Diving in Exmouth

Being on the Westcost and on Ningaloo Reef, I had to go diving some more, especially in Exmouth. Exmouth grew thanks to the US Navy establishing a communications center in the 1960s. Part of this military site is the Navy Pier (see picture) which has become a very popular dive site and is said to be in the top 10 dive sites in the world.

Already getting to the Navy Pier is an adventure, because the US Navy is still controlling the area and has to check the identity of all the people entering this area. Getting into the water can be a challenge as well: first you have to carry down all you equipment down the yellow staircase and then jump with all your gear on from the lower platform. It's only about 2.5m but I was pretty impressed!

Then the dive site itself: we were diving under the pier, in between the steel construction. And finally the fish swimming around there was incredible: lots and lots and lots - small, big and colourful. Highlight were the reef sharks and white tipped sharks staying there. We could watch them from very close and at one point, one of them even swum right below me. It was an amazing experience. Even more so, that I did my very first night dive there as well. The colours, thanks to the torches were much brighter in the night than throughout day dives. If you ever are in the region and enjoy diving do not miss the Navy Pier!

The next day I went for a day diving at the Murion Islands. Off with the boat in the morning, two dives during the day, snorkeling at lunch time and back late afternoon. The dives were very nice, again with some sharks and with the feeling of swimming in an aquarium: all in turquoise and with lots of fish around me. Lovely day!