Navy Pier

Exmouth · Western Australia · Australia

Navy Pier at Exmouth stands as one of the most celebrated shore dives on Earth, routinely ranked among the world's top ten. Located approximately 14 kilometres north of Exmouth on the gulf side of the North West Cape, this active Royal Australian Navy facility doubles as an underwater wonderland within the Ningaloo Marine Park. The pier extends several hundred metres into Exmouth Gulf, and its forest of concrete pylons has become a thriving artificial reef over decades of marine colonisation. Every surface is blanketed in vibrant soft corals, sponges, tunicates, and hydroids, creating a kaleidoscope of colour even in the upper shallows. The structure provides shelter, food, and hunting grounds for an extraordinary concentration of marine life, with over 200 species recorded in the immediate area. The undisputed stars of Navy Pier are the resident giant Queensland groupers, massive fish exceeding two metres in length that cruise between the pylons with remarkable confidence around divers. Whitetip reef sharks rest on sandy patches beneath the pier, while wobbegong sharks drape themselves across crossbeams. Octopuses are prolific, hunting among the coral-covered structures with their camouflage abilities on full display. Moray eels peer from crevices, lionfish drift beneath overhangs, and dense schools of baitfish create shimmering curtains of silver between the pylons. The dive profile is wonderfully simple, with a maximum depth of around 15 metres and most of the action concentrated between 5 and 12 metres. This accessibility makes Navy Pier exceptional for photographers, who can spend entire dives at a single pylon discovering nudibranchs, frogfish, and juvenile fish sheltering among the coral growth. Night dives transform the pier into an entirely different world, with Spanish dancers, sleeping parrotfish, and hunting cuttlefish emerging after dark. Diving is strictly controlled through licensed operators with Defence Department approval. Group sizes are limited, and the pier's restricted access has inadvertently protected the marine life from overfishing and anchor damage. The result is an ecosystem of remarkable density and tameness, where large predators and delicate invertebrates coexist in a compact underwater gallery that rewards repeated visits. Water temperatures range from 22 degrees Celsius in winter to 29 degrees in summer, with visibility typically between 10 and 20 metres.