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
Pinnacle/BommieNorfolk Island
Cooks Arch
Swim through an arch in a 12 m-high rock that drops to 21 m, with caves and crevices nearby.
ReefCoral Sea
Coral Canyons (Osprey Reef)
A network of coral canyons leading to the edge of a drop of more than 1,400 m, with schooling jacks and reef sharks.
WallCoral Sea
Corner Shop (Bougainville Reef)
A moored wall around a reef corner with reef sharks, Maori wrasse and clown triggerfish.
Shore/Rock PlatformCocos (Keeling) Islands
Cossies Beach
Calm, shallow lagoon snorkelling off one of Australia's most celebrated beaches, right beside The Rip.
Shore/Rock PlatformNorfolk Island
Crystal Pool
A small, crystal-clear rock pool at Point Ross – one of Norfolk's favourite shallow dives when the swell is down.
Cave/CavernChristmas Island
Daniel Roux Cave
A sea cave that connects to one of the island's best-known land caves, with an anchialine pool and swiftlet colony above.
WreckCocos (Keeling) Islands
Direction Island Unidentified Wreck
A 40 m keel and keelson line from an unidentified 19th-century North American ship – possibly the Gudden Barstow (1839) – in…
Shore/Rock PlatformNorfolk Island
Duncombe Bay
Quiet cliff-ringed bay with a sandy slope, a coral wall, boulders and swim-through arches.
WallChristmas Island
Egeria Point
Rated one of the island's best shark dives, with open-ocean pelagics and 40 m+ visibility at the south-west corner of the west…
Pinnacle/BommieCocos (Keeling) Islands
Enterprise
A bommie on the drop-off where the incoming tide's upwelling brings grey reef sharks, dogtooth tuna and big groupers in close.
ReefChristmas Island
Ethel Beach
A colourful sloping reef off one of Australia's best beaches – the island's wet-season shore dive and a red crab spawning site.
ReefCoral Sea
Fairy Grotto (Osprey Reef)
A range of big coral bommies with caverns and swim-throughs beside a 1,000 m wall.
WallCocos (Keeling) Islands
Fan Wall
A wall with glorious fans, black trevally, cruising sharks and dogtooth tuna, plus a cave at 40 m for deep-experienced divers.
ReefNorfolk Island
Fireplace
Distinctive rock formations with coral on the eastern side of Duncombe Bay.
ReefChristmas Island
Fuel Buoys
Healthy coral reef beneath the Navy refuelling buoys, with a surreal straight trench carved by the giant mooring chain.
WallCoral Sea
Golden Wall (Holmes Reef)
A sheer wall glowing with golden sea whips and gorgonians, with pelagic schools off the edge.
WreckNorfolk Island
HMS Sirius wreck site
The remains of the First Fleet flagship, lost off Slaughter Bay in 1790 – Australia's most significant colonial shipwreck.
WallCoral Sea
Half Way Wall (Osprey Reef)
Osprey's gentler wall, with bommies on the lip of a 1,000 m drop and the chance of hammerheads.
Pinnacle/BommieNorfolk Island
Johnnystone Rock
Pinnacle from 2 m to 30 m with caverns, swim-throughs and enveloping coral.
Jetty/PierNorfolk Island
Kingston Pier
Historic convict-built pier – departure point for boat dives and a shallow reef-and-wall shore dive.
DriftChristmas Island
Leanne's Leap
An easy one-way drift from drop-off into a lush coral garden, often linked with Submarine Rock.
Pinnacle/BommieNorfolk Island
Little Organ
A huge arch and swim-through cave with a drummer school at the entrance and resident boarfish.
WallNorfolk Island
Longnose Reef
Coral-rich wall to 30 m with a shallow inshore reef for the second half of the dive.
Cave/CavernChristmas Island
Lost Lake Cave
Entrance zone of one of Christmas Island's largest submarine cave systems, with overhangs, gullies and light shafts.