AUSTRALIAN DESTINATIONS
Diving in External Territories
Explore 169 listed dive sites and find the local knowledge to help plan your visit.
THE LOCAL PLANNING BRIEF
Research each territory as its own destination
The external-territory collection groups geographically separate destinations for directory browsing. Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Norfolk Island and offshore reef records do not form one convenient travel region. Open the individual region page and build a separate transport, access and operator plan for that destination.
Choose the setting, then the trip Counts describe published records, not bookable trips or confirmed open sites.
There are 169 published site records across External Territories. The recorded categories include reef (51), wall (45), pinnacle/bommie (18), drift (13). These categories reflect the database; they are not a ranking, a conditions report or an assessment of your suitability.
Start with one of the regional pages below. State-wide totals are useful for browsing, but the actual choice should be made at the level of an operator, a site and a proposed itinerary.
Research operators in External Territories →Ask before booking
- Which territory and jurisdiction does this itinerary visit?
- What park or access permissions apply to the exact location?
- What is the contingency if transport changes?
Save the answers with the contact name and date. Separate confirmed arrangements from items still waiting for a reply.
Record your trip questions →Island stays
Confirm the route, accommodation, equipment availability and actual departure schedule with local providers. Do not assume a mainland travel pattern applies.
Offshore reefs
A mapped reef may have restricted access or no ordinary visitor departure. Check the responsible park manager and the operator’s permitted itinerary.
Contingency planning
Keep time and budget flexibility around transport. Identify which bookings depend on another service arriving as planned.
Questions, answered
How do I choose a dive in External Territories?
Begin with the individual site and its source notes, then discuss the proposed trip with a local provider. The 169 published records are research options, not a list of trips available today. Match the plan to your training, recent experience and the operator’s current requirements.
When should I visit External Territories for diving?
Choose dates with a provider who runs the activity you want, then discuss seasonal patterns, recent conditions and alternative itineraries. A generic best-month claim cannot establish the conditions at your exact site or guarantee a wildlife encounter.
Can I use these maps to enter or navigate a dive site?
No. Recorded and approximate map positions support orientation only. Confirm the exact access, permissions, meeting point and route with the responsible local provider or manager.
Regional planning context: Parks Australia — Australian Marine Parks ↗. Directory counts come from published YouDive records. Individual site claims remain subject to their source and review notes.
Find your region
Dive sites to explore
WallCocos (Keeling) Islands
Rose Wall
A continuous sheet of rose-coloured hard coral covering the wall from about 16 m to 35–40 m, right beside Cabbage Patch.
WreckCocos (Keeling) Islands
SMS Emden wreck site
Propellers, shafts, engine parts and shells of the WWI raider SMS Emden, beached after the 1914 Battle of Cocos – one of the most…
ReefCocos (Keeling) Islands
Ski Run
A sand chute from the reef edge down to a glassfish-covered bommie hunted by trevally, with whitetips and extra-long garden eels…
ReefNorfolk Island
Slaughter Bay
Sheltered sand-and-coral lagoon snorkel beside Kingston, with night snorkelling possible and the Sirius wreck site beyond the…
ReefChristmas Island
The Morgue
A macro-rich slope with giant Acropora and feather stars, ribbon eels and Spanish dancers – the island's favourite boat night…
DriftCocos (Keeling) Islands
The Rip (Direction Island)
A fast, coral-lined drift channel from the ocean into the lagoon, full of sharks, humphead parrotfish and Napoleon wrasse, with a…
Cave/CavernChristmas Island
Thundercliff Cave
Swim into the cliff and surface inside air-filled chambers decorated with stalactites – reef, wall and cave in one dive.
ReefChristmas Island
West White Beach
Shallow coral reef with anemone fields off a remote rainforest beach, where whale sharks and dolphins are regular visitors.
Cave/CavernChristmas Island
West White Beach Cave
A huge, bright sea cavern with twin entrances and a pillar, its roof and walls a riot of colour.
WallChristmas Island
Admin Wall
A sheer, effectively bottomless wall reached from the beach, with trevally, reef sharks and seasonal whale sharks.
WallCoral Sea
Anchors Away (Bougainville Reef)
Old anchors from wrecks, embedded and overgrown in a steep coral wall.
Pinnacle/BommieCoral Sea
Anemone City (Flinders Reef)
Five lagoon pinnacles carpeted in purple anemones and clownfish.
Shore/Rock PlatformNorfolk Island
Anson Bay
A spectacular cliff-framed beach with a shallow coral wall – but with dangerous undercurrents.
DriftCoral Sea
Around the Bend (Osprey Reef)
Osprey's most challenging drift, where current brings barracuda, hunting predators and mantas to a cleaning station.
DriftCoral Sea
Between the Wrecks (Bougainville Reef)
A clear-water wall drift between Bougainville's two freighter wrecks.
ReefNorfolk Island
Black Bank
Colourful boulder reef riddled with caves, arches and swim-throughs.
Cave/CavernChristmas Island
Boat Cave
A sea cave big enough to park the boat in, with a floor carpeted in plate corals and colourful whips on the walls.
ReefCocos (Keeling) Islands
Cable Bommie
Two large winches and lengths of cable believed to date from the Direction Island cable station, now overgrown with coral and…
Jetty/PierNorfolk Island
Cascade Pier
Easy shore dive over sand, rock outcrops and coral heads with visibility often over 40 m, sheltered in south-easterlies.
WallCoral Sea
Cathedral (Holmes Reef)
A deep Holmes Reef wall where a golden anthias species was first recorded in Australia, with sharks, tuna and potato cod.
WallChristmas Island
Chicken Farm
A vertical north-coast wall with exceptionally large gorgonian fans below 33 m.
WallCoral Sea
China Wall (Flinders Reef)
A 1,000 m wall with some of the largest gorgonian fans in Australian waters.
ReefNorfolk Island
Claytons Wreck (Nepean Island)
Rugged, coral-covered reef at the exposed southern tip of Nepean Island – good for photography.
WallCoral Sea
Cod Wall (Flinders Reef)
An ancient gorgonian fan more than 5 m across on a soft-coral wall with 40 m visibility.