depth 32m. Boat dive.

The HMAS Swan is a purposely-sunk dive wreck off the coast of Dunsborough, not far from Busselton. It rests in just over 30m of water, and can be entered by properly-trained divers. The ship was a 113m long destroyer escort, belonging to the Australian Navy.

Diver on the outside of HMAS Swan, on a day of good visibility.

Inside the ship the light filters through the doors, but you need a torch to add colour and detail back to the corals growing on the walls. As you float through the corridors, you will recognise familar structures - kitchen benches, toilets, chairs and tables. In the bridge you can sit and look out into the blue waters beyond.

Schools of bullseyes often hang around the crows nest, and in the dark rooms of the interior. At the very bottom down near the propellor is sometimes a huge wobbegong. If you are very lucky, you might even see a grey nurse shark.

Schools of bullseye around the crowsnest (left), a diver sitting in the bridge (right).

The crows nest is only about 7m underwater, and the bridge can be explored by Open Water Divers. If you are not yet qualified to 30m, some shops even offer the Advanced Open Water course on this wreck, which is a great deal.

You need a permit to access the wreck yourself, but it is easiest to do through a dive charter, or by joining a club like the UWA Underwater Club.